Terry Gross

In 2008, jazz pianist Fred Hersch slipped into an AIDS-related coma for more than two months. When he came out of the coma, he couldn't walk, eat or play piano. Hersch explains how he rebuilt himself after his illness and composed music for his latest album, Whirl.

An ongoing investigation by PBS' Frontline, The Times-Picayune and ProPublica examines the many violent incidents that took place between police officers and civilians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Reporter A.C. Thompson recounts the difficulties of trying to piece together the details.

After writing "We Will Rock You" and touring around the world as the lead guitarist in Queen, Brian May made an unusual career choice: He got his Ph.D. in astrophysics. May explains how Queen developed its distinctive sound and explains his fascination with stereoscopic photographs taken in the 1850s.

His third novel, Super Sad True Love Story, is a black comedy set in a futuristic America — where books don't exist and where the economy has collapsed. Shteyngart explains why he decided to write a love story in this dystopic vision of the future — and why he thinks technology is changing the way we think.

NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr died a week ago at the age of 93. School covered Watergate for CBS and broke many major stories, including a secret U.S. plot to assassinate Fidel Castro. Fresh Air remembers the legendary broadcast journalist with highlights from a 1994 interview.

Technology can prolong the lives of the terminal ill -- but at what cost? Surgeon and New Yorker writer Atul Gawande examines the difficulties for medical professional and families who must decide when to stop medical intervention and focus on improving a patient's last days.

In December 2008, the Rev. Richard Cizik was forced to resign from his position in response to comments he made on Fresh Air in support of same-sex civil unions. He returns to the show to discuss how his life has changed -- and why he believes evangelicals need to change, too.

Reporter Mark Mazzetti was one of several reporters from The New York Times who sifted through the 92,000 secret military documents leaked by WikiLeaks. He explains how the Times worked to verify the information in the documents -- and what the information means for the future of the war in Afghanistan.

The six-time Emmy winning writer explains how he came up with the idea for the major plot shakeup at the end of the third season and details his favorite moments from the series.

The songwriter talks about some of his greatest hits, including "MacArthur Park" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." His latest album, Just Across the River, features a series of duets with some of the singers he wrote for, including Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams and Vince Gill.