Showing results by narrator "Terry Gross"

Fresh Air, Jon Katz.

Writer David Sedaris on this edition of Fresh Air. Sedaris is best known for his contributing work with Public Radio's This American Life. He's written three books of essays, Barrel Fever, Naked, and his latest Me Talk Pretty One Day.

This audio is like an informal writing clinic, as you listen to these writers talk about their lives, experiences and, of course, their writing. While you are listening, Terry Gross draws out from these great writers the answers to your questions, just as the query begins to form in your own head.

Hear author Bliss Broyard and journalist Yaroslav Trofimov on this edition of Fresh Air. Bliss Broyard has written a new family memoir: One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life - A Story of Race and Family Secrets. Her father was the literary critic Anatole Broyard, who died in 1990.

Comedian and political satirist Al Franken and actor Benicio Del Toro on this edition of Fresh Air. In December, Franken was part of a USO tour performing for troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait. The tour lasted eight days, and he returned Christmas Day. He'll talk about the tour and do some of his routine from it. Franken's books include Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right and Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot.

The Taliban, on this edition of Fresh Air. Last week, the Taliban, the Islamic militants ruling Afghanistan, issued a decree to demolish all pre-Islamic religious images.

Paintings have been falling off of walls, a loud and loyal dog has gone missing, a gurgled message is being transmitted by walkie-talkie - strange things are happening all over the town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea. Called upon to investigate these suspicious incidents, young Lemony Snicket collects clues, questions witnesses, and cracks every case. Join the investigation and tackle the mysteries alongside Snicket, then turn to the back of the book to see the solution revealed.

Drs. R. David Zangen and Radgonde Amer and novelist Alice Sebold on this edition of Fresh Air. R. David Zangen, senior pediatrician, and Dr. Radgonde Amer, an ophthalmologist at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. They are part of the group of Arab and Jewish doctors who work side by side at the hospital treating victims of suicide bombings and of the Israeli military actions. Alice Sebold's the author of the new book, The Lovely Bones.

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.

Novelist Jay McInerney and actress Eva Marie Saint on this edition of Fresh Air. Jay McInerney broke onto the literary scene with his best selling novel Bright Lights, Big City, about the excesses of the a Manhattan yuppie in the 1980s. His new book is a collection of essays about the pleasure of wine. It's called Bacchus & Me: Adventures in the Wine Cellar.

Hear Middle East Ambassador Dennis Ross and rock critic Ken Tucker on this edition of Fresh Air. Dennis Ross served as US envoy to the Middle East from 1988 to 2001, during the elder Bush and Clinton administrations. His new book is Statecraft: How to Restore America's Standing in the World. Ross is the Counselor and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Former theater critic Frank Rich and producer-director Harold Prince on this edition of Fresh Air. Rich has published his memoir Ghost Light, in which he examines the influence of his childhood on his adult career: his parents' divorce and an early curiosity for theater. He was chief drama critic for The New York Times from 1980-1983 and has been an op-ed columnist for that paper since 1994.

"Queen of Disco" Donna Summer and actor Sean Penn on this edition of Fresh Air. Donna Summer grew up singing gospel in church choirs in Boston and in her teens joined the German cast of Hair. While abroad, she recorded "Love to Love You Baby", which became a huge hit. She returned to the United States a disco star.

On this edition of Fresh Air: a discussion of the war on Iraq and an interview with novelist Scott Spencer. To discuss Iraq: former New York Times Balkans Bureau Chief and Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Hedges talks about the mindset of being at war and human rights professor Michael Ignatieff discuss his reluctant support of a war on Iraq, and his concerns. Chris Hedges is currently living in New York.

Crime novelist Dennis Lehane, TV critic Tom Shales and author James Andrew Miller on this edition of Fresh Air. Dennis Lehane's written five novels featuring the working-class Boston private detective team of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. They include A Drink Before the War, Darkness Take My Hand, Sacred, Gone, Baby, Gone, and Prayers for Rain.

Colombian senator and presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and journalist Stephen Dudley on this edition of Fresh Air. In a country controlled by drug cartels and corrupt government officials, Betancourt has spoken out against corruption. Her efforts have earned her and her family death threats. She travels with as many as a dozen bodyguards and sent her children away. Bentancourt grew up in Paris, the daughter of Colombia's ambassador to UNESCO.

Singer/songwriter Paul Simon on this archival edition of Fresh Air. In 1964, he and Art Garfunkel, as the duo Simon & Garfunkel, hit number one on the pop charts with the song "Sound of Silence." They continued with five albums that all sold gold. After a split in 1970, Simon continued writing songs and took up a solo singing career. His albums include Still Crazy After All These Years, Graceland, and Rhythm of the Saints.

Professor Charles Kupchan and TV host and writer Ruby Wax on this edition of Fresh Air. Charles Kupchan's new book, "The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-First Century, Kupchan argues that the era of American dominance may be coming to an end; this demise will not be brought on by the Islamic world or China but from an integrated Europe.

Fresh Air guest host Barbara Bogaev talks with actor Michael C. Hall from HBO's Six Feet Under. He plays David Fisher, the gay brother who co-runs a funeral home on the show. He's currently starring as Billy Flynn, an oily attorney in the Broadway revival of Chicago. James Earl Jones, of the astounding voice, talks about his memoir. And you'll hear a review of the foreign film Mostly Martha.

Hear singer Mary Weiss and singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka on this edition of Fresh Air. Weiss first found fame as a member of the Shangri-Las, with hits like "Leader of the Pack", "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", and "Give Him a Great Big Kiss". In March of this year, she recorded her first album of new material since 1965. It's called Dangerous Game.