Terry Gross on Colbert; David Milch on Fresh Air

I’m filling in for Terry Gross today and tomorrow on Fresh Air give Terry time to go and tangle with Steven Colbert on his Comedy Central show Wednesday night.

I’m not sure what Colbert has in mind for Terry – casting her as symbol of NPR liberalism and making her answer for the firing of Juan Williams and other sins, or maybe just matching interviewing skills with the best.

Whatever, it should be fun. A small delegation of Fresh Air staff will be in the audience, wearing red sweaters.

Meanwhile, my guest on the show today is David Milch, the writer and creative force behind “NYPD Blue” and the HBO series “Deadwood.”

Milch’s new project is “Luck”, an HBO series which premiers Monday and is about the world of horse racing. What makes Milch’s involvement in the prjoect (and our interview) interesting is that he’s spent time at the track since he was a little kid.

His father first took him to the track when he was five, and within a few years Milch was sneaking into the basement to put on his father’s fedora, smoke a cigar and read racing forms. Soon, he was sneaking out and hitchhiking to the track on his own.

Milch is a great storyteller, and it’s worth tuning in. You can hear the show at 3 and 7 today on WHYY- 91FM. If you’re listening outside the Philadelphia area, you can find a station here. And of course you can always listen, download podcasts, and get more information at the Fresh Air website.