Terry Gross

Why don't we hear your version of the song?

Here it is.

Great.

I want to ask you about another song that you wrote and recorded, a big hit for you, Sweet Caroline, which is now played at Red Sox games at Fenway Park.

And maybe you know the story of why that is.

But let's start with the song itself.

Is there a story behind the writing of the song?

It's also sung a lot in bars.

Well, Neil Diamond, thank you very much for talking with us.

And if it doesn't?

But he might get better.

But he's not your father, and he can't recover from this.

This is Fresh Air.

I'm Terry Gross.

We're continuing our series featuring some of our favorite interviews of 2025.

I think it's fair to say that everyone who watched the HBO series Somebody Somewhere, including me, wanted actor Jeff Hiller to be their friend.

He played Joel, a sympathetic and supportive friend with a great sense of humor.

Somebody Somewhere was the big break Hiller had been hoping for for decades.

As he writes in his new memoir, if you're obviously gay but not hot, your roles are limited.

You just play the bitchy gay, which is what he played in lots of small parts in episodes of a lot of TV shows and commercials.