Showing results by narrator "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Country and bluegrass musician Ricky Skaggs and Khmer Rouge survivor Arn Chorn-Pond on this edition of Fresh Air. Ricky Skaggs has a new album out called The Three Pickers, and it features Skaggs playing along with Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson.

Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim and actor Greg Kinnear on this edition of Fresh Air. Sondheim was mentored by Oscar Hammerstein, and went on to revolutionize musical theatre. His first major success was writing lyrics for West Side Story. He also composed the music and wrote the lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Follies, and A Little Night Music to name a few.

Rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson and actor Robert Forster on this edition of Fresh Air. Wanda Jackson had several hits in the late 50s and early 60s, including "Mean Mean Man". "Let's Have a Party" and "Fujiyama Mama".

Professor and writer Azar Nafisi on this edition of Fresh Air. Nafisi taught English literature at the University of Tehran and Free Islamic University and Allameh Tabatabai University in Iran. She was expelled from the University of Tehran for refusing to wear the veil. She left Iran in 1997 and is now a professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Film director Martin Scorsese and historian Tyler Anbinder on this edition of Fresh Air. Martin Scorsese discusses his new film Gangs of New York set in pre-civil war New York City about the street warfare between immigrant groups. It's inspired by the book The Gangs of New York published in 1927 by journalist Herbert Asbury. Tyler Anbinder has written about the Five Points neighborhood in Lower Manhattan which is the setting for Martin Scorsese's new film.

Hear Washington Post reporters Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher, and psychologist Philip Zimbardo on this edition of Fresh Air. Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher's new book is Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas. The book grew out of their article for the Post, "The Lonely Stand of Clarence Thomas".

Hear authors Stephen Walt and Abraham Foxman, and beer expert Michael Jackson, on this edition of Fresh Air. Stephen Walt is the co-author (along with John Mearsheimer) of the book The Israel Lobby. The book grew out of their controversial article, which was published in the London Review of Books in March 2006. The two examine the impact of the Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy and argue that support for Israel cannot be fully explained on either strategic or moral grounds.

Political commentator David Frum on this edition of Fresh Air. From January 2001 to February 2002 he was a special assistant to President Bush for economic speech-writing. He held the position during the 9/11 attacks and he is the man responsible for the oft-repeated Bush term "axis of evil." Frum is the author of the new book, The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush an inside account of the White House.

Actress Jodie Foster and radio personality Garrison Keillor on this edition of Fresh Air. Jodie Foster's film Panic Room is now on video and DVD. Recently she produced and acted in the film The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. Foster has won two Oscars for performances in The Silence of the Lambs and The Accused. She was also nominated for her work in Taxi Driver and Nell. She's also served as producer or director on numerous films.

Sari Nusseibeh and linguist Geoff Nunberg are the guests on this edition of Fresh Air. Sari Nusseibeh is the president of and a professor of philosophy at Al-Quds University, the only Arab university in Jerusalem. He has written a new memoir, Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life.

Actor Alfred Molina on this edition of Fresh Air. Molina is starring in the new film, Chocolat, about a mysterious and seductive chocolate shop that electrifies a French village. Molina is a Tony-nominated actor who has played in over thirty films, thirty television movies, and many theater productions. His Tony nomination was for his role in the Broadway hit Art. His film credits include Boogie Nights, Anna Karenina, and Prick Up Your Ears.

Authors Peter Huchthausen and Gary Shteyngart on this edition of Fresh Air. Peter Huchthausen is the author of K19: The Widowmaker: The Secret Story of the Soviet Nuclear Submarine. The true story of a barely averted catastrophe aboard the nuclear powered submarine has been adapted into a film of the same name starring Harrison Ford. Huchthausen served as technical director on the film. On July 4, 1961, the sub was taking part in a military exercise in the North Atlantic.

Producers/writers/directors Justine Shapiro and B.Z. Goldberg and writer Noelle Howey on this edition of Fresh Air. Justine Shapiro and B.Z. Goldberg's new documentary film Promises takes a look at the Palestinian-Israeli conflict thru the eyes of seven children living in or near Jerusalem. It was filmed between 1997 and the summer of 2000. Shapiro grew up in Berkeley, California and hosts and co-writes the award-winning travel series, Lonely Planet.

Hear New York Times reporter Andrea Elliott, entrepreneur Joel Hafvenstein, and jazz critic Kevin Whitehead on this edition of Fresh Air. Andrea Elliott talks about her recent New York Times Magazine cover story. She explains how the small Moroccan neighborhood of Jamaa Mezuak has bred terrorists responsible for a number of recent high-profile attacks.

Writer Max Allan Collins and director Sam Mendes on this edition of Fresh Air. Max Allan Collins' graphic novel Road to Perdition is the basis for the film of the same name. Mickey Spillane said of the novel, "I know mysteries, and I know comics - and Road to Perdition is one great ride!" Collins twice won the Private Eye Writers of America's Shamus award for his Nathaniel Heller historical thrillers, True Detective and Stolen Away.

War correspondent and CNN's former international correspondent Peter Arnett and Retired Navy Captain Peter Huchthausen on this edition of Fresh Air. Peter Arnett became best known for his reporting from Baghdad during the allied bombing raid which heralded the start of the Gulf War. Arnett has more than 30 years of experience reporting, mostly for the Associated Press.

Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid and actor Mark Ruffalo on this edition of Fresh Air. Rashid will comment on today's assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The attack occurred at a political rally near the capital of Islamabad. News reports indicate that the attacker used a combination of gunfire and a suicide bombing. At least 14 people have died in the assault. Bhutto was pronounced dead at a hospital in Rawalpindi at 6:16 pm. Rashid has published several bestselling novels and also writes for the Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, the Daily Telegraph (London), and other publications. He was born in Lahore and is based in Pakistan.

On this edition of Fresh Air, host Terry Gross talks with Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down. Bowden is also the author of the cover story for the May issue of The AtlanticMonthly. The story is Tales of the Tyrant: The Private Life and InnerWorld of Saddam Hussein. Essayist Richard Rodriquez from The Lehrer News Hour will discuss his latest book. And, a classical recording review from critic Lloyd Schwartz.

Hear Pulitzer prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston and TV critic David Bianculli on this edition of Fresh Air. David Cay Johnston is an investigative reporter for The New York Times. In his new book, Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill), Cay Johnston explores how government subsidies and new regulations have quietly funneled money from the poor and middle class to the rich and politically connected.

Retired U.S. Navy flight surgeon and NASA astronaut Captain Jerry Linenger talks about the awe and peril of space travel on this edition of Fresh Air. He spent five months on the Russian Space station MIR and wrote about the account in his book, Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard the Space Station Mir.