Showing results by narrator "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Satirist Al Franken and actor Michael J. Fox on this edition of Fresh Air. Al Franken's new book spoofs how-to-succeed books. It's called Oh, The Things I Know! A Guide to Success, or, Failing That, Happiness. Franekn is former co-producer of Saturday Night Live where he created the self-help guru Stuart Smalley ("I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"). He's also the author of Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations.

British comedian, stand-up performer, and actor Eddie Izzard on this edition of Fresh Air. Izzard is currently selling out venues in the U.S. and Canada with his new stand-up show Circle. He has won over fans with his quirky comedy and his cross-dressing. The Chicago Tribune says, "Izzard lives up to his billing. He's very bright, very fast, and very hip."

Actor Matt Damon and writer John Ridley on this edition of Fresh Air. Matt Damon's film The Bourne Identity is being released on DVD next week. The Bourne Identity is a thriller about a man with amnesia flushed out of the Mediterranean Sea, riddled with bullet holes. Damon has been in many hit films, including The Talented Mr. Ripley, Saving Private Ryan and Good Will Hunting, which he co-wrote with close friend Ben Affleck.

Writer David Sedaris and actor Alan Cumming, 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 newest Me Talk Pretty One Day which was just released in paperback. Scottish actor Alan Cumming co-wrote, co-directed, and is co-starring in the new film The Anniversary Party, along with Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Jazz historian Will Freidwald and actor John Ritter on this edition of Fresh Air.

Computer programmer Linus Torvalds on this edition of Fresh Air. He is the creator of Linux, a computer operating system intended to improve upon Unix. When Torvalds wrote the original code in 1991, he sent it out on the Internet to allow anyone to make changes and improvements.

Veteran actress Angela Lansbury on this archive edition of Fresh Air. She's spent over 50 years in the business on stage, and in film and television. When she was 17 she debuted in Gaslight, and was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Ingrid Bergman's Cockney maid.

Comedian Mort Sahl on this edition of Fresh Air. Before The Onion, Weekend Update and The Daily Show, Sahl's shtick satirized the news of the day. It's the 50th anniversary of Sahl's first appearance at The Hungry Nightclub in San Francisco.

Writer and director Terry Gilliam and British actor Simon Russell Beale on this edition of Fresh Air. Terry Gilliam's new film is Lost in La Mancha. It's a documentary about Gilliam's failed attempt to adapt the story of Don Quixote to the screen. The film Gilliam was supposed to make was titled The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, starring Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis and Jean Rochefort.

Photographer Joel Meyerowitz on this edition of Fresh Air. He took three portraits of the World Trade Center Towers in 1981.

Writer F.X. Toole and Professor Michael A. Bellesiles on this edition of Fresh air. At age 70, F.X. Toole has just published his first book.

Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra Benjamin Zander and British actress Brenda Blethyn, on this edition of Fresh Air.

Journalist Naomi Klein and American Film Institute founder George Stevens, Jr. on this edition of Fresh Air. Klein, author of No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, takes a look at the global reach of multinational corporations, their pervasive use of branding to sell a concept, the impact on culture and society, and the protest movement that's resulted. Stevens was a production assistant on the 1952 classic western Shane, directed by his father George Stevens.

Jazz musician James Moody and Screenwriter and novelist Richard Price. Just after World War II, Moody joined the bebop big band of Dizzy Gillespie and played with Milt Jackson. His most famous recording is of an improvisatory piece he performed in 1949, now known as "Moody's Mood For Love." Terry talked to him in 1996, about his CD, Young At Heart, which had just been released. It is a collection of Frank Sinatra tunes.

Editors Robert Gottlieb and Robert Kimball on this edition of Fresh Air. Gottlieb and Kimball have collaborated on the new book Reading Lyrics, an anthology of some of the most important lyricists of the last century, including the lyrics of George M. Cohan, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, Lorenz Hart, Dorothy Field, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, and more.

On this edition of Fresh Air, host Terry Gross speaks with Michael Pollan. To learn more about the meat industry in the US he bought a calf, and then followed the process from fattening it to slaughter. He wrote about it in the Sunday, March 31st issue of The New York Times Magazine. The article "Power Steer" is the cover story. Pollan is also the author of the book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World.

Writer and producer Chris Albertson and performance artist and writer Rhodessa Jones on this edition of Fresh Air. Chris Albertson is considered an authority on blues singer Bessie Smith. His 1971 biography of Smith has been reissued in a new revised and expanded edition. It's called Bessie and it contains new details on Smith's early years, new interview material, and a chapter devoted to responses to the original publication.

Journalist Elizabeth Neuffer and The New Yorker staff writer, Philip Gourevitch on this edition of Fresh Air. Elizabeth Neuffer is the Foreign Affairs/UN Correspondent for The Boston Globe. She recently returned from Iran. Earlier this year she was in Iraq. She's also reported on the war on terrorism from Afghanistan.

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.

Hear interviews with three of the biggest names from this year's Academy Award ceremonies, winner for Best Director for Traffic , Steven Soderbergh, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director Ang Lee and star Michelle Yeoh.