Terry Gross

Melvin Van Peebles, who died Sept. 21, was best known for his 1971 film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. He spoke with Fresh Air in 1990. His son Mario, also an actor/director, was interviewed in 2004.

In 1977, Spong became one of the first American bishops to ordain a woman into the clergy. In 1989, he was the first to ordain an openly gay man. Spong died Sept. 12. Originally broadcast in 1996.

Pere Ubu leader David Thomas remixed two of his favorite Ubu albums, 1998's Pennsylvania and 2002's St. Arkansas, saying that the remixes are so substantial, they amount to being two new albums.