Blank on Blank(2012)

2. Surfer Kelly Slater on Problems in his Perfect Life

2012-07-13

6m

"My life was getting worse, not better, and it should have been getting better, because I've accomplished all the things I wanted to accomplish." ~Kelly Slater Kelly Slater is a world champion surfer. He's arguably the best of all time. The Michael Jordan of surfing. He has it all. Or does he? During an interview with Josh Baron of Relix magazine, Slater let down his guard and told the real story. He talked about his failings out of the water in his personal life. You'll enjoy the personal conversation. One note: all the music you're about to hear is Kelly Slater playing the guitar and singing songs he wrote. It's not something you always hear during an interview. Interview by Josh Baron, editor-in-chief of Relix magazine Nov. 17, 2008 // The Bowery Hotel, New York // Digital recorder

3. Muhammad Ali On Going To Mars

2012-09-17

6m

It was the summer of 1966 when a persistent 17-year-old with a high school radio show near Chicago got the interview of lifetime: Muhammad Ali. But only a handful of people ever got to hear this time capsule. Until now. Ali epically riffs about fighting on Mars, traveling through time, and explaining why big talk and boasting got him a shot at a title fight faster than other challengers. "Some of them thought I was crazy," Ali said. "They were frightened of me." Interview by Michael Aisner // Muhammad Ali Fan Club, Chicago 1966 // reel-to-reel tape recorder

4. Dave Brubeck on Fighting Communism with Jazz

2013-01-10

6m

"If I told you all the stories about what happened to people if they were caught listening to jazz." - Dave Brubeck in 2008 Interviewer: John Dankosky WNPR Music: Dave Brubeck Quartet live at the 2008 Litchfield Jazz Festival

5. Larry King on Getting Seduced

2013-03-19

6m

"I'm playing these records. The phone rings and I pick it up: 'WAHR'. And this lady's voice--I can still hear her voice--she goes: 'I want you.'" - Larry King Interview by Cal Fussman Esquire writer-at-large Los Angeles, 2001

6. Jim Morrison on Why Fat is Beautiful

2013-04-02

6m

"What's wrong with being fat? That's what I want to know." - Jim Morrison Interview by Howard Smith TheSmithTapes.com / Villagevoice.com Los Angeles, 1969

7. David Foster Wallace on Ambition

2013-04-17

6m

"If your fidelity to perfectionism is too high, you never do anything." - David Foster Wallace Interview by Leonard Lopate, WNYC March 4, 1996 Interview originally aired on the Leonard Lopate Show

8. Beastie Boys on Being Stupid

2013-04-30

6m

"There's a way we talk and it includes profanity. We never figured we'd be arrested for it." - Mike "Mike D" Diamond Interview by Rocci Fisch for ABC News Radio 1985, Washington, D.C. Cassette Tape

9. Wilt Chamberlain on Tall Tales

2013-05-14

6m

"I think a lot of ladies found me so attractive because I was different." - Wilt Chamberlain Original interview aired in 1992 on "Sports Innerview with Ann Liguori"

10. James Brown on Conviction, Respect & Reagan

2013-05-28

6m

"Black is not a color; it's an attitude. It's the attitude of independence, respect and dignity." - James Brown Interview by Rocci Fisch 1984. Washington, D.C. Convention Center Originally recorded for ABC News Radio

11. Maurice Sendak on Being a Kid

2013-06-10

6m

"I still think the same way I thought as a child. I still worry. I'm still frightened... Nothing changes." - Maurice Sendak Interview by Andrew Romano and Ramin Seetodeh 2009. Sendak's home in Connecticut

12. Louis Armstrong on His Chops

2013-06-25

6m

"You've got to be good or as bad as the devil. ... Even if we had two, three days off I still had to blow that horn a few hours to keep up the chops." - Louis Armstrong Interview by Michael Aisner and James R. Stein 1964. Ravinia near Chicago Originally aired on WNTH - Winnetka, Illinois

13. Farrah Fawcett on Stiletto Power

2013-07-09

6m

"I've got on these stiletto heels aimed for his face." - Farrah Fawcett Interview by Lawrence Grobel 1994, Hollywood

14. Fidel Castro: The Lost Interview

2013-07-23

6m

"If this Revolution falls, what we will have here in Cuba is a hell. Hell itself." - Fidel Castro Clark Hewitt Galloway interviewed Fidel Castro in Havana in 1959 in the midst of the Cuban revolution. His story ran in U.S. News & World Report. Galloway’s granddaughter, Laura Galloway, held on to her grandfather’s interview tape.

15. Janis Joplin on Rejection

2013-09-23

6m

"In my insides, it really hurts if someone doesn't like me. It's silly." - Janis Joplin Howard Smith interviewed Janis Joplin by phone on September 30, 1970. This turned out to be the last interview Janis ever did. She died on October 4, 1970. Howard was writing for the Village Voice.