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Joan Jett on Being On the Road Since the Age of 15.

Rock musician Joan Jett. Since 1979, Jett has led the group Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and earned the description as "the toughest, grittiest, hardest-working woman in rock and roll." She won praise for her film debut in 1987 when she co-starred with Michael J. Fox in the film "Light of Day." Time magazine's film critic Richard Corliss hailed her "mesmerizing surliness" and said Jett's presence dominated every scene she was in. Joan Jett and the Blackheart's new album is titled "Up Your Alley."

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Other segments from the episode on June 7, 1988

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, June 7, 1988: Interview with David Wise; Commentary on The Flamin' Groovies; Interview with Joan Jett; Review of Hunter Thompson's essay collection "Generation Swine...".
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27:41

David Wise Scores an Interview with the Only C. I. A. Agent to Defect to the KGB.

Journalist David Wise. His new book, The Spy Who Got Away, is the story of Edward Lee Howard, the CIA agent who divulged secrets to the Russians and then eluded an FBI dragnet to flee to the Soviet Union. The book is based on six days of interviews with Howard in Budapest and reveals a CIA coverup of suspicions about Howard's character and the agency's refusal to share the information with the FBI's counterintelligence division. Wise, a former Washington bureau chief for the New York Herald Tribune, has written extensively on espionage.

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06:59

The "Un-Hipness" of the Flamin' Groovies.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles "The Flamin' Groovies," a band that fought all the trends in the late 60s by putting out three-minute pop songs with anti-drug lyrics. Their best-known song was "Teenage Head."

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Tegan And Sara Reach Out To New Audiences With 'Heartthrob.'

The twin sisters from Canada depart from their indie singer-songwriter roots with their latest album. The music on Heartthrob is often loaded with a carefully articulated sense of doubt that Tegan and Sara suggest needs to be shaken off through a triumph of the pop-music will.

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06:56

On 'Banga,' Patti Smith Pays Homage To Friends.

Banga is Smith's 11th studio album, her first collection of original material since 2004 and the first record she's released since the publication of her memoir Just Kids. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the music on Banga is marvelously uneven and frequently transporting.

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Two Divas, Both Alike in Mononyms

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker reviews two albums from two one-named singers: Madonna's Hard Candy and the self-titled release from Swedish pop singer Robyn.

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