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Terry Gross at her microphone in 2018

Terry Gross

Terry Gross is the host and an executive producer of Fresh Air, the daily program of interviews and reviews. It is produced at WHYY in Philadelphia, where Gross began hosting the show in 1975, when it was broadcast only locally. She was awarded a National Humanities Medal from President Obama in 2016. Fresh Air with Terry Gross received a Peabody Award in 1994 for its “probing questions, revelatory interviews and unusual insight.” America Women in Radio and Television presented her with a Gracie Award in 1999 in the category of National Network Radio Personality. In 2003, she received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Edward R. Murrow Award for her “outstanding contributions to public radio” and for advancing the “growth, quality and positive image of radio.” Gross is the author of All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians and Artists, published by Hyperion in 2004. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and received a bachelor’s degree in English and M.Ed. in communications from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She began her radio career in 1973 at public radio station WBFO in Buffalo, NY.

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16:59

Black Singing Cowboy Herb Jeffries.

Singer/Actor Herb Jeffries. In the late 1930's he became the first and only black singing cowboy on the silver screen. Then in the late 1940's he sang with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. At 83, Jeffries has recently recorded his western songs for the first time on an album - "The Bronze Buckaroo (Rides Again)" (Warner). Included on this album are highlights from his work with Earl Hines (who discovered him) and Ellington, including "Flamingo" and the original version of "You, You Darlin."

Interview
50:55

"The Priest who Loves Gangsters."

Father Gregory J. Boyle. He is described as being "the priest who loves gangsters." Boyle is a pastor at the Dolores Mission Church in Los Angeles where they provide shelter for the women and children, a day care center, and an alternative high school. He provides support and guidance to young men in Latino gangs and shows them alternatives to their life of crime. His biography Father Greg and the Homeboys (Hyperion) was written by Celeste Fremon.

Interview
22:39

Ralph Reed's "Contract with the American Family."

Executive Director of the Christian Coalition, Ralph Reed. The Christian Coalition is a national organization dedicated to mobilizing the religious right, for political and legislative objectives. The coalition was founded by evangelist Pat Robertson. It's "Contract with the American Family" includes calls for: school prayer; eliminating federal funding for abortions; limits on late-term abortions; restrictions on pornography on the Internet, and eliminating federal funding for the NEA and public broadcasting.

Interview
16:12

Ron Howard Discusses His Early Career.

Actor/Director Ron Howard. As a child actor he appeared in "The Music Man" and the long running television series "The Andy Griffith Show." He also starred in the TV series "Happy Days" and was known for his roles in "American Graffiti." Howard later made a name for himself as a director of several movies including "Splash," "Cocoon," "Parenthood," and "Backdraft." His new film "Apollo 13" which stars Tom Hanks is now in theaters. Terry recently talked with Howard about "Apollo 13,".

Interview
22:41

Poet Michael Ryan Discusses His "Secret Life."

Poet and writer Michael Ryan. His first book of poems won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award and was nominated for a National Book Award in 1974. Ryan's book Good Hunger won the Lenore Marshall/Nation Award for the most outstanding book of poems published in 1989. His new book Secret Life (Pantheon) is his autobiography in which he shares his experiences of childhood molestation and sexual addiction. (Contains brief excerpt of 12/12/1989 interview).

Interview
16:18

Investigating "The Racist Mind."

Professor Raphael Ezekiel. A former psychology professor at the University of Michigan, Ezekiel has spent the last ten years investigating the leaders and members of the Klans and Neo-Nazi groups. His new book The Racist Mind: Portraits of American Neo-Nazis and Klansmen (Viking) looks into these groups and provides a foundation for understanding the personal and social roots of white racism. Ezekiel is presently based at the Harvard School of Public Health where he is studying youth violence prevention.

Interview
21:31

Stephen Engelberg Discusses the "Turning Point" in the Yugoslav War.

Stephen Engelberg of the New York Times. He is a former Eastern Europe correspondent and is presently an investigative reporter in the Washington bureau. Engelberg will reconstruct the story of the turning point in the Bosnian war: how the U.N. and Nato decided to bomb Serb headquarters last May, and then stop after the Serbs took peace keepers hostage.

Interview
38:19

Dr. Andrew Weil Discusses Working With the Body in Medicine.

Dr. Andrew Weil. He is one of the world's leading authorities on health, healing and medicine. His latest book Spontaneous Healing (Knopf) explores how to discover and enhance our body's natural ability to maintain and heal itself. Dr. Weil is currently Associate Director of the Division of Social Perspectives in Medicine. He also has a private practice, based at the Center for Integrative Medicine at Tucson, where he treats patients from around the world.

Interview
16:50

Newton Minow Discusses the V-Chip.

Chairman of the Board of the Carnegie Corporation and former Chairman of PBS Newton Minow. As President Kennedy's chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Minow astonished the public in 1961 when he referred to television broadcasting as a "vast wasteland". His new book, Abandoned in the Wasteland, (Hill and Wang), which he co-wrote with Craig L. May, examines the nation's television system (both past and present) and looks into the negative effects it poses on our children.

Interview
22:52

Arafat's Carefully Constructed Image.

Award-winning Israeli journalist Danny Rubinstein. He has a new book called The Mystery of Arafat (Steerforth Press) which looks into the image of the P-L-O leader, Yasser Arafat. Rubinstein is a columnist for the Hebrew daily Ha'aretz and has been writing on Palestinian issues since 1967. He is also the author of the book The People of Nowhere. Rubinstein presently lives in Jerusalem where he teaches in the department of Middle East History at Ben-Gurion University.

Interview

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