Search the Fresh Air Archive

Close Search

Financial writer Adam Smith on the "Roaring 80s"

Smith is host of a popular PBS television program and author of the best-sellers The Money Game, Supermoney and Paper Money. His new book, titled The Roaring 80s, looks at the previous decade, which he says has been characterized by easy debt, easy spending and an amiable hands-off attitude by Washington. Smith says a camparison with another era of high living - the roaring 20s - is unavoidable.

27:52
Queue

Guest

Host

Related Topics

Other segments from the episode on November 29, 1988

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, November 29, 1988: Interview with Adam Smith; Commentary on Ricky Nelson; Interview with Christopher Hitchens; Review of Alex Shumatoff's book "African Madness."
Queue
06:28

Ricky Nelson: Rock's First TV Icon

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the career of the late musician, who, as a teenager, first plucked America's heartstrings on the TV show "The Adventure of Ozzie and Harriet."

Commentary
Queue
09:34

Christopher Hitchens on the Ideology of Objectivity

The British journalist reports on Washington politics for The Nation, Spectator, and Harper's. He's frustrated by the tendency of news outlets to avoid reporting facts about political figures that may seem partisan or outwardly critical. A collection of his columns, titled Prepared for the Worst, has just been published.

Interview
Queue
03:32

The New Reality of Travel Writing

Book critic John Leonard reviews African Madness, a new collection of travel essays by Alex Shumatoff, a New Yorker staff writer who seeks to capture the changing face of sub-Saharan African.

Review

Transcript

Transcript currently not available.

Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

You May Also like

Queue
52:30

Molly Ringwald breaks free from 'mom purgatory' in 'Feud: Capote vs. The Swans'

Molly Ringwald grew to fame representing Gen-X teen angst in '80s films like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink. But her early success led to a career predicament: Ringwald says she went from playing teens in the '80s to "mom purgatory" — playing supportive mothers and entirely skipping what she calls the "sexy aunt" roles. In the new Ryan Murphy series, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Ringwald plays Joanne Carson, ex-wife of talk-show host Johnny Carson.

Interview

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Learn How
Advertisement

Recently on Fresh Air Available to Play on NPR

52:30

Israeli and Palestinian activists share a vision for peace in Gaza

Tonya mosley interviews two men deeply impacted by the violence on either side of the Israeli Palestinian conflict who still believe peace is possible. MAOZ INON (mah-OHZ EE-nohn) is an Israeli entrepreneur whose parents were among the 12-hundred killed by Hamas in October of 2023, the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust. AZIZ ABU SARAH (ah-ZEEZ ah-BOO SAH-rah) is a Palestinian peacebuilder. When AZIZ was only 9, his brother was arrested and tortured in an Israeli military prison and subsequently died from his injuries.

Related segments from the Fresh Air Archive:

See All Recent Segments

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue