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A Novel of Desperate Characters Struggling for a Voice

Book critic John Leonard says poet Brad Leithauser writes difficult fiction. The author's new novel, Hence, features an apocalyptic view of the modern world. Leonard calls it a contradictory book filled with Nabokovian cleverness.

03:37
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Other segments from the episode on January 3, 1989

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, January 3, 1989: Interview with Audre Lorde; Review of three albums in the "New New Orleans" jazz series; Interview with John Schulian; Review of Brad Leithhauser's novel …
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27:24

Poet, Essayist and Activist Audre Lorde

Lorde is open about her identity as a black lesbian feminist; she hopes her visibility will help other women like her feel less alone. She joins Fresh Air to talk about her romantic relationships with men and women, and the tensions between African American and feminist communities. Her new collection of essays, A Burst of Light, deals with her experience with breast cancer.

Interview
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06:37

Documenting the "New New Orleans"

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says that a number of New Orleans musicians left the city after they rose to prominence. He reviews a new series of albums featuring the innovations of players who stayed in their hometown.

Review
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09:28

A Sportswriter Switches to Television

TV writer John Schulian says his career change was a logical one: he was a good writer and sick of sports journalism. He got his break on the show L.A. Law. He's now the executive story editor on Wiseguy.

Interview

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Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

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06:39

"The Learner Must Always Be Led From the Familiar to the Unfamiliar."

Contributor Ilene Segalove takes us on a tour of The Museum of Jurassic Technology, a Los Angeles museum of "unnatural history." The museum features exhibits of the bizarre and improbable, such as the "Deprong Mori," a South American bat that uses X-ray to fly through solid objects, or the way extreme ultraviolet rays appear to restore the flesh to a skeleton.

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Daughter of Warhol star looks back on a bohemian childhood in the Chelsea Hotel

Alexandra Auder's mother, Viva, was one of Andy Warhol's muses. Growing up in Warhol's orbit meant Auder's childhood was an unusual one. For several years, Viva, Auder and Auder's younger half-sister, Gaby Hoffmann, lived in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. It was was famous for having been home to Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, Virgil Thomson, and Bob Dylan, among others.

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This fake 'Jury Duty' really put James Marsden's improv chops on trial

In the series Jury Duty, a solar contractor named Ronald Gladden has agreed to participate in what he believes is a documentary about the experience of being a juror--but what Ronald doesn't know is that the whole thing is fake.

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This Romanian film about immigration and vanishing jobs hits close to home

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