Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up

On a late-summer morning, Terry Gross sat before a computer in her office — a boxy, glass-fronted room at WHYY in Philadelphia — composing interview questions. Gross, who wore a leopard-print scarf knotted at her neck, was typing rapidly, occasionally pausing to refer to a memoir open beside her.

She swiveled in her chair to face me. ‘‘It’s interesting that she never had an orgasm,’’ Gross began. ‘‘I mean, not never, but not until later. I’d like to ask her about that, but it’s tricky.’’