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Terry Gross at her microphone in 2018

Terry Gross

Terry Gross is the host and an executive producer of Fresh Air, the daily program of interviews and reviews. It is produced at WHYY in Philadelphia, where Gross began hosting the show in 1975, when it was broadcast only locally. She was awarded a National Humanities Medal from President Obama in 2016. Fresh Air with Terry Gross received a Peabody Award in 1994 for its “probing questions, revelatory interviews and unusual insight.” America Women in Radio and Television presented her with a Gracie Award in 1999 in the category of National Network Radio Personality. In 2003, she received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Edward R. Murrow Award for her “outstanding contributions to public radio” and for advancing the “growth, quality and positive image of radio.” Gross is the author of All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians and Artists, published by Hyperion in 2004. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and received a bachelor’s degree in English and M.Ed. in communications from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She began her radio career in 1973 at public radio station WBFO in Buffalo, NY.

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45:58

Novelist John Updike.

Writer John Updike. His new novel, "Toward the End of Time" (Knopf) is a chronicle of one man's life in America in the year 2020. Updike will read passages from the novel and answer questions posed by an audience in addition to the regular interview. Updike is the author of over forty volumes of work, and has received two Pulitzer prizes, the American Book Award, and two National Book Critic's Circle Awards. (Interview recorded at and for The Free Library of Philadelphia)

Interview
22:28

Communicating with Chimps.

Chimpanzee researcher Roger Fouts is the co-director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communications Institute. For thirty years, Fouts has worked with chimps, teaching them American Sign Language with great success. His new book, "Next of Kin: What Chimpanzees Have Taught me About Who We Are" (William Morrow) chronicles his studies and work, as well as his efforts to establish a sanctuary for the country's chimpanzees.

Interview
21:11

Wong Kar-Wai Discusses His Work and Life in Hong Kong.

Director Wong Kar-Wai . The writer and director of 1994's "Chungking Express," 1995's "Fallen Angels" and this year's "Happy Together," Wong has worked in the Hong Kong film industry for 15 years, and is continuing to gain a strong American following. Wong was named "Best Director" at this year's Cannes film festival for "Happy Together." He is currently working on his next film, "Summer in Beijing."

Interview
15:32

From the Archives: The Campaign Against Anti-Personnel Land Mines.

Surgeon for the International Committee of the Red Cross Chris Giannou. For 15 years he has been a surgeon in war torn parts of the world in Burundi, Somalia, and in a Palestinian Refugee Camp. He has seen the devastation on human beings from land mines. Giannouhas been a leader in the Red Cross's campaign to ban anti-personnel land mines worldwide (Giannou has been on the show a number of times. He wrote a memoir in 1994 about his work in the refugee camp, "Besieged: A Doctor's Story of Life and Death in Beirut." (Published by Olive Branch Press).

21:43

From the Archives: Veteran Film Director Robert Wise.

Director-producer Robert Wise is best known for his direction of screen musicals "West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music." Northern California's Mill Valley Film Festival honors WISE this month as part of its 20th anniversary celebration with the retrospective of his films, including 1945's "The Body Snatcher" 1951's "The Day The Earth Stood Still." WISE has served as president to both the Directors Guild of America and the Motion Picture Academy. (REBROADCAST FROM 3-7-89)

Interview
32:20

Sister Cecelia Clegg On Forging Peace In Northern Ireland.

Sister Cecelia Clegg, a Scottish Roman Catholic nun, works for peace in Northern Ireland by way of her project: "Moving Beyond Sectarianism," a workshop for Catholic and Protestant congregations to speak about their lives and their differences. In the three years she has lived and worked in Belfast, Sister Cecelia has been viewed as a British outsider to Irish Catholics as well as a Catholic outsider to Protestants.

Interview
14:00

The "Daughter of the Queen of Sheba."

NPR correspondent Jacki Lyden has written a memoir, entitled "Daughter of the Queen of Sheba" (Houghton Mifflin). It's a tale of her mother, who suffered from manic depression, often imagining herself as various historical and fictional characters. The book also touches on how her mother's illness influenced Jacki's fascination with "exotic" places, including the Middle East. Lyden was stationed in Baghdad as a correspondent during the Persian Gulf War.

Interview
52:29

L. B. J.'s Secret Whitehouse Tapes.

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss. He transcribed tapes, edited and provided commentary for the new book "Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963-1964" (Simon & Schuster). When Johnson took office, he began recording his daily private conversations. This book is the first volume of transcripts and covers the aftermath of the Kennedy Assassination, the creation of the Warren Commission, the civil rights bill, and the Tonkin Gulf attack, and his thoughts about the Vietnam war. Beschloss has written three other books.

45:37

Reevaluating Jung's Life and Work.

Biographer Frank McLynn and writer Richard Noll examine the life of 20th century Swiss psychologist Carl Jung in their latest biographies. Frank McLynn's work, "Carl Gustav Jung" (St. Martin's Press), touches on Jung's early career, his allegiance and later his break with Sigmund Freud, as well as Jung as a controversial figure and an icon of "new age" philosophy.

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