Terry Gross
Born 1951 · Age 74
American radio journalist, host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, longtime public-radio interviewer known for in-depth, well-researched conversations with authors, artists, thinkers and newsmakers.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Brooklyn, New York
Terry Gross was born in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, to Anne (Abrams) and Irving Gross; grew up in a Jewish immigrant family.
Graduated Sheepshead Bay High School
Completed high school in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
Married high-school boyfriend (brief)
While in college, she married a high-school boyfriend; the marriage lasted about a year and ended in divorce by the time she began radio work.
Took a year off to hitchhike across the U.S.
Took a year off from college to hitchhike across the country; an experience she has said shaped her perspective.
Hired as 8th-grade English teacher (fired after six weeks)
Began teaching 8th grade at an inner-city junior high in Buffalo; was fired after six weeks, saying she was ill-equipped to establish discipline.
Earned bachelor's degree (University at Buffalo) [approx]
Completed undergraduate studies, majoring in English (date not explicitly stated; estimated based on timeline).
Began radio career at WBFO (SUNY–Buffalo)
Started at WBFO as a volunteer; worked on feminist program 'WomenPower' and co‑hosted 'This Is Radio', focusing on women's rights and public affairs.
Completed M.Ed. in communications (University at Buffalo) [approx]
Earned a Master of Education in communications at SUNY–Buffalo (exact year not stated; placed in early 1970s in sources).
Joined WHYY-FM and began hosting Fresh Air
Moved to Philadelphia to host and produce Fresh Air, then a local interview program on WHYY-FM.
Danny Miller joined Fresh Air (intern -> longtime producer)
Danny Miller arrived as an intern in 1978; later became associate producer and then executive producer, forming a decades-long creative partnership with Gross.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting Award (Best Live Radio Program)
Fresh Air/Gross received a CPB award for Best Live Radio Program.
Fresh Air went national (weekly half-hour) via NPR
WHYY launched a weekly half-hour edition of Fresh Air (distributed nationally by NPR) while the show remained local and daily.
Ohio State Award
Fresh Air / Terry Gross received an Ohio State Award (broadcast journalism honor).
Fresh Air expanded to daily, hour‑long national program
Fresh Air became a daily, one-hour national program (lead-in to All Things Considered).
Performed in The War of the Worlds remake (radio) as 'Rose Butler'
Played a radio host in a 1988 radio remake produced by WGBH and picked up by ~150 NPR stations.
Honorary Doctor of Letters (Drexel University)
Received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Drexel University.
Peabody Award for Fresh Air
Fresh Air (with Terry Gross) received a George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting (sources give 1993/1994; 1993 cited by multiple institutional sources).
SUNY–Buffalo Distinguished Alumni Award
Received Distinguished Alumni recognition from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Peabody Award (alternate source year)
Some sources list the Fresh Air Peabody award as 1994 (discrepancy in records); included because multiple texts mention Peabody in mid‑1990s.
Married Francis Davis
Married jazz critic Francis Davis in 1994; they had been a couple since 1978 and lived in Philadelphia.
Released 'Fresh Air on Stage and Screen' audio (cassette)
Published an audio collection of Fresh Air interviews (two-cassette set; dates given as 1996, 1998 in sources).
Doctor of Letters (Haverford College) & Guest lecturer at UC Berkeley
Received honorary Doctor of Letters from Haverford College and was a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism (spring 1998).
Released 'Fresh Air on Stage and Screen' audio (two-cassette set / CDs)
Audio collections of interviews released compiling notable Fresh Air guests and interviews.
Gracie Allen Award (National Network Radio Personality)
Awarded by The Foundation of American Women In Radio and Television in the National Network Radio Personality category.
Released 'Fresh Air on Stage and Screen' Vol. 2 (CD)
Second volume of audio interviews published on CD in 2000.
Controversial interview with Gene Simmons (KISS)
Gene Simmons objected to Gross's pronunciation of his original surname and to questions; he initially refused permission for web posting (interview included in Gross's book).
Fresh Air national reach ~425 stations; >5,000 national-run interviews
CPB press release noted Fresh Air was carried on about 425 NPR stations and Gross had conducted over 5,000 interviews during the national run plus many from the local years.
Fresh Air achieved major national listenership milestones (early 2000s)
By the early 2000s Fresh Air was broadcast on hundreds of stations and had weekly audiences in the millions (CPB cited ~4 million in 2003).
Received Edward R. Murrow Award (CPB)
Corporation for Public Broadcasting presented Gross the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for fostering public radio's quality and service.
Bill O'Reilly interview walkout
Fox News host Bill O'Reilly walked out of his Fresh Air interview, generating national controversy over perceived bias and interviewing tactics.
Published 'All I Did Was Ask' (book)
Collection of interviews and reflections published by Hyperion (2004).
Included controversial Gene Simmons interview in book 'All I Did Was Ask'
The 2002 Gene Simmons episode was included in Gross's 2004 book; the episode had initially been withheld from NPR's website by Simmons but later archived.
Lynne Cheney interview controversy
Interview with Lynne Cheney became contentious after Gross asked about Cheney's daughter and same-sex marriage, with Cheney refusing to answer some questions.
Literarian Award (National Book Foundation) and SUNY Doctor of Humane Letters
Received the Literarian lifetime achievement award and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from SUNY–Buffalo.
Columbia Journalism Award (Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism)
Received Columbia Journalism Award in recognition of contributions to journalism.
Guest voice on The Simpsons — 'The Debarted' (estimated)
Appeared as herself in the Simpsons episode 'The Debarted' (episode title mentioned in sources; year estimated from context).
Authors Guild Award for Distinguished Service to the Literary Community
Recognized by the Authors Guild for contributions to the literary community.
Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame
Terry Gross was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in recognition of her decades-long work on Fresh Air.
Appeared in Mike Birbiglia short film 'The Secret Criminal Life of Terry Gross'
Participated in a short comedic film by Mike Birbiglia that plays on her persona as an interviewer.
Fresh Air anthology video 'Fresh Air 2: 2 Fresh 2 Furious' (short film)
Mike Birbiglia's short film related to Fresh Air appeared in 2012.
Fresh Air #1 downloaded podcast on iTunes; reaches ~624 stations & ~5M weekly listeners (2015 stat)
NEH cited Fresh Air as broadcast on 624 NPR stations and reaching five million listeners weekly; in 2015 it was the top downloaded podcast on iTunes.
Awarded National Humanities Medal
Received the National Humanities Medal (White House/NEH citation) for 'artful probing of the human experience' across thousands of interviews.
Guest on 'Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me' (Not My Job)
Appeared as a contestant on NPR's weekly news quiz show in the 'Not My Job' segment answering Hulk Hogan questions.
Fresh Air archive described as 'priceless' and being made searchable
NEH/Humanities article described WHYY's effort to create a word-searchable digital archive of Fresh Air programs, reflecting the program's cultural significance.
WHYY/CLIR digital archive project underway/completed for Fresh Air
WHYY, with a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources, completed/created a searchable digital archive of Fresh Air programs; NEH article discusses archival value (2016).
Guest-voice on Cartoon Network's 'Clarence' (episode 'Public Radio')
Appeared as Aberdale Public Radio host Debra Copper in a June 2017 episode.
Guest voice on The Simpsons — 'The Girl on the Bus' (estimated)
Appeared as herself in another Simpsons episode titled 'The Girl on the Bus' (title mentioned in sources; year estimated from context).
Interviewed Henry Louis Gates Jr.; later invited for 'Finding Your Roots'
Henry Louis Gates Jr. appeared on Fresh Air, and Gates subsequently invited Gross to appear on PBS's Finding Your Roots.
Appeared on PBS's 'Finding Your Roots'
Explored her Jewish heritage on Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s PBS program Finding Your Roots (air date Jan 2020).
Performed in audiobook and animation voice role
Appeared as a fictionalized version of herself in the audiobook of Max Brooks's Devolution and is credited as the voice of Pam in HBO Max's The Fungies! (sources list these roles around 2020).
Peabody Institutional Award presented to Fresh Air
Fresh Air (with Terry Gross) was honored with an institutional Peabody Award in 2022 (presentation included Stephen Colbert tribute).
Continued high-profile Fresh Air interviews (example: Roger Corman episode heard 2024)
Terry Gross continued to conduct and broadcast major interviews into 2024 (NPR listings show Fresh Air interviews and retrospectives in 2024).
Death of spouse Francis Davis
Francis Davis, longtime husband of Terry Gross and former jazz critic, died in April 2025; they had been married since 1994.
Oral history interview published (Public Radio Oral History Project)
KLCC published an extensive oral-history transcript/interview with Terry Gross discussing her life and career (published July 21, 2025).
Key Achievement Ages
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