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LaVern Baker's Masterful Take on Blues Giant

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says the blues singer's reissued album of Bessie Smith songs is a winner. Recent attempts of contemporary pop singers to cover the work of classic artists can't compare to recordings of Baker's era.

06:02
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Other segments from the episode on February 6, 1989

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, February 6, 1989: Interview with Sallie Bingham; Review of LaVern Baker's album "LaVern Baker Sings Bessie Smith"; Interview with Kathy O'Connell; Review of the television…
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27:52

A Feminist Perspective on Wealth and Business

Sallie Bingham came from a family of newspaper magnates. After she was ejected from her paper's board of directors, she sold her share of stocks to fund various organizations for women in her home state of Kentucky. The Bingham family's internecine conflicts later came under public scrutiny, and was the subject of two books. Sallie Bingham's new memoir, Passion and Prejudice, tells her side of the story.

Interview
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09:47

Kids Corner Host Kathy O'Connell

O'Connell says her call-in program is the only radio talk show for children. Kids Corner features political reporting alongside more youth-oriented content. The show airs nightly on WXPN in Philadelphia.

Interview
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03:44

The Return of a Stand-Out Mystery Show

Peter Falk reprises his role of the disheveled detective Columbo, twelve years after the series ended. TV critic David Bianculli says the show meets the high standards of the original, and that Falk is as charming as ever.

Review

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47:38

We Remember Singer Susannah McCorkle

with excerpts from her Fresh Air interviews and concerts. She died last weekend after jumping to her death. She was 55. She had 17 albums to her credit and a repertoire of more than 3000 songs. Besides being a literate interpreter of American popular song, she was also a prose writer who published fiction in Mademoiselle, Cosmopolitan and The O. Henry Book of Short Stories. We also talk with Susannah McCorkle's ex-husband and former manager Dan Dinicola.(REBROADCASTS from 7/17/87, 12/23/88, 4/12/91, 7/3/96).

Obituary
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06:40

Two Takes On Billie Holiday

In honor of Billie Holiday's 100th birthday this month, several artists are releasing out Holiday tribute albums. Fresh Air jazz critic Kevin Whitehead looks at a couple of these by other singers. One he rather likes; the other, not so much.

Review

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50:27

What evolution reveals about eating, dieting and fat

DANIEL LIEBERMAN, author of the new book Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals about Food, Diet, Health and Eating Well. He’s a professor of biological Sciences at Harvard. And he's the founding chair of Harvard's Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. As part of his research, he tried a series of diets to see how his body reacted, including the Atkins diet and lesser known diets like the Blue Zone diet. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

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Remembering Irish singer–songwriter Glen Hansard

Best-known for his band The Frames and his part in the 2007 film Once, Hansard got his start as a street busker in Dublin. He died July 29 in a motorcycle crash. Originally broadcast in 2008.

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