Terry Gross

We remember the world best known player of the mouth organ, Larry Adler. He died recently at the age of 87. He got started on vaudeville, and went on to perform with Fred Astaire, George Gershwin, Jack Benny and many others. When George Gershwin first heard Adler play Rhapsody in Blue on the mouth-organ he said, "It sounds as if the goddamned thing was written for you." Adler also played classical music and performed with a number of symphony orchestras. Adler moved to England after being blacklisted during the McCarthy hearings.

Cancer researcher John Mendelsohn, M.D. is the president of the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. We will talk about new developments in cancer treatment. Mendelsohn created a new cancer drug, known as C225. The drug shows great promise in treating a number of cancers by halting the growth of cancer cells. There has been an explosion in the number of cancer drugs in recent years.

Filmmaker Joseph McCarthy. His new short is “The Brave Man.” It’s a retelling of the Battle of Brooklyn set in modern times. Sixteen red cars (mostly Ford Tauruses) represent the British. The actions of one man, General William Alexander, prevented a British victory that day in 1776. The film stars Graeme Malcolm as Alexander. The low-budget short is still not fully funded. McCarthy is also a creator of corporate promotional films.