Fresh Air: About
Airs Monday through Thursday at 3PM on 93.9 FM and 8:00PM on AM 820
Terri Gross (Will Ryan)
"If you want to understand a political conflict, it helps to understand the culture in which that conflict is taking place," says host Terry Gross. Fresh Air is one of the most popular programs on public radio, breaking the "talk show" mold, and Gross is known for her fearless and insightful interviews with prominent figures in American arts, politics, and popular culture. "When there is a crisis in a foreign country, we sometimes call up that country's leading novelist or filmmaker to get the cultural perspective." Fresh Air features daily reports and reviews from critics and commentators on music, books, movies, and other cultural phenomena that invade the national psyche.
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Show Staff
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Terry Gross
Combine an intelligent interviewer with a roster of guests that, according to the Chicago Tribune, would be prized by any talk-show host, and you're bound to get an interesting conversation. Fresh Air's interviews, though, are in a category by themselves, distinguished by host and executive producer Terry Gross' unique approach.
Latest Stories from Fresh Air
Filmmaker Susanne Bier, Seeking 'A Better World'
Thursday, March 10 2011 04:59 PM
The Danish film In a Better World won the 2011 Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. Director Susanne Bier explains how stories about her family's escape from the Holocaust inform her work.
'Unprotected Texts': The Bible On Sex And Marriage
Thursday, March 10 2011 03:00 PM
Pastor Jennifer Knust says that the Bible shouldn't be used as a guidebook for marriage or sexuality because passages related to sex, monogamy, homosexuality and gender roles are more complex and nuanced than popular culture has led us to believe.
On '21,' Adele's Voice Is Wise Beyond Her Years
Wednesday, March 09 2011 05:14 PM
Adele won two Grammys in 2009 for her debut album, 19. She's just released her second album, 21, which was recorded when she was that age. (She's now 22.) Rock critic Ken Tucker says it's Adele's voice, even more than her material, that makes her special.
Trading Wall Street For Life In A Monastery
Wednesday, March 09 2011 04:27 PM
Henry Quinson was a very successful currency trader when, at the age of 27, he walked away from his comfortable life and joined a rural monastery in France. He shares his story and explains how he became an adviser for the 2010 French film Of Gods and Men.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore: Old-Time Sounds On 'Heirloom Music'
Wednesday, March 09 2011 04:00 PM
Gilmore travels back to the 1930s for inspiration on his forthcoming album, Heirloom Music. The Texas singer talks about his songs and his upcoming performance at the 2011 South by Southwest music festival in Austin.
Putting Wisconsin's Union Battle In Historical Context
Tuesday, March 08 2011 05:01 PM
In There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America, journalist Philip Dray follows the labor movement as it grew out of 19th century uprisings in textile mills. There are several parallels between those historical battles and what is currently going on in Wisconsin, he says.
Sam Chwat, Dialect Coach To The Stars (And To Us)
Tuesday, March 08 2011 04:41 PM
Sam Chwat, a dialect specialist who worked closely with people in business, politics and the film industry who wanted to lose their regional accents, died last Thursday. In 1994, Chwat explained how he helped clients like Robert DeNiro and Julia Roberts lose their famous regional dialects.
Angels Play The Harp, Printup Plays The Trumpet
Tuesday, March 08 2011 03:54 PM
Marcus Printup isn't the first trumpeter to combine the trumpet and the harp. It's long been an instrument where jazz women could make their mark. A Time for Love is a quiet and cozy album with Printup's wife, harpist Riza Hequibal, but it's never dull.
'Sweet Smell Of Success': Gossip With A Cutting Edge
Monday, March 07 2011 05:26 PM
The classic 1957 film about the gossip industry has been remastered and rereleased on DVD and Blu-Ray. Critic John Powers says the movie's Manhattan is a "seamy, deglamorized world in which small men destroy lives to make themselves big."
A Covert Affair: When CIA Agents Fall In Love
Monday, March 07 2011 04:16 PM
Former CIA operatives Robert and Dayna Baer met on the job and fell in love. They talk about their relationship and some of their assignments in The Company We Keep: A Husband-and-Wife True-Life Spy Story.
Tom Waits: A Raspy Voice Heads To The Hall Of Fame
Friday, March 04 2011 05:17 PM
On March 14, Tom Waits will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fresh Air honors the gritty vocalist with highlights from a 2002 interview, in which he discussed his musical influences and his longtime collaboration with his wife, Kathleen Brennan.
Alice Cooper: The Gentle Man Behind The Shock Rocker
Friday, March 04 2011 05:05 PM
Shock rocker Alice Cooper is a member of the incoming class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2007, he spoke to Terry Gross about the creation of the Alice Cooper persona, his early stage shows and his vaudevillian humor.
'Next Great Restaurant': Delicious Reality TV
Friday, March 04 2011 04:03 PM
February sweeps ended Wednesday, so most broadcast networks are back to reruns and reality shows. TV critic David Bianculli says that one of the reality shows, NBC's America's Next Great Restaurant, is much better than the rest — and makes him hungry for more.
'Of Gods And Men': A Moving Test Of Faith
Thursday, March 03 2011 09:30 PM
Xavier Beauvois' Of Gods and Men is inspired by the true story of seven French monks working in Algeria, who were kidnapped in 1996 during the Algerian Civil War and later executed. Film critic David Edelstein says the stark drama is both powerful and perceptive.
Grant Achatz: The Chef Who Lost His Sense Of Taste
Thursday, March 03 2011 04:28 PM
Two years after opening his award-winning Chicago restaurant Alinea, chef Grant Achatz was diagnosed with tongue cancer. He describes losing and regaining his taste in Life, on the Line. "My palate developed just as a newborn," Achatz says. "I don't recommend it, but I think it made me a better chef."