Skip to main content
Author Muriel Spark writing

Books & Literature

Filter by

Select Topics

Select Air Date

to

Select Segment Types

Segment Types

5,209 Segments

Sort:

Newest

20:52

A History of the Tobacco Industry.

Journalist Richard Kluger. He's written a new history of the tobacco industry in America: "Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris." (Knopf). Kluger was literary editor of the New York Herald Tribune. He also wrote for The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

Interview
18:02

Hakeem Olajuwon Discusses "Living the Dream."

Center for the Houston Rockets, Hakeem Olajuwon He was born in Nigeria, and came to the United States on a basketball scholarship to attend the University of Houston. He helped the team reach the NCAA Final Four. He's written his memoir, "Living the Dream: My Life and Basketball," (Little, Brown).

Interview
44:04

Donald Hall Pays Tribute to His Late Wife Jane Kenyon.

Poet Donald Hall. A year ago, his wife, poet Jane Kenyon died of leukemia. There's a new collection of her work, "Otherwise: New & Selected Poems" (Graywolf Press). Hall will read from the book, including the last poems she wrote, and discuss their life together. Hall also has a forthcoming book of poetry, "The Old Life," (Houghton Mifflin) to be published in June.

Interview
36:06

Patti Smith Discusses the Life and Work of Robert Mapplethorpe.

Poet, performer, and punk rocker Patti Smith. Early in her career she lived with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and -- she says -- the two helped each other form and develop their individual talents. (Her 1975 debut album cover was photograph was taken by Mappelthorpe.) Terry talks with Smith on the occasion of the publication of, "Mappelthorpe Altars," (Random House) the color companion volume to the collection of his black-and-white prints, "Mapplethorpe" published in 1992.

Interview
33:31

U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass.

U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass. He's written several books of poetry including "Praise" and "Human Wishes." He also edited "The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson & Issa."

Interview
13:41

A Satire Taken Seriously Turns Into a Popular Conspiracy Theory.

Publisher of The Nation, Victor Navasky. He was one of a group of writers who in 1967 conceived of a literary hoax. The book "Report From Iron Mountain," was penned by Leonard Lewin and was a satire, supposedly written by a commission of eminent scholars about the problems that would arise in the United States if "permanent peace" should arrive. The book has been compared to Swift's "A Modest Proposal" and "Dr. Strangelove" for its social and political commentary. It wasn't until 1972 that Lewin admitted the hoax.

Interview
19:51

Jack Miles on "God."

Former Jesuit seminarian and literary critic Jack Miles. He's just won the Pulitzer prize for his book, "God: A Biography." (Vintage). In the book he examines God as a character -- the protagonist -- of the Old Testament. Miles is also a columnist and member of the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times.

Interview
19:31

Morris Dees Discusses Domestic Terrorism, Part 2.

Chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center and its Militia Task Force, Morris Dees. His group has been monitoring the activity of militia and extremist groups. In fact, six months before the Oklahoma City Bombing Dees warned the U.S. Attorney General that the militia movement posed a serious threat. His new book is "Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat," (HarperCollins).

Interview
13:34

Morris Dees Discusses Domestic Terrorism, Part 1.

Chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center and its Militia Task Force, Morris Dees. His group has been monitoring the activity of militia and extremist groups. In fact, six months before the Oklahoma City Bombing Dees warned the U.S. Attorney General that the militia movement posed a serious threat. His new book is "Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat," (HarperCollins).

Interview
19:29

Film Editor and Sound Designer Walter Murch.

Film editor and sound designer Walter Murch. He won an Academy Award for sound design for "Apocalypse Now." Some of the films he's edited and/or mixed are "The Conversation," "American Graffiti," "Apocalypse Now," "The Godfather (II, and III)"and "Crumb." He's written a new book about his work, "In the Blink of An Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing," (Silman-James Press, L.A.)

Interview
21:01

Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie Discuss the "Blue Note Years."

Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie are co-founders of Mosaic Records, a label committed to reissuing classic jazz recordings, many of them originally recorded by Blue Note. The two have also collaborated on the new book, "The Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff," (Rizzoli International Publications). It includes 200 photographs taken by Francis Wolff from 1941-1965, who also co-founded the Blue Note label. Many of Wolff's photographs were used as Blue Note album covers.

21:03

"Ambivalent Zen."

Writer Lawrence Shainberg. His new book, "Ambivalent Zen: A Memoir," (Pantheon) is about his years practicing Zen Buddhism, and centers on Shainberg's relationship with his Zen teacher, Kyudo Nakagawa Roshi. "Both master and student live on in this hilarious, provocative account of what being a student of Zen has been." writes Gretel Ehrlich in her review.

Interview
35:45

The Twentieth Anniversary of the Quinlan Decision: Karen's Parents Share their Story.

Joseph and Julia Quinlan. They are the parents of Karen Ann Quinlan. It's been twenty years since the New Jersey State Supreme Court issued it's landmark decision (March 31, 1976) allowing their comatose daughter to be removed from a ventilator. She then lived nine more years. The Quinlans wrote about Karen in the book "Karen Ann: The Quinlans Tell Their Story," (Doubleday-1977). In 1980 they used the proceeds from the book to open the Karen Ann Quinlan Center of Hope Hospice in Newton, New Jersey. (201)383-0115

15:31

The Twentieth Anniversary of the Quinlan Decision: The Ethics of Removing Life Support.

Medical ethicist Art Caplan. He's Director of the Center for Bioethics and Trustee Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. He'll talk with Terry about the ethics of death and dying and how the debate has changed since the Quinlan's first brought their case before the court. Caplan's most recent book is "Moral Matters: Ethical Issues in Medicine and the Life Sciences." (John Wiley & Sons).

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