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Renowned Gymnastics Coach Bela Karolyi on Escaping Communist Romania

Karolyi coached Nadia Comaneci in the 1976 Olympics, where she was the first person to score perfect tens in Olympic history. Karolyi and writer Nancy Ann Richardson have collaborated on a biography of his life, called "Feel No Fear." The book tells of Karolyi's defection from Romania to the U.S., and how he brought the American gymnasts Mary Lou Retton and Kim Zmeskal into the public eye.

16:18
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Other segments from the episode on July 26, 1994

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, July 26, 1994: Interview with John Sundin; Interview with Bela Karolyi; Commentary on Little League baseball in poor communities.
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22:45

Providing Medical Care to the Wounded and Ill in Rwanda

Last week, a cholera epidemic broke out in Rwanda, and the country now has limited medical facilities and few physicians. Dr. John Sundin worked during May and June at the Red Cross hospital in Kigali, Rwanda. He'll talk about the cholera epidemic, and about his experiences working as the only surgeon in Kigali.

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Oppression and Abortion in Mungiu's '4 Months'

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, a new film about a young woman's illegal abortion in Ceausescu's Romania, won the top prize at Cannes and has just opened in the U.S. It's a fierce and unsentimental film; Terry Gross talks to Mungiu about growing up in a totalitarian state, and why he wanted to make the movie.

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'4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days' of Struggle

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, a new film by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, follows two women trying to arrange an illegal abortion in the repressive days of Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship.

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