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Terry Gross, America's National Interviewer

 

Terry Gross is much more than a radio host, she is, problably, the most respected radio journalist in the USA today. She has run and presented "Fresh Air" on NPR for over 45 years, where she has interviewed the very best American actors, directors, musicians, authors, journalists, doctors, naturalists or international relations analysts. Stephen Colbert defined her unique interviewing style as a combination of  "a conversationalist, a therapist, and an oral historian" when she was presented with the Peabody Institutional Award (the Pulitzer of radio journalism) on June 6th, 2022. She also received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama in 2015 together with Louise Glück, Wynton Marsalis, Isabel Wilkerson or José Andrés. 

"Fresh Air" is a model for oral American English.  Personally, listenting to Terry Gross' conversations with her guests has helped me to keep my English alive and kicking here in Spain since digital radio podcasts started to be available 12 years ago or so. Many of its programmes are suitable for experts and teachers (above C2 level), mainly because they require some cultural background knowledge that most Spanish students do not yet possess, but I often select programmes for my C1 students, who truly start enjoying "Fresh Air" interviews, with the support of the script that NPR offers. If you want to listen to her, you just have to download the NPR app on your phone or just click on any of the links to "Fresh Air" on this blog.

Here below, you can find a 4':24" video which was published by WHYY in Philadelphia to celebrate the 35th anniversay of Fresh Air and the Peabody win. This video with subtitles can be suitable for B2 students and above and you will hear words like a full-time staff member, gruelling, an intern, a joy, to condense the brew, a national [radio] show, [our tastes] to overlap [very nicely], to edit the show, to boil [something] down to its essence, to go on tangents, to edit it out, a local [radio] show, to be carefully crafted, to fill in [for somebody else], to get her on invitations [to national shows], the highlights [of my career], the recipients [of an award], an impressive crew, a whole bunch of people, the ribbon, to put work into [the show].

Below, you can also find Stephen Colbert's presentation when Terry Gross and Fresh Air were awarded the Peabody Institutional Award. This 9':03"video with subtitles is accessible for B2 students and above, and you will come across words like WHYY, a national broadcast, an NPR staple, a playwright, a showrunner, a talk show host, to open up [about their work], a sultry [voice], an impish [laugh], effortlessly, to bring out [the unexpected], an attentive probing [and not] intrusive [listener], to display interest, to set [Fresh Air] apart, to eavesdrop on [a cocktail party conversation], to sympathize, to pick on [you], medical care, to strap on, a bulletproof vest, [a bomb] to go off, to fire [shots], worship [of god], to call up [somebody], to have a chat, to cry [my way to the grave], to lie face down, [on the ground], to tie [somebody] up, to beg for [your] life, the epitome [of the coolest], to hit [the mic], a rapper, the dopest Ethiopian, to be honoured, on behalf of [our team], worthy of [an award], a [calm] steady [person], a licensed [therapist], to learn on [the job], incredible terrific [staff], to sweat the details, transcripts, a juggling feat, the roll call, to single out [one], a [total] mench, to give [us] the confidence, to go off script, a caring [colleague], 

If you still want some more, here is an in-depth interview to Terry Gross for the BBC Radio 4 documentary "Archive on 4" (2021), where she talks to Dolly Alderton about her interviewing skills, her family background and about some of the most funny, poignant and revealing interviews she has had in her long career. This 57 minute-long radio programme without script is recommended for C2 students.

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