'Fresh Air' Turns 20
Funnyman Mel Brooks()
May 18, 2007 What's more tasteless than turning the Spanish Inquisition into a lavish song-and-dance number? Try a Broadway musical saluting Adolf Hitler. These are the kinds of insane spectacles that have made Mel Brooks a titan of American comedy. This interview originally aired on July 30, 1991.
Author Norman Mailer()
May 17, 2007 Norman Mailer once wrote that before he was 17, he'd formed the desire to be a major writer. That wish certainly came true. One political campaign, two Pulitzer Prizes and an unprecedented level of controversy later, he's a literary grandee unlike any other. This interview originally aired on Oct. 8, 1991.
Comedian Richard Pryor()
May 17, 2007 Comedian Richard Pryor once confessed that he started his career by imitating Bill Cosby — but that there was a world of junkies and winos, pool hustlers and prostitutes inside his head, and all of them were screaming to get out. This interview originally aired on May 22, 1995.
Bluster and Satire: Stephen Colbert's 'Report'()
December 7, 2005 Comic and journalist Stephen Colbert is the former senior correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show. And true to the industry he parodies, Colbert's incisive work has landed him in the anchor's chair on a show of his own.
Comedian Chris Rock()
May 15, 2007 Twenty-six-year-old comic Chris Rock grew up in Brooklyn, got his start in show business performing stand-up in Manhattan, and spent three years on Saturday Night Live. He's appeared in a few films as well, including the recent Beverly Hills Ninja. Now he's the star of his own comedy and talk-show series, The Chris Rock Show; it premieres Feb. 7 on HBO. This interview was originally broadcast on Feb. 6, 1997.
'Sopranos' Creator David Chase()
May 16, 2007 David Chase's hit HBO series The Sopranos is as much about stress as it is about violence; mob boss Tony Soprano seeks therapy not just because of troubles in the Family, but because his kids and his wife and especially his mother have done a number on him. This interview originally aired on June 22, 2000.
