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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.

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15:07

100 Years Of Jazz Clarinetist Artie Shaw

In the 1930s and '40s, Artie Shaw's band ranked with the Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey and Glenn Miller bands in popularity. But he largely rejected pop tunes and stuck with music by composers such as George Gershwin and Irving Berlin. Fresh Air remembers one of jazz's greatest clarinetists and big-band leaders with excerpts from a 1985 interview.

Interview
45:42

Priest Fights Gangs With 'Boundless Compassion'

For 20 years, the Rev. Gregory Boyle has run Homeboy Industries, an anti-gang program that employs and is run by ex-gang members in Los Angeles. Boyle recently had to lay off most of his staff because of financial problems. He recounts the decades he's helped ex-gang members turn their lives around in a new memoir, Tattoos on the Heart.

Interview
43:23

Ling Sisters Recount Laura's Capture In North Korea

After journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained in North Korea in 2009, Laura's sister, fellow journalist Lisa Ling, worked tirelessly to bring them home. In a conversation with contributor Dave Davies, the sisters detail the incident that ended with former President Bill Clinton bringing them home.

43:42

Anwar Al-Awlaki: An American Citizen, A CIA Target

Once seen as a moderate Islamic cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki is now a jihadist hiding in Yemen, regarded as so dangerous that he reportedly is being targeted to be killed by the CIA. New York Times reporter Scott Shane explains how the American-born cleric has inspired attacks, including the recent Times Square car bombing attempt.

Interview
20:19

Woody Harrelson: From 'Cheers' To 'The Messenger'

Actor Woody Harrelson has played a happy-go-lucky bartender on the TV series Cheers, a serial killer in Natural Born Killers and an Army officer assigned the task of delivering death notices to families of fallen soldiers in The Messenger. He discusses his career and the characters with Fresh Air contributor Dave Davies.

Interview
21:06

Lena Horne's Story, As Told By Her Daughter

When Lena Horne first signed with MGM, the studio wanted her to play a maid. But on the advice of Paul Robeson and her father, she refused. Fresh Air remembers the legendary star of stage and screen with this interview conducted in 1986 with Horne's daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley.

Interview
43:35

The Joys And Struggles Of International Adoption

Writer John Seabrook was in the process of adopting a baby girl from Haitin when the country was hit by the massive earthquake in January. He writes about his own experience with international adoption -- and the history and perils of the practice -- in The New Yorker.

Interview
42:54

Covering A Terrorism Hearing At Guantanamo Bay

Omar Khadr has been held at Guantanamo Bay for eight years. He is accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan at age 15. A pretrial hearing for Khadr started last month, and journalist Spencer Ackerman says it's likely to indicate whether President Obama's changes to the military commissions are substantive or simply cosmetic.

Interview

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