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Playwright Jon Robin Baitz Discusses the National Endowment of the Arts.

Jon Robin Baitz is a playwright who was awarded a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). While he has accepted the money, he has turned around and donated the exact amount to the two institutions that were recently turned down by the NEA's acting Chairwoman, Anne-Imelda Radice. He wrote a scathing letter to the endowment informing them of his two $7,500 donations to MIT and Vigrinia Commonwealth, saying, "I simply will not be complicit with faux-moralist sharpies of the Right, nor with psycho-sexual hysterics in the cultural sacking of this country." Baitz currently has two of his plays running Off-Broadway in New York: "The End of the Day" and "The Substance of Fire."

07:43
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Other segments from the episode on June 2, 1992

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, June 2, 1992: Interview with Terry McMillan; Commentary on music from Seattle; Interview with Jon Robin Baitz; Interview with Jill Collins; Review of the film "A Midnight…
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22:15

Novelist Terry McMillan.

Writer Terry McMillan. Her new novel, "Waiting to Exhale," (Viking) is about four strong, urban black women in their thirties, their successful careers, and their sometimes volatile relationships with black men. She says women -- both black and white -- are frustrated because they can't find a man who's willing to commit, and won't lie and cheat. Her previous novels are "Mama" and "Disappearing Acts."

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Poet and NEA Chairman Dana Gioia

In addition to heading the National Endowment for the Arts, Gioia (pronounced JOY-ah) is the author of several collections of poetry, including Interrogations at Noon. He has also translated the poetry of Italian Nobel Prize winner Eugenio Montale. Before he quit to become a poet, Gioia was a vice president at General Foods.

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Jane Alexander Discusses Her Career in Acting and at the N. E. A.

Actress Jane Alexander talks about her 4 years as Chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts. She served from 1993 through 1997 when the GOP controlled Congress targeted the agency for budget cuts. She was the first artist to head the NEA. Alexander has returned to acting and is writing a book on her experiences at the NEA.

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