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Radical Writer Jessica Mitford

Mitford grew up in a wealthy English family. She cultivated her leftist politics early in life, and became an anti-fascist activist. She joins Fresh Air to talk about her relationship with the Communist Party during the McCarthy era, her early book about the death industry, and growing older.

28:27
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Other segments from the episode on May 16, 1989

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, May 16, 1989: Interview with Jessica Mitford; Commentary on the song "Body and Soul"; Interview with Susie Bright; Commentary on San Francisco.
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09:47

Susie Bright Celebrates Women's Sexuality

Contrary to many other feminist activists, Bright believes that the anti-pornography movement discourages women from exploring their sexuality and developing what she calls an "erotic literacy." She edits the S&M-themed magazine On Our Backs, which revels in fantasies that are at once controlled and dangerous.

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20:42

Journalist Ian Johnson

He is the author of Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China. In the book, he chronicles the stories of three ordinary Chinese citizens who fought government oppression. They each fought locally but brought about national change. Johnson says economic reforms have created a space for dissent in Chinese culture. Johnson is the Berlin bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. In 2001, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the Falun Gong.

Interview

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52:30

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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