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Saying that it’d take more than a slightly lowered pitch and affected southern drawl to fool them, listeners reported that the day’s guest on NPR’s “Fresh Air” was obviously just host Terry Gross doing a voice.
“I don’t know why she thought this was going to work,” said Lisa Wainwright, who thought about calling in and letting Gross know that everyone knew but decided to see how it would play out. “She said she was speaking in studio to Gavin Degraw, and then there was some shuffling and I heard her say in this really weird voice, ‘Glad to be here, Terry. Yes, I am Gavin Degraw. I’m so happy to be here in the studio and not canceling at the last minute to do a TV interview.’"
Added Wainwright, “Then he mentioned again that he was Gavin Degraw and wasn’t Terry Gross doing a voice, and that’s when I knew something was up."
Those who were fooled initially caught on when Gross failed to answer a rather simple question she asked herself.
“I thought to myself, Gavin Degraw should know when his new album comes out,” reported listener Henry Li, noting that Gross could’ve easily just asked a different question or even lied. “Then I realized that Gavin Degraw wasn’t in studio and that Terry was just putting on a voice to try and fool us. That made a lot more sense.”
Although many see this as an isolated incident, some listeners are wondering if there have been other times Gross has only pretended to have a guest in studio, asking themselves if it is possible that the host of one of NPR’s most popular shows for 10 years running could be a fraud.
“Her Degraw was terrible, but what if she’s been doing this for people I’m not familiar with?” asked listener Dmitri Sawyer. “Maurice Sendak might not even be a real person. I would have no idea. I feel like public radio has betrayed me."
Twitter commenters took it further, positing that Terry Gross herself is simply a character interviewing other characters, and “Fresh Air” just a conceptual art piece by popular imitator Frank Caliendo. Caliendo could not be reached for comment, perhaps because he was hosting “Fresh Air.”
At press time, Gross was taking a call from a “Gerry Tross.”
