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Remembering Composer John Cage

Cage died yesterday at the age of 79. The New York Times wrote that Cage "started a revolution by proposing that composers could jettison the musical language that had evolved over the last seven centuries, and in doing so he opened the door to Minimalism, performance art and virtually every other branch of the musical avant-garde." His compositions include spoken texts, radios, toys and the sounds of vegetables being chopped. In honor of his passing, we present highlights of his 1982 interview with Terry Gross.

16:10
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Other segments from the episode on August 13, 1992

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, August 13, 1992: Interview with Michael Duffy; Obituary for John Cage; Review of Marshall Blonsky's book "American Mythologies."
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22:35

The Policy Strengths and Weaknesses of George Bush

Michael Duffy, the White House correspondent for Time Magazine, has just co-written the book "Marching in Place: The Status Quo Presidency of George Bush." It's the first critical assessment of the Bush presidency. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the president's political and personal convictions, and how these are brought to bear on his governing.

Interview
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04:21

A Semiotic Reading of American Culture

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "American Mythologies" by Marshall Blonsky, which seeks to recover the meaning behind the totality of American cultural production, from fast food to news anchors to pornography. Corrigan admires the project, but says Blonsky doesn't seem to like or respect his subjects.

Review

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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.

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