Fresh Air with Terry Gross, October 26, 2012: Interview with Robert Moog; Review of 'My Muse' the new recording by pianist George Cables's trio; Interview with John Cage; Review of the film 'Cloud Atlas.'

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.) We rebroadcast an archive interview with inventor ROBERT MOOG (rhymes with 'vogue'). This weekend Moogfest, the festival of electronic and visionary music, is taking place Fri. Oct. 26 and Sat. Oct. 27 in Asheville, NC, the city MOOG called home. He was the inventor of the Moog synthesizer, an electronic keyboard that makes unworldly sounding electronic music. He invented it in 1965, and his product went on to usher in a new era of rock and electronic music. The Beatles used a Moog synthesizer on their 1969 Abbey Road album. Moog also had a lifelong interest in the Theremin, a Russian musical instrument that also makes eerie sounds. Moog died in 2005 at the age of 71. (REBROADCAST from 2.28.00) (2.) Jazz critic KEVIN WHITEHEAD reviews My Muse (Highnote) the new recording by pianist George Cables's trio. (3.) We rebroadcast a portion of our archive interview with composer JOHN CAGE. September marked the centennial of his birth, and celebrations are being held around the world. The New York Times wrote that Cage "started a revolution by proposing that composers could jettison the musical language that had evolved over the last seven centuries, and in doing so he opened the door to Minimalism, performance art and virtually every other branch of the musical avant-garde." His compositions include spoken texts, radios, toys and the sounds of vegetables being chopped. CAGE died in 1992. (REBROADCAST FROM 1982) (4.) Film critic DAVID EDELSTEIN reviews the new film Cloud Atlas.