Segments by Date

Fresh Air broadcasts a lecture by Alan Dundes about how folklore has influenced our behaviors, social customs and popular culture.

Minimalist composer Steve Reich explains his approach to writing music.

Part one of Terry Gross's interview with Linda and Conrad Bishop, a married couple who write and perform theater pieces for a variety of different settings and audiences.

Part two of Terry Gross's interview with Conrad Bishop and Linda Bishop. They perform two short dramatic pieces and talk about their theatrical influences.

Tom Waits discusses his fame, his unique voice and his small role in the film Paradise Alley.

Part two of Terry Gross's interview with James Burke and Linda Burke, the son and granddaughter of songwriter Joe Burke.

Joe Burke was an influential popular songwriter. Terry Gross talks about his legacy with his son James Burke and granddaughter Linda Burke, and plays some classic recordings of his songs. This is part one of her interview.

Billy Taylor performs improvisations and jazz standards in front of a live studio audience, then tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about his career.

Terry Gross interviews three Philadelphia-area bartenders about their experiences.

Steve Rash recently directed his first film, The Buddy Holly Story, about the late rock and roll progenitor.

Drummer Mickey Roker tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about his performing an recording career as a jazz musician.

Rita Mae Brown's novels are celebrated as landmark feminist and lesbian works of fiction.

Scholar Deirdre Bair explains how she came to write an the biography of novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett.

Terry Gross continues her interview with jazz producer Bob Porter. He talks about reissuing recordings from the Savoy Record Company.

Part one of an interview with jazz record producer Bob Porter. He talks about his work with the Savoy Record Company and how he chooses what recordings to reissue for new audiences.

Classical singer Marni Nixon is best known for dubbing vocals for musical films like West Side Story, My Fair Lady, and The King and I. She tells Terry Gross about expanding the audience for opera and concert music.

Bassist David Izenzon earned a doctorate later in life and became a practicing psychotherapist. He discusses his jazz career and how he began to help musicians reduce their use of marijuana.

Steve Sabol, co-founder of the production company NFL Films, explains how to make engaging football movies, and how to train an award-winning staff with no prior film experience.

Terry Gross interviews author David Slavitt, who also writes "salacious" and popular novels under the name Henry Sutton. They also look at how movies have influenced his writing.

Sam Dockery talks about his start as a jazz pianist and his experiences performing and recording with other notable musicians.