Skip to main content
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.

Sort:

Newest

09:10

Actor and Director Alan Arkin

He's currently co-starring in the A&E series 100 Centre St.. Arkin plays Judge Joe Rifking. Arkin began his career with Chicago's Second City improv group. He went on to win a Tony on Broadway, in Carl Reiner's play Enter Laughing, and to star in movies such as The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Wait Until Dark, Catch-22, and The In-Laws. Arkin's directing credits include The Sunshine Boys and Little Murders on Broadway, and several movies and TV shows, including an episode of the PBS comedy series, Trying Times.

Interview
11:11

Film Director Sidney Lumet

Lumet has directed 40 films, which have received over 50 Academy Award Nominations. He's the creator and Executive Producer of the new A&E cable series, 100 Centre St. His films include Network, Fail-Safe, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Prince of the City. He details his craft in his book Making Movies.

Interview
43:58

Jazz Saxophonist Jackie Mclean

The legendary alto sax player began playing saxophone at the age of 15 in native New York City. Schooled in bebop at the start of his career, McLean names Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Charlie Parker as influences. He's played with jazz greats pianist Bud Powell, Miles Davis and Charles Mingus. He continues to play and record today. He also teaches music at the University of Hartford.

Interview
19:28

Gladys Knight

She has a new solo recording out this month, At Last. Knight began her singing career at age 4. Since that modest start, she went on to lead one of the most successful vocal soul groups in America, Gladys Knight and The Pips. The group stayed together for 39 years before disbanding.Among, the group's most notable songs include: I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Neither One of Us, and Midnight Train to Georgia. Knight then launched a solo career. Terry interviewed Knight before a live audience in San Francisco in 1996.

Interview
32:15

Fresh Air with Terry Gross

Poet John Balaram has translated the poetry of an 18th century Vietnamese concubine in the new book, –Spring Essence: The Poetry of Ho Xuang Huong— (Copper Canyon Press) Ho Xuang Huong won acclaim for her poetry despite the fact that she was a woman and she challenged established conventions. Most of her poems also were double entendres: a hidden sexual meaning lay behind her words. Balaban was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam war, and went back to the country after the war to collect and preserve Vietnamese folk poetry.

Interview
14:52

Singer Ronnie Spector

In the 1960s she was a member of the girl group, The Ronettes. They were already making records with a different label when producer Phil Spector signed them and turned them into hit makers. Their songs include Be My Baby, Baby, I Love You, and Walking in the Rain. Ronnie married Phil Spector, but the marriage ended in divorce.

Interview
14:13

Producer And Arranger Brian Wilson, A Genius Of Rock

Legendary composer, producer, arranger and performer Brian Wilson, formerly of the Beach Boys. It was Wilson who was most responsible for the Beach Boys' unique sound that fused harmonious rock with the ethos of surfing. After the success of the Beach Boys, Wilson's had a much-publicized 20-year struggle with drugs and emotional problems. In 1988 he produced his first solo album, Brian Wilson. Ten years later he recorded another solo album of new material Imagination.

Interview

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Advertisement

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue