A Breath of Fresh Air

Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s long-running “Fresh Air,” switched hats Friday afternoon as she fielded questions from a group of students and fans during a seminar sponsored by the Office for the Arts as part of its “Learning from Performers” series. Gross, whose probing cultural interviews have earned her the reputation as one of the best interviewers on the air, has built her reputation on 25 years of getting to know many of the most influential and talented artists, musicians, actors and writers in the world. Intrinsic to Gross’ style is her capacity to listen and her knowledge of her subjects; characterized as intelligent, sympathetic and indefatigably curious, Gross has built a devoted following of fans who count on “Fresh Air” as a cultural barometer in a media deluged by tabloid romps. Two million listeners tune in every week for Gross’ picks and pans, and those who attended her seminar on Friday afternoon or her talk in Sanders Theater that evening, were finally able to put a face to a very familiar voice.

Gross proved herself as adept an interviewee as she is an interviewer: Students and aspiring journalists posed questions about her interviewing style, how she began her career and the kinds of interviews she has done over the years. Perched atop a stool in the basement of Loker Commons, Gross recollected her own years as a college student at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and how she only got into radio when a housemate’s girlfriend gave up her spot at the feminist radio station. Fired from her first job as a teacher, Gross subsequently began her job as an interviewer for WHYY, a local station in Philadephia. As a 24 year-old interviewing subjects often twice her age, Gross coined her trademark style from drawing her questions from pure curiosity and lack of knowledge, and listening intently to the responses she received. Today, 25 years later, although her subjects are often younger, and her own knowledge more complete, Gross’ style remains similar: She listens, and listens well.

Gross went on to address some of the issues that accompany her job as an interviewer and as an interviewer on a public radio station. She emphasized the importance of radio as the most ideal medium for the interview, because it is unencumbered by the time limits of television and the importance of the image. Gross observed, “I don’t have to worry about how I look, or how to smile. During the interview, I just turn into a big ear. I’m very well-suited to the invisibility of radio.” Especially with reticent guests—Gross cited the example of her own idol, Stephen Sondheim—the radio allows time to find the appropriate questions, and allows Gross, as she put it best, “to be in the environment of who they are.”

When asked about her most memorable interview, Gross replied without hesitation, “Monica Lewinsky.” She then shared with students her indecision over whether or not to agree to do the interview at all, but went ahead thinking that she would regret it if she passed the opportunity up. Stumped by what to possibly ask a woman who had already been asked every question imaginable, Gross read the Lewinsky memoir as part of her preparatory research. She recalls being struck by how much it read like a romance novel, especially given the realities of the relationship. When she posed this contradiction to Lewinsky during the interview, Lewinsky chose to walk out. Gross went on to address the ethics of doing an interview in which both interviewer and interviewee are equally uncomfortable, and cited the case as a good example of the fine line a journalist treads between voyeurism and journalism.

Gross wrapped up the seminar by addressing the personal impact her job has had on her own life. She recounted a story of a woman who approached her at an airport to tell her that her husband, who she had just recently lost to cancer, had loved “Fresh Air” and spoke often of Gross. Gross then counseled students aspiring to follow in her footsteps that the key to successful interviewing is genuine compassion: “The more you genuinely care about a person, the more they will tell you, and the more you will touch the lives of your listeners.”