A fascinating collection of revealing and entertaining interviews by the award-winning host of National Public Radio's premier interview program Fresh Air.
Over the last twenty years, Terry Gross has interviewed many of our most celebrated writers, actors, musicians, comics, and visual artists. Her show, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, a weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues produced by WHYY in Philadelphia, is one of National Public Radio's most popular programs. More than four million people tune in to the show, which is broadcast on over 400 NPR stations across the country.
Gross is known for her thoughtful, probing interviewing style. In her trusted company, even the most reticent guest relaxes and opens up. But Gross doesn't shy away from controversy, and her questions can be tough--too tough, apparently, for Bill O'Reilly, who abruptly terminated his conversation with her. Her interview with Gene Simmons of Kiss, which is included in the book, prompted Entertainment Weekly to name Simmons its male "Crackpot of the Year."
For All I Did Was Ask, Gross has selected more than three dozen of her best interviews--ones of lasting relevance that are as lively on the page as they were on the air. Each is preceded by a personal introduction in which she reveals why a particular guest was on the show and the thinking behind some of her questions. And in an introductory chapter, the normally self-effacing Gross does something you're unlikely ever to hear her do on Fresh Air--she discusses her approach to interviewing, revealing a thing or two about herself in the bargain.
The collection focuses on luminaries from the art and entertainment world, including actors, comedians, writers, visual artists, and musicians, such as:
Conan O'Brien Chris Rock Michael Caine Dennis Hopper Dustin Hoffman Jodie Foster John Updike Mary Karr Mario Puzo Nick Hornby Chuck Close Eric Clapton George Clinton Sonny Rollins Samuel L. Jackson Johnny Cash Isabella Rossellini Divine Uta Hagen Carol Shields

The popularity of radio for purposes of instruction and entertainment is a remarkable phenomenon, the full significance of which we have hardly yet grasped. Spiritual Radio is vindicating the work of the great mystics of Christian history; it is demonstrating that the "Interior Life" is not limited to the seclusion of the cloister, but produces a robust type of Christian manhood and womanhood that makes for leadership and achievement in the marvelous age in which our lot is cast.

James Grout, Jimmy Mulville, Robert Duncan and Andy Hamilton star in six episodes from the third and fourth series of Old Harry's Game, the comedy series set in Hell. Satan may rule the roost, but he's beset by the poor unfortunates condemned to sit out Eternity with him. Amongst them are the Professor, who is convinced that societies evolve and mature until Satan introduces him to Bill Clinton. There's also Scumspawn, who here finds himself trying to deal with a lager lout, and a new arrival in the form of a Health and Safety Officer - who soon announces that the lighting in Hell is inadequate. As for Satan himself, in this batch of episodes he is concerned about his image on Earth, persuaded to remake Casablanca (with Bogart, Bergman and a mutant alien), and determined to prove that the English are the worst nation on Earth. He also takes offence to W.B. Yeats' verse description of him - and so pays a visit to the underworld's own Poets' Corner. The episodes in this volume are: Series Three, Episode One, 24 March 1999; Series Three, Episode Two, 31 March 1999; Series Three, Episode Three, 7 April 1999; Series Four, Episode Two, 5 April 2001; Series Four, Episode Three, 12 April 2001; Series Four, Episode Four, 19 April 2001. A fiery furnace of brilliant one-liners and biting satire, Old Harry's Game is the insider's guide to Hell. 'One of the great comic creations of recent years' - Sunday Telegraph. '... one of the best-written comedies around, sustained over its 12 years on the air by brilliant performances and production' - Daily Telegraph. 3 CDs. 2 hrs 48 mins.

Angela Carter is best known for her novels, short fiction and journalism, but she also produced a substantial body of writing for media other than the printed page, including five radio plays, two film adaptions, an original television documentary and a number of unrealised scripts for stage and screen. Despite increasing academic interest in Carter's work, these dramatic writings have largely been ignored. In this book, Charlotte Crofts redresses this lack of critical attention by examining Carter's dramatic writings together for the first time (including two unpublished works), giving them a more central position in the Carter canon. Divided into three sections on radio, film and television, the book's interdisciplinary approach is underpinned by reference to exclusive interviews with the directors and producers with whom Carter collaborated, giving a unique insight into processes of adaptation and the technologies of media production. The author demonstrates how, far from being an aberration from her real vocation as a writer of fiction, Carter's writing for radio, film and television is an extension of her self-professed demythologising practice. Essential reading for those engaged in the research and teaching of Angela Carter, this book will also appeal to a wider academic and sixth-form audience and those with a general interest in literary, cultural, and media studies.

Science and technology had a significant influence on American culture and thought in the years immediately following World War II. The new wonders of science and the threat of the Soviet Union as a powerful new enemy made science fiction a popular genre in radio, television, and film. Mutant creatures spawned by radioactive energy and intergalactic dictators unleashing horrific weapons upon Earth were characteristic of science fiction at the time and served as warnings to the very real dangers posed by the atomic age. This work examines science and science fiction in American culture beginning in the year World War II ended and going to 1962, the year of John Glenns orbital flight and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The radio work of Arch Oboler and the significance of his "Rocket from Manhattan, " which aired only one month after the dropping of the first atomic bomb and asked serious questions about the use of atomic energy, are examined. Other topics are the conflict between the free world and the Communist world in the context of science fiction plot lines, the dangers of science as shown in films like Godzilla, Them!, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and radio and television programs, the flying saucer phenomenon and the treatment of such stories in the media (with special attention given to the 1956 documentary UFO), the changing and more positive depictions of scientists, television programs like Flash Gordon and Space Patrol, the shift in the balance of world power due to the successful launching of Sputnik I by the

Was the first radio news network for blacks a boon--or a bust? Author Sanders was there from the beginning and stayed on the air for over 20 years. Here he recounts the trials and tribulations of launching--and sustaining--the pride of a pioneering network.

"How to DJ" is the insider's guide to becoming a professional DJ. Written by two industry insiders who DJ and produce hit records throughout the world, this is the concise, how-to sourcebook that comes straight from real DJs and musicians. They explain and demonstrate everything you need to know---from the basics of what DJs do and how they got their careers off of the ground to the worldwide phenomenon of DJ/producers who work with the biggest names in the business and make the music in the charts today.
-- top advice on how to DJ---from selecting what to spin to getting gigs to keeping your audience dancing
-- technology made easy---what you need and how to set it up
-- how the DJ and music business works and how to rise to the top
-- how to make hit records at home
-- interviews and tips from celebrity DJs including Tall Paul, Boy George, Tim Westwood, Andy Cato, Mr. C, Andy Wilson, BT, Jeremy Healy, Allister Whitehead, and Sasha.

The classic serial, invented by BBC Radio Drama sixty years ago, survived and adapted itself to television, the arrival of colour and the global market in what has become a flood of classics with all channels competing for ratings and overseas sales. This richly detailed book traces these developments and analyses the genre's response to social, economic, technical and cultural changes, which have re-shaped it into the form we recognise today. The book contains considerable interview material with performers and media professionals.

The classic serial, invented by BBC Radio Drama sixty years ago, survived and adapted itself to television, the arrival of colour and the global market in what has become a flood of classics with all channels competing for ratings and overseas sales. This richly detailed book traces these developments and analyses the genre's response to social, economic, technical and cultural changes, which have re-shaped it into the form we recognise today. The book contains considerable interview material with performers and media professionals.

Writing for radio brings together theoretical and practical aspects of radio writing. It deals with writing for all principal radio genres - short stories, plays, documentaries/drama documentaries, talks and features, adaptations/dramatisations, poems, and advertisements. It contains historical overviews of the genesis and development of each of these categories and attempts an analysis of the nature of radio itself. For the first time there is an attempt to isolate a 'radio language', a syntax and vocabulary guaranteed to produce pictures in the mind of the listener. This means radio can be taught as an academic subject as all writing - prose, drama and verse, can be tested as radio and examples for analysis are used from both broadcast and non-broadcast work. -- .

This volume gathers together, for the first time in English translation, Brecht's own writings on the new film and broadcast technologies that revolutionised arts and communication in the early part of the twentieth century This book includes all of Brecht's theoretical writing about film, radio, broadcasting and the new media written between 1919 and 1956 as well as all of his important screenplays produced during the 1920s and 1930s. Screenplays written during this time include an early sound-film adaptation of The Threepenny Opera, and a collaboration with Fritz Lang, Hangmen Also Die. Brecht's writings on the new media document his fascination with it from Weimar Germany to Hollywood and the movie industry.A must for students of Brecht and film studies alike.

"soundBAIT" is a formula for radio-marketing success that has been developed for 1) radio station account executives who want to attract new advertisers, 2) radio advertisers who want their hard earned marketing dollars to produce dramatically better results and 3) radio listeners who demand that you at least entertain them while you interrupt the flow of music or talk on their favorite station. "soundBAIT" examines what radio stations should be looking for in an advertiser, what an advertiser should be looking for in a radio station and most importantly, what listeners expect advertisers to use as "bait" in their messages before they will "bite" at the products and services advertisers offer them.

With this invaluable resource, Stern's 16 million weekly listeners can keep a wealth of information stored at their fingertips--from Howard's middle name (Alan) and favorite food (Chinese) to his least successful school subject (chemistry). It's everything a fan needs to know!

There are approximately 502 million radios in America. For this savvy, far-reaching diary, celebrated journalist and author Vowell turned hers on and listened--closely, critically, creatively--for an entire year.
As a series of impressions and reflections regarding contemporary American culture, and as an extended meditation on both our media and our society, this keenly focused book is as insightful as it is refreshing.
Throughout "Radio On," "Vowell's touch is about as delicate as Teddy Kennedy's after a pitcher of martinis" (Richard Roeper, "Chicago Sun-Times").

Here is a first-hand portrait of the flamboyant American genius who became a titanic figure in twentieth century popular culture. Orson Welles revolutionised theatre, terrified a nation of radio listeners, and made cinematic history with Citizen Kane, regarded by many as the greatest American film ever made.

Beginning in the 1970s Chicana and Chicano organizers turned to community radio broadcasting to educate, entertain, and uplift Mexican American listeners across the United States. In rural areas, radio emerged as the most effective medium for reaching relatively isolated communities such as migrant farmworkers. And in Washington's Yakima Valley, where the media landscape was dominated by perspectives favorable to agribusiness, community radio for and about farmworkers became a life-sustaining tool. Feminista Frequencies unearths the remarkable history of one of the United States' first full-time Spanish-language community radio stations, Radio KDNA, which began broadcasting in the Yakima Valley in 1979. Extensive interviews reveal the work of Chicana and Chicano producers, on-air announcers, station managers, technical directors, and listeners who contributed to the station's success. Monica De La Torre weaves these oral histories together with a range of visual and audio artifacts, including radio programs, program guides, and photographs to situate KDNA within the larger network of Chicano community-based broadcasting and social movement activism. Feminista Frequencies highlights the development of a public broadcasting model that centered Chicana radio producers and documents the central role of women in developing this infrastructure in the Yakima Valley. De La Torre shows how KDNA revolutionized community radio programming, adding new depth to the history of the Chicano movement, women's activism, and media histories.

A dazzling insight into what gives meaning to our life and to us as a species. What makes us human? From Carlo Rovelli on the particles of dust that make us, to Caitlin Moran on the joy of Friday nights, and A C Grayling on how we express ourselves through culture: this illuminating book shares 130 mind-expanding answers to that question. We all want to understand our place in the universe and find a sense of purpose in the life. This book will help the reader navigate that journey with the help of leading names from the worlds of literature, history, philosophy, politics, sport, comedy and popular culture. Originally broadcast as a popular feature on the Jeremy Vine Show, What Makes Us Human? includes short essays from: Andrew Marr, Carlo Rovelli, Marian Keyes, Alain de Botton, Robert Webb, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry, and many more.

British Radio Drama, 1945-1963 reveals the quality and range of the avant-garde radio broadcasts from the 'golden age' of British radio drama. Turning away from the cautious and conservative programming that emerged in the UK immediately after World War II, young generations of radio producers looked to French theatre, introducing writers such as Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco to British radio audiences. This 'theatre of the absurd' triggered a renaissance of writing and production featuring the work of Giles Cooper, Rhys Adrian and Harold Pinter, as well as the launch of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Based on primary archival research and interviews with former BBC staff, Hugh Chignell places this high-point in the BBC's history in the broader context of British post-war culture, as norms of morality and behavior were re-negotiated in the shadow of the Cold War, while at once establishing the internationalism of post-war radio and theatre.