Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Actor, director, screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton on this archive edition of Fresh Air. The 1996 film Sling Blade which he wrote, directed and starred in put him on the map and earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted screenplay. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 1998 film A Simple Plan. Last year he directed the film All the Pretty Horses.

In honor of his upcoming 65th birthday, jazz bassist Charlie Haden is on this edition of Fresh Air. As a child he sang with his family on their country music radio show. Later he worked with Ornette Coleman when Coleman's music created controversy and sometimes provoked a violent response by listeners. Haden has also worked with Art Pepper, and Paul Bley, and he's recorded with many artists including Abbey Lincoln, Bill Frisell, Joshua Redman, Rick Lee Jones, and more.

Pianist and singer Michael Feinstein on this edition of Fresh Air. His repertoire is American popular song. Early in his career he was an assistant to Ira Gershwin. He's also a collector of vintage recordings and musical memorabilia especially that of the 1920s thru the 1940s. In the fall, he plans to release a collection of radio duets by Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, on his new record label Feinery. Recently Rhino records released an anthology of Feinstein's recordings.

Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid on this edition of Fresh Air. He has just returned from several weeks in Afghanistan. His book, Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia, is now out in paperback. He's also the author of Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. Rashid is a correspondent for The Far Eastern Economic Review and The Daily Telegraph, reporting on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Todd Gitlin, Mara Verheyden Hillard, and Bob Edgar discuss the peace movement on this edition of Fresh Air. Todd Gitlin was a leader of the peace movement in the 1960s. He is a former president of Students for a Democratic Society, and author of a number of books including The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage, and Media Unlimited.

Senator Joseph and Hadassah Lieberman on this edition of Fresh Air. Sen. Lieberman (D-CT) was Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential election. He and his wife have just written a memoir of the campaign, titled An Amazing Adventure: Joe and Hadassah's Personal Notes on the 2000 Campaign. On Monday, the third-term senator announced he would be running as a candidate for president in 2004.

Former Presidential hopeful, Senator Bob Dole and editor/publisher Jason Epstein on this archival edition of Fresh Air. Bob Dole's's the best selling author of Great Political Wit. His new book, called Great Presidential Wit (_I Wish I was in the Book, is a collection of funny anecdotes and quotations by or about American Presidents. Dole was the longest-serving Republican leader in Senate history.

Congresswoman and lawyer Eleanor Holmes Norton on this edition of Fresh Air. In her forty years of public service she's championed for civil rights, helped write the guidelines that are now established in the Sexual Harassment Act, worked for reform in South Africa, and has argued before the Supreme Court. Her titles have included Commissioner on Human rights in New York, the first woman appointed to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and law professor.

Journalists Thomas Ricks and Vernon Loeb on this edition of Fresh Air. They cover the military for The Washington Post. They'll discuss military preparedness for the war with Iraq. They collaborated on the special report "Unrivaled Military Feels Strains of Unending War: For U.S. Forces, a Technological Revolution and a Constant Call to Do More." In it they said, "The more capable the U.S. military has become, the more it has been asked to do, and now strains are beginning to show."

It's the 2002 wrap up on this edition of Fresh Air. Film critic John Powers reviews the year-end movies, book critic Maureen Corrigan offers her list of the best books of 2002, writer John Szwed talks about his new biography of Miles Davis, and jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews some holiday box sets.

Sound archivist Jeff Place and jazz trumpeter Steven Bernstein on this edition of Fresh Air. Jeff Place is the head archivist for the Ralph Rinzler folklife archives and collections of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Place is featured on the upcoming History Channel special Save our History: Save Our Sounds.

A talk about the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness Program on this edition of Fresh Air. The Pentagon's Total Information Awareness Program would allow federal agencies to share information about American citizens and aliens (thru the mining of databases from driver's licenses, bank statements, and telephone records, and more), and other post 9/11 security measures.

Journalists Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele are in the first half and director Todd Haynes and designer Mark Friedberg are on the second half of Fresh Air for today, December 16, 2002. Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporters, have written together since the 1970s for several major newspapers and magazines. Their latest piece covers Native American owned casinos and appears in this month's TIME magazine.

Film critic David Edelstein and rock critic Ken Tucker on this year-end edition of Fresh Air. David Edelstein talks with host Terry Gross about his picks for the best films of 2002. The list includes Gangs of New York, Far From Heaven, Lovely and Amazing, The Pianist, and Igby Goes Down.

Dusty Springfield biographer Vicki Wickham and DJ and hip hop forefather Grandmaster Flash on this archive edition of Fresh Air. With writer Penny Valentine, biographer Vicki Wickham recently published Dancing with Demons: The Authorized Biography of Dusty Springfield.

Rock musician Wayne Kramer and linguist Geoff Nunberg on this encore edition of Fresh Air. Guitarist, singer, songwriter Wayne Kramer founded the MC5, a Detroit band considered to be the prototype for punk rock, in the late 1960s. By 1972, the band had burned out. In between then and now, Kramer did time in jail for drugs, teamed up with Don and David Was to found the group Was (Not Was), and began a solo career.

Novelist John Searles and photographer Marion Ettlinger on this edtion of Fresh Air. John Searles is the author of the best seller Boy Still Missing. He relates the saga of getting his photograph taken for a book jacket. Marion Ettlinger is a leading portrait photographer specializing in writers. Her photos end up on many book jackets.

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.

Special effects artist Ray Harryhausen and actress and rapper Queen Latifah on this edition of Fresh Air. Ray Harryhausen created model-animation and composite cinematography techniques. His trademark Dynamation method made possible a whole genre of science fiction and fantasy filmmaking.

Activist Floyd Cochran on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Cochran used to be a recruiter and public relations man for the racist, anti-Semitic Aryan Nations, based in Idaho. In 1992, Cochran left the group and denounced it and its racist views. Now he travels the country speaking out against white supremacy movements and the philosophy of hatred. (Original Broadcast Date: March 21, 1994)