“Fresh Air” host Terry Gross appeared on Thursday’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” to discuss the closing of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the “huge” role the nonprofit played early in her career.
The CPB’s leaders voted Monday to formally dissolve the organization, which was originally created in 1967, after the Trump administration pulled its federal funding last year. Over the course of its six decades in operation, the agency helped steer federal funding to hundreds of public TV and radio stations throughout America, as well as PBS and NPR. The latter network is, of course, the national broadcaster for “Fresh Air,” which Gross began hosting 50 years ago.
When Gross was asked how big a role the CPB played in the early shaping of her career, the longtime radio host told Colbert, “Huge.” She recounted how she got her start at an NPR affiliate first as a volunteer because the college station in question only had the funding for five full-time, paid staff members.
“On the other end, when our show went from a local show to a national one, financially it could not possibly have happened without a major grant from the CPB to do all the things that we needed to do,” Gross revealed. She then added, “I think it was worth their investment. I mean, the show has endured.”
“It wouldn’t have happened without the CPB,” the “Fresh Air” host ultimately concluded. You can watch part of Gross’ “Late Show” appearance yourself below.
While Gross noted that she has not counted them all herself, she has been told that she has conducted between 15,000 and 18,000 interviews throughout her time hosting “Fresh Air.” When asked what she has learned from all of those interviews, Gross revealed, “A fair amount of artists and writers who I’ve interviewed were sick a lot during childhood and kind of cooped up at home.”
“I’ve found that a lot of artists and writers, they’re forced to stay home and they kind of busy themselves writing or watching a lot of TV and realizing, ‘Oh, I would love to act,’ you know?” the “Fresh Air” host explained. “It’s nice to know that because the worst things in your life can have a payoff sometimes if you’re really lucky … Although, I don’t believe every problem is really a gift, you know? I don’t buy that.”
Colbert, whose time hosting “The Late Show” is set to end in May, cheekily asked Gross if she would recommend hosting the same show for 50 years. “Well, the good thing about it is longevity,” she replied, adding, “And I haven’t had to move.”
