Terry Gross
Fresh Air with Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley is a nationally recognized radio program and podcast, featuring in depth conversations exploring a wide variety of popular culture, news and issues. The show sets the standard for long-form audio interviews. Presenting Fresh Air with its second Peabody Award, Stephen Colbert said, “This NPR staple is where many of us come for some of the most insightful interviews anywhere, a place where artists, musicians, actors, directors, playwrights, authors, poets, showrunners [and] talk show hosts, open up about their work, their process and their life.”
Fresh Air is one of public media’s most popular programs, with over 3.8 million listeners weekly on over 646 NPR stations. For over 35 years, co-executive producer and host Terry Gross has engaged in conversations with newsmakers to open windows into their hearts, minds and work. In 2015, President Obama presented Gross with a National Humanities Medal, which recognized how her interviews have “pushed public figures to reveal personal motivations behind extraordinary lives — revealing simple truths that affirm our common humanity.” A regular contributor since 2021, award-winning public media journalist Tonya Mosley was named co-host of Fresh Air in April 2023.
Tonya Mosley is an Emmy award-winning journalist and the co-host of Fresh Air. Previously, she was the co-host of NPR’s midday program Here & Now, where she led daily coverage during the Trump administration, the pandemic, and the racial reckoning of 2021. On January 6, 2021, she hosted live NPR special coverage of the insurrection as it was happening. Before radio, Mosley created award-winning news features and long-form television programming as a producer, reporter, anchor, and correspondent for various outlets, including NBC and Al Jazeera America. She is also the creator and host of the award-winning podcast Truth Be Told, and She Has A Name.
Fresh Air is produced at WHYY Inc. the leading public media organization in the greater Philadelphia region and distributed nationally by NPR. In addition to Terry and Tonya, Fresh Air’s roster of commentators add reviews of books, music, film, TV and podcasts. Fresh Air has received two Peabody Awards. The 1994 Peabody citation recognized the program for its, “probing questions, revelatory interviews and unusual insights,” and in 2022 Fresh Air won its second Peabody in the Institutional category.
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In The Secret War Against Hate, Steven J. Ross details the racist, anti-Semitic groups that sprang up in the latter half of the 20th century — and the spy network that worked to bring them to justice.
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As a teen, Yousafzai risked her life speaking out against the Taliban. "At the time, what scared me more was a life without an education as a girl," the Nobel-winner told Terry Gross at a live event.
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Once called the "King of Bad Taste," Waters is known for his off-beat cult films Pink Flamingos and Polyester, as well as the more mainstream Hairspray. Originally broadcast in 2014 and 2019.
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Peet is always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Except last year there seemed to be three different shoes, as she faced her parents' deaths and a breast cancer diagnosis.
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Known for her often dark, poetic songs and powerful guitar riffs, St. Vincent is backed by a 60-piece orchestra in her new album, St. Vincent: Live in London! Originally broadcast April 23, 2024.
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In 2020, Annabelle Gurwitch went to urgent care for a COVID-19 test and learned she had cancer. She writes about life as a "cancer slacker" in her memoir, The End of My Life is Killing Me.
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Known for his ruthless celebrity roasts, Ross turns inward in his Netflix special, Take a Banana for the Ride, which details the loss of his parents and grandfather.
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Torres talks about the obstacles he faced in the immigration system after he came to the U.S. from El Salvador in his 20s. His new HBO Max show is Color Theories. Originally broadcast March 11, 2024.
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Meyers, who died March 7, helped shape Tex-Mex music with the '60s band Sir Douglas Quintet and then with the Texas Tornados. His signature sound was on the vox organ. Originally broadcast in 1990.
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In addition to his kung fu and action films, Norris, who died March 19, starred in the TV show Walker, Texas Ranger. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1988 about learning karate while stationed in Korea.