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Fresh Air host Terry Gross to appear on 'The Tonight Show' this week

The longtime NPR host's appearance also puts her back alongside Roots bandleader and Philly native Questlove, whom she interviewed on Fresh Air in April.

Host/Co-Executive Producer of the radio program “Fresh Air with Terry Gross” in her WHYY-FM studio.
Host/Co-Executive Producer of the radio program “Fresh Air with Terry Gross” in her WHYY-FM studio.Read moreMark C Psoras

Fresh Air's Terry Gross interviewed Late Night host Seth Meyers at the Kimmel Center in June, but this week, she's bringing a little Philly Jimmy Fallon's way.

Gross will appear on The Tonight Show on Thursday alongside fellow scheduled guests Anthony Anderson and Kesha. The longtime NPR host's appearance also puts her back alongside Roots bandleader and Philly native Questlove, whom she interviewed on Fresh Air in April.

The Tonight Show appearance comes amid Fresh Air's 30th anniversary as a daily NPR program. Initially produced at WHYY-FM in Philadelphia as a local program, Fresh Air launched in 1975 with Gross as host. NPR began broadcasting the show nationally in 1985, and daily broadcasts started May 11, 1987.

The show reaches about 6 million people weekly over 646 NPR stations throughout the country, according to a release.

Known for her in-depth and wide-ranging interviews, Gross has interviewed notable figures from former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Al Franken to comedian Louis C.K. and author Mary Karr. Many of the program's shows dating to the 1970s were digitized and put online this year.

Gross' appearance on The Tonight Show, of course, will not be her first conversation with Fallon. The two spoke in an episode of Fresh Air in May 2011, when Fallon was still host of Late Night.