Terry Gross talks with the Croatian writer about her book Have a Nice Day: From the Balkan War to the American Dream. Part memoir, part short story collection, the book chronicles the writer's transplanted life as a lecturer in Middletown, Connecticut, a world away from the brutal Balkan war.
In light of the release of the first full-length biography on the African American baseball player, commentator Gerald Early reflects on the life Jack Robinson.
Biographer Tad Szulc has a new book called Pope John Paul II: The Biography. It details the Pope's early years in Poland through his climb to the papacy after being elevated to archbishop in 1963. Szulc traveled with the Pope extensively, had access to many of his private papers and interviewed many of the Pope's old schoolmates, friends and fellow priests. Szulc is a former New York Times bureau chief.
Simms is the creator of the new NBC sit-com "News Radio." He previously worked as writer for both the "The Larry Sanders Show," and "Late Night with David Letterman."
Rock historian Ed Ward looks back on the West Coast label SST, which was responsible for launching the careers of several seminal punk and alternative bands.
Fresh Air rock historian Ed Ward takes a look at the record label, which emerged as a subsidiary of All Platinum Records. It promoted rap music soon after it first emerged in New York nightclubs.
Kaminer's new book, It's All the Rage offers insights into our culture's larger questions of individual responsibility, victimization, punishment, innocence and guilt. Kaminer is also a contributing editor to the Atlantic Monthly and Public Fellow at Radcliffe College.
Haggard has been on the country music scene since the early sixties and has more number one hits than any country music star except Conway Twitty. Recently, two tribute albums of his songs were released: Mama's Hungry Eyes and Tulare Dust. Haggard was also recently inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Wertheimer has been with NPR since the network first went on the air with All Things Considered, May 3, 1971, which she now hosts. Wertheimer has come out with a book that looks back at some of the key events in American history as they were covered by NPR sations, called Listening to America.
Rock historian Ed Ward continues this week's five part series on the influence of several key record companies on the music world. Today, Ward looks at Casablanca, a big producer of disco hits, and its founder Nick Bogart.
We continue our interview with NPR reporter and All Things Considered producer/host Linda Wertheimer. In this segment, she talks about her experiences as a woman during the early days of her career.
Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead remembers the late Julius Hemphill, who died on Sunday. Hemphill, the saxophonist and composer, helped found the World Saxophone Quartet.
Rock Historian Ed Ward continues his five part series on what impact several small record companies have had on the music world. Today he discusses Island Records, founded in England by Jamaican-born musician Chris Blackwell.
Al Franken is a writer and actor on "Saturday Night Live." His characters have included the one-man mobile uplink unit, Pat Robertson, Paul Tsongas, and Stuart Smalley, host of "Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley." In 1992, Franken published a book under Stuart's name; Stuart's new project is an upcoming movie called "Stuart Saves His Family."
Thupten Jinpa was a refugee in India as a child, became a monk at a Tibetan monastery, and is the translator, editor and annotator of "The World of Tibetan Buddhism," written by the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
Professor John Dominic Crossan is a native of Ireland, ordained as a priest in the U.S. (he left the priesthood in 1969), and now teaches biblical studies at DePaul University. He is a founding member of the Jesus Seminar, a group of scholars who meet to determine the authenticity of Jesus' sayings in the Gospels. Crossan's latest book is Who Killed Jesus: Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of The Death of Jesus.
