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Drummer Ahmir Thompson

He is also known as "Questlove" of the hip-hop group The Roots. The Grammy award-winning sextet has six albums to its credit. Their latest CD is Phrenology. Their first single from the album is "Break You Off." One reviewer writes, "To fully savor the sound, you've got to commit to spending time with The Roots, to wallow in both the music and the message. There's Chuck Berry-style rock-and-roll, jazz fusion, funk, poetry, shoutouts to hip-hop pioneers, lyrical slaps upside the heads of money-mad rappers, black nationalism and some groove-laden neo-soul musings." This interview previously aired February 6, 2003.

21:11
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Other segments from the episode on June 6, 2003

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, June 6, 2003: Interview with Questlove; Interview with Gary Shteyngart; Review of the film "Capturing the Friedmans."
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19:50

Writer Gary Shteyngart

His debut novel, The Russian Debutante's Handbook, received critical acclaim and is now out in paperback. The main character of the book, like Shteyngart, is a Russian-American Jew who emigrated to the United States as a child. In a New York Times Magazine cover article, Daniel Zalewski wrote, "Gary Shteyngart has rewritten the classic immigrant narrative — starring a sarcastic slacker instead of a grateful striver. And after all his parents have done for him!" This interview first aired July 2, 2002.

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05:35

Movie Review: 'Capturing the Friedmans'

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Capturing the Friedmans, a new documentary by Andrew Jarecki about a family torn apart by charges of pedophilia and child molestation.

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52:30

'Fresh Air' presents: Christmas with Questlove

Amir “Questlove” Thompson plays us Christmas recordings – some favorites and some unusual ones. He’s perhaps the most popular DJ in America, in addition to being the co-founder of The Roots, the houseband for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” This year he won an Oscar for his documentary “Summer of Soul.”

Interview
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50:33

Questlove's Roots: A 'Meta' Memoir Of A Lifetime In Music

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, the co-founder of and drummer for the hip-hop band The Roots, has been a musician since he was a teen. In Mo' Meta Blues, he explains how his musician father groomed him for a life in show business from an early age.

Roots drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson) playing drums in sunglasses

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