Fresh Air with Terry Gross, April 19, 2004: Interview with Michael Sokolove; Review of Ian Rankin's 'A question of blood' and Andrew Taylor's 'An unpardonable crime.' Review of debut album by the Eagles of Death Metal called “Peace love death metal.'

Since its national debut in 1987, Fresh Air with Terry Gross has been a highly acclaimed and much adored weekday magazine among public radio listeners. Each week, nearly 4.8 million people turn to Peabody Award-winning host Terry Gross for insightful conversations with the leading voices in contemporary arts and issues. The renowned program reaches a global audience, with over 620 public radio stations broadcasting Fresh Air, and 3 million podcast downloads each week. Fresh Air has broken the mold of 'talk show' by weaving together superior journalism and intimate storytelling from modern-day intellectuals, politicians and artists alike. Through probing questions and careful research, Gross's interviews are lauded for revealing a fresh perspective on cultural icons and trends. Her thorough conversations are often complemented by commentary from well-known contributors. Fresh Air is produced at WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and broadcast nationally by NPR.
(1.) MICHAEL SOKOLOVE ('SO-ko-lov') is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine. His new book 'The Ticket Out: Darryl Strawberry and the Boys of Crenshaw' (Simon & Schuster) is about the former baseball star whose drug addiction ended his career and the high school team in South Central L.A. that he was once part of. SOKOLOVE calls it 'the greatest assemblage of talent in the whole history of high school baseball.' (2.)Book critic MAUREEN CORRIGAN reviews two new mystery novels: 'An Unpardonable Crime' (Hyperion) by Andrew Taylor, and 'A Question of Blood' (Little, Brown) by Ian Rankin. (3.) Rock critic KEN TUCKER reviews the debut album by the Eagles of Death Metal called 'Peace Love Death Metal.' The group's drummer is Josh Homme of the hard-rock band Queens of the Stone Age.