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Journalist Edwin Newman on Language

Newman worked in newspapers, radio and television. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the importance of language in journalism, the voice he adopted to report on tragedies and assassinations, and how he filled airtime when the copy ran out. A new collection of his columns is called I Must Say.

26:56
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Other segments from the episode on November 23, 1988

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, November 23, 1988: Interview with Edwin Newman; Review of Lou Harrison's album "Piano Concerto; Suite for Violin, Piano, and Small Orchestra"; Interview with Patrick…
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06:44

A Western Composer Takes His Cues from the East

Composer Lou Harrison studied with Arnold Schoenberg and Henry Cowell, and collaborated with John Cage. But classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz says that a new recording of his music reveals an Asian influence. It's a calming addition to the late-20th century repertory.

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09:36

An Author Find Horror in Decay

Writer Patrick McGrath grew up near England's Broadmoor mental hospital, where his father worked. He is now a horror writer. His collection of short fiction is called Blood and Water and Other Tales. A novel is forthcoming.

Interview
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03:44

What Dictionaries Are Good For

Linguist Geoff Nunberg says that dictionaries remove words and their meanings from any sort of context, which makes them inefficient tools for students seeking to expand their vocabularies. But dictionaries can reveal a lot about simple words, which are often the hardest to define.

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Journalist Joe Hagan says the upcoming election will be "the ugliest campaign ever." He details how superPACs have changed the election game, bringing an unprecedented flood of outside money to fund opposition research and negative ads.

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The Future of the News Media

Investigative reporter Lowell Bergman is the producer of the new documentary, News War: Secrets, Spin and the Future of the News. The series is about the mainstream news media and the political, legal and economic forces at play.

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