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Trash Talking: Director John Waters

He was once crowned "The Pope of Trash" by William Burroughs. Waters started photographing video stills off his television screen that became the raw material for his artwork. Many of those are collected in his book John Waters: Change of Life. His 1988 film Hairspray was made into a Tony award-winning Broadway musical. Waters' new film, A Dirty Shame, opens next month. (Rebroadcast from Feb. 25, 2004)

21:09
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Other segments from the episode on August 27, 2004

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, August 27, 2004: Interview with John Waters; Interview with David Rakoff; Interview with Robert Smigel.
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10:30

Writer David Rakoff, 'Comic Saint'

Rakoff is a regular contributor to Outside, the New York Times Magazine and public radio's This American Life. One of his peers, writer Paul Rudnick, calls him "a comic saint... an ideal mix of the crabby and the debonair." Rakoff has a collection of essays, Fraud, and he's appearing in an off-Broadway show by Amy and David Sedaris. (Rebroadcast from May 14, 2001.)

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15:51

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog

The comedic creation of Robert Smigel, the puppet with a cigar and an acerbic wit appears on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Triumph has also appeared on Hollywood Squares and on the MTV Video Music Awards, where one year he almost came to blows with Eminem. (Rebroadcast from Nov. 20, 2003.)

Interview

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42:51

Filmmaker John Waters

He was once crowned the "The Pope of Trash" by William Burroughs. Waters has a new book and art exhibit, which began when he started photographing video stills off his television screen. Many of the stills are collected in his new book John Waters: Change of Life. He also has his first major museum exhibit of the same name at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, which runs through April 18.

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