Terry Gross
Stories
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A Jon Batiste holiday jam session
In part two of our interview, Batiste joins us from the piano and plays some of his favorite Christmas songs. He's the former band leader and music director for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
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'Fresh Air' presents: Christmas with Questlove
Roots co-founder Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson shares his Christmas playlist, which includes songs by DRAM, James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Originally broadcast Dec. 21, 2022.
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To make 'The Godfather' his way, Francis Ford Coppola waged a studio battle
Coppola was 29 when he signed on to direct a film. "I was young and had no power," he said in 2016, "so [the studio] figured they could just boss me around." Coppola is a 2024 Kennedy Center honoree.
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Miranda July talks 'All Fours' -- and the risks and rewards of changing your life
July's novel, about a 45-year-old married woman who has an erotic affair, grapples with themes of perimenopause and sexuality. "Fear in general is why I wrote the book," the filmmaker/writer says.
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Billie Eilish thought she'd always have a soft voice. Singing lessons changed that
The Grammy Award-winning singer says working with a vocal coach "honestly changed my life." Eilish and her brother/collaborator Finneas talk about their new album, Hit Me Hard and Soft.
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Why comic Ronny Chieng initially didn't tell his parents about his 'Daily Show' gig
"I didn't want to brag," the Malaysian-born comic says. "I just wanted to do the work." Chieng now costars in the series Interior Chinatown, and has a new Netflix comedy special, Love to Hate It.
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'Wicked' star Cynthia Erivo says she often sings 'with a bit of a smile'
The British actor and singer played abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Harriet, and Aretha Franklin in Genius: Aretha. Now she's defying gravity as Elphaba in Wicked. Originally broadcast Oct. 18, 2021.
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'Does This Taste Funny?' is a Colbert family cookbook
What do cooking and a nightly TV show have in common? Both require "a little care, a little love and a little imagination," says Stephen Colbert. He and his wife Evie Colbert have written a cookbook.
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Jon Batiste finds the Blues in Beethoven
Batiste re-imagines Beethoven compositions in his new album. It's "not that the original wasn't great and transcendent..." he says. "But there's also a lot of things since then that have happened."
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Werner Herzog says it's not good to circle 'your own navel' but wrote a memoir anyway
The German filmmaker reflects on his unusual life and the curiosity that has fueled his career in the memoir, Every Man for Himself and God Against All. Originally broadcast Oct. 25, 2023.
