Episodes

December 25, 2022

Our best of 2022 series continues. Spielberg's latest project, The Fabelmans , is semi-autobiographical — focused on his childhood and teen years and his parents' divorce. He jokingly refers to the film as "$40 million of therapy." He speaks with Terry Gross about the first movie he saw in theaters...

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December 23, 2022

Tennis Icon John McEnroe

Our best of 2022 series continues. John McEnroe is remembered as one of the most talented — and hot-headed — tennis players of all time. Over the course of his career, he won 155 combined titles — more than any man in the game's modern era. We talk about wins, losses and notorious moments on the cou...

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December 22, 2022

Sheryl Lee Ralph Of 'Abbott Elementary'

Our series of favorite interviews from 2022 kicks off with Sheryl Lee Ralph. She won an Emmy for her role as the veteran teacher Barbara Howard on the hit ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary , about an under-resourced Philly school. We talk about her long career in showbiz — from Dreamgirls on Broadway ...

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December 21, 2022

A Very Questlove Christmas

Questlove has put together a playlist for us of some of his favorite Christmas recordings. Questlove is co-founder of the The Roots, which is among other things, is the house band for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon . He won an Oscar this year for his documentary Summer of Soul . You can find ...

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December 20, 2022

The Teen Mental Health Crisis

Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide among adolescents have risen sharply in recent years. We'll speak with the New York Times ' Matt Richtel, who spent nearly two years reporting on the crisis — speaking with troubled teens and their parents, psychiatrists, primary care physicians, ...

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December 19, 2022

The Surprising History Of The First Paramedics

American Sirens author Kevin Hazzard tells the story of a community group in a Black neighborhood in Pittsburgh who helped spark a revolution in emergency medicine. As recently as the 1960s, anyone suffering a heart attack or serious injury who called for help might get a response from the police ...

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December 17, 2022

Best Of: Kumail Nanjiani / 'Knives Out' Writer/Director Rian Johnson

Kumail Nanjiani plays Somen "Steve" Banerjee, founder of the male strip club Chippendales, in a new Hulu series. Banerjee was ultimately undone by his own corrupt business practices. We talk about the challenge of playing an un-funny person and how his childhood in Pakistan informs his comedy. Just...

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December 16, 2022

Revisiting 'High Noon,' A Parable Of The Hollywood Blacklist

We consider the classic 1952 western High Noon written and released 70 years ago — during an era of paranoia and persecution in America over the threat of communism — in which the President, congress, the courts and the press all played a part. We talk with journalist Glenn Frankel, author of the...

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December 15, 2022

Rachel Maddow On The WWII-Era Plot Against America

Rachel Maddow's new podcast, Ultra , is about ultra-right wing groups that sided with Hitler's Germany, and plotted to overthrow the U. S. government before World War II. It led to the largest sedition trial in American history. Ultra is also about sitting members of the U. S. Senate and House o...

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December 14, 2022

Sci-Fi Pioneer Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler's 1979 book, Kindred , is now a series for FX on Hulu. In 1993, the pioneering author, who died in 2006, told Fresh Air she made up her own stories so that she could see herself — a Black woman — in them. Kindred is about a writer who involuntarily time travels to the Antebellum ...

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December 13, 2022

Democracy's 'Forgotten Crisis'

Historian Adam Hochschild says Woodrow Wilson used the first World War as an excuse to spy on Americans, censor the press and plan for the mass deportation of immigrants. His new book is American Midnight. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews pianist Ahmad Jamal's Emerald City Nights.

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December 12, 2022

Rian Johnson On 'Glass Onion'

Glass Onion , Rian Johnson's sequel to Knives Out , centers on a billionaire who's invited an assortment of so-called "disrupters" to his private island for a long weekend getaway to play out a murder mystery game. The writer/director talks about satirizing tech moguls and influencers and the murd...

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December 10, 2022

Best Of: 'White Lotus' Creator Mike White / The Life Of A NYC Maître D'

As the second season of HBO's The White Lotus comes to a close, creator Mike White reflects on how it examines the dark side of sex, and how at its heart is a mix of Laverne & Shirley , Fantasy Island and Survivor . Michael Cecchi-Azzolina has worked in several high-end New York City restaura...

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December 9, 2022

Neil Young / George Clooney

The scenes in the new documentary Harvest Time show footage taken when Neil Young was making the album Harvest . We listen back to two interviews with Young, from 1992 and 2004. George Clooney was among the recipients of the 45th Kennedy Center Honors last week. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2005...

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December 8, 2022

The Chaos At Twitter

Tech journalist Casey Newton says Elon Musk did not inherit a company in crisis — but after massive layoffs and upheaval the social media giant is losing money and Musk is warning of bankruptcy.

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December 7, 2022

Kumail Nanjiani

Kumail Nanjiani plays Somen "Steve" Banerjee, founder of the male strip club Chippendales, in a new Hulu series. Banerjee was ultimately undone by his own corrupt business practices. "He was the king of a world that wouldn't have him as a member," Nanjiani says. We talk about the challenge of playin...

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December 6, 2022

A NYC Maître D' Shares Secrets Of The Restaurant Industry

Michael Cecchi-Azzolina has worked in several high-end New York City restaurants — adrenaline-fueled workplaces where booze and drugs are plentiful and the health inspector will ruin your day. His memoir is Your Table Is Ready .

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December 5, 2022

'White Lotus' Creator Mike White

As the second season of HBO's The White Lotus comes to a close, creator Mike White reflects on how it examines the dark side of sex, and how at its heart is a mix of Laverne & Shirley , Fantasy Island and Survivor . Also, Ken Tucker shares three songs that grapple with romance.

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December 3, 2022

Best Of: 'Armageddon Time' Director / A Revolution In Cell Biology

James Gray's new film, Armageddon Time , was inspired by his childhood in Queens in the 1980s. Though his grandparents had fled antisemitism in Ukraine, his family didn't recognize their own biases against Black people. He talks about his life and the film. Book critic Maureen Corrigan shares her ...

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December 2, 2022

'Daily Show' Host Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah is stepping down as host of The Daily Show after seven years. We'll listen back to portions of two 2016 interviews with Noah, whose newest standup comedy special just premiered on Netflix. Also, Justin Chang reviews The Eternal Daughter starring Tilda Swinton.

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December 1, 2022

How Should Nations Memorialize Their Atrocities?

In How the Word Is Passed, author Clint Smith explored U.S. sites that deal with the legacy of slavery. Now, in The Atlantic, he writes about German memorials to the Holocaust.

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November 30, 2022

How To Stand Up To A Dictator

Nobel Peace Prize-winning Filipina journalist Maria Ressa faced criminal charges in the Philippines after her news organization's reporting angered government officials. She has a new memoir called How to Stand Up to a Dictator . Critic Maureen Corrigan shares her list of the best books of the yea...

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November 29, 2022

Reporting On The Atrocities And Destruction In Ukraine

Guardian journalist Luke Harding shares his experience reporting from Ukraine. "It's almost impossible to process," he says. "You can see a flourishing city of half a million people with ports, with restaurants, with live music, with culture, coffee — and now it's a ghostly ruin." We talk about ho...

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November 28, 2022

'Armageddon Time' Filmmaker James Gray

James Gray's new film was inspired by his childhood in Queens in the 1980s. Though his grandparents had fled antisemitism in Ukraine, his family didn't recognize their own biases against Black people. He talks about his life and the film.

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November 26, 2022

Best Of: "Weird Al" Yankovic / To Retire, Or Not To Retire?

The hit parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic talks about what made him weird — and bringing "the sexy back" to accordion. The new movie Weird, inspired by the story of his life, is a parody of music biopics. TV critic David Bianculli reviews Wednesday , an Addams Familiy spin-off. LA Times colu...

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November 25, 2022

Brandi Carlile

The Grammy winner got her start onstage as a kid, singing backup for an Elvis impersonator. Her memoir, 'Broken Horses,' is about her early life and the family of misfits she's built. "I think I'm starting to really feel sort of solid and loved in my world. Like maybe I've kind of finally found my p...

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November 24, 2022

'Peanuts' Cartoonist Charles Schulz

This week marks the centennial of the birth of Charles Schulz, the creator of Charlie Brown and the beloved Peanuts comic strip. We'll listen back to our 1990 interview with him. Plus, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead talks about pianist Vince Guaraldi, who created the music for A Charlie Brown Christ...

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November 23, 2022

Comedy Legend Mel Brooks

Brooks wrote countless edgy jokes over the years, but he doesn't regret any of them. In fact, his only regret is the jokes he didn't tell. Brooks calls comedy his "delicious refuge" from the world. His memoir is All About Me! is now out in paperback. David Bianculli reviews Wednesday , the new ...

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November 22, 2022

To Retire, Or Not To Retire?

LA Times columnist Steve Lopez turned the issue of retirement into a reporting project, speaking to geriatric experts, a psychiatrist, a rabbi, plus people who had retired and some who refuse. His book is Independence Day . Maureen Corrigan reviews Claire Keegan's Foster.

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November 21, 2022

Siddhartha Mukherjee On A Revolution In Cell Biology

Physician Siddhartha Mukherjee explains how cellular science could lead to breakthroughs in the treatment of cancer, HIV, Type 1 diabetes and sickle cell anemia. His new book is The Song of the Cell .

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November 18, 2022

Best Of: Misty Copeland / Michael Imperioli

Misty Copeland was the first Black principal ballerina for the American Ballet Theatre. We talk about the pressure of being first, touring with Prince, and experiencing homelessness as a child. Her memoir is The Wind at My Back . Michael Imperioli plays a sex-addicted Hollywood producer on vacatio...

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November 18, 2022

Behind Yiddish 'Fiddler On The Roof'

We'll talk about the Yiddish language production of Fiddler on the Roof that's just returned to off Broadway. Our guests will be Joel Grey, who directed it, and Steven Skybell who stars as Tevye. And we'll hear songs from the Yiddish cast recording. Also, Justin Chang reviews She Said , a new f...

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November 17, 2022

A Dangerous Game Over Taiwan

New Yorker staff writer Dexter Filkins says war games staged by U.S. commanders suggest a conflict over Taiwan could lead to U.S. attacks on China's mainland — and Chinese attacks on Alaska and Hawaii.

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November 16, 2022

Weird Al Yankovic

The hit parody artist Weird Al Yankovic talks about what made him weird, the legal gray area of parody, and bringing "the sexy back" to accordion. The new movie Weird, inspired by the story of his life, is a parody of music biopics.

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November 15, 2022

'Sopranos' & 'White Lotus' Actor Michael Imperioli

Imperioli plays a sex-addicted Hollywood producer on vacation in Sicily in HBO's The White Lotus . He's best known for his role as Tony Soprano's hot-headed protégé, Christopher Moltisanti. In 2021, Imperioli published Woke Up This Morning , an oral history of the series based on his podcast, Tal...

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November 14, 2022

Ballerina Misty Copeland

Copeland was the first Black principal ballerina for the American Ballet Theatre. We talk about the pressure of being first, the injury that nearly ended her career, and her mentor, pioneering Black ballerina Raven Wilkinson. Her memoir is The Wind at My Back .

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November 14, 2022

WWII Veterans Reflect On Their Service

For Veterans Day, we feature archival interviews with two men who fought in World War II: Robert Kotlowitz was one of three soldiers in his platoon to survive an ill-advised assault on the Germans. For 12 hours, he lay in a foxhole without moving. Also, we hear from Robert Williams, one of the elite...

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November 11, 2022

Best Of: Steven Spielberg / The Black Soldiers Of WWII

Steven Spielberg's latest project, The Fabelmans , is semi-autobiographical — focused on his childhood and teen years and his parents' divorce. He jokingly refers to the film as "$40 million of therapy." He speaks with Terry Gross about the first movie he saw in theaters and growing up around Holoc...

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November 10, 2022

Our New Climate Reality

New York Times science writer David Wallace-Wells brings us some new thinking on global warming — and it isn't all bad. He's been called an alarmist in the past for his warnings about the consequences of dumping carbon into the atmosphere. But in a new article, Wallace-Wells writes that the cost o...

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November 9, 2022

Steven Spielberg

Spielberg's latest project, The Fabelmans , is semi-autobiographical — focused on his childhood and teen years and his parents' divorce. He jokingly refers to the film as "$40 million of therapy." He speaks with Terry Gross about the first movie he saw in theaters, filming the iconic D-Day sequence...

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November 8, 2022

Remembering Jerry Lee Lewis

We mark the life of the rock 'n' roll pioneer, who died Oct. 28, by listening to archival interviews with his sister, pianist/singer Linda Gail Lewis, and with Myra Lewis Williams, who married Jerry Lee when she was 13. And Ken Tucker reflects on Lewis' 1968 country album.

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November 7, 2022

The Black Experience Of WWII

Historian Matthew Delmont talks about the more than one million Black people who served in the military in WWII, the contributions they made and discrimination they faced, and those who struggled for equality in civilian life. Delmont's book is Half American . Justin Chang reviews Steven Spielberg...

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November 5, 2022

Best Of: 'Till' Director Chinonye Chukwu / 'Shutter' Author Ramona Emerson

Till tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley, whose decision to hold an open-casket funeral for her murdered son Emmett served as a catalyst for the civil rights movement. We talk with director Chinonye Chukwu. Ken Tucker reviews Taylor Swift's Midnights . Ramona Emerson's novel, Shutter , is a...

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November 4, 2022

'Pose' Actor Billy Porter

Porter won an Emmy for Pose , and a Tony for the Broadway musical Kinky Boots . In addition to performing, he's also a star on the red carpet. His memoir, Unprotected , is now out in paperback.

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November 3, 2022

How Election Deniers Might Impact The Midterms

New York Times reporter Alexandra Berzon says election deniers are joining the electoral process at the precinct level. Their hope is to remake the machinery of American elections. She spoke with guest interviewer Arun Venugopal. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new album from the trio Thum...

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November 2, 2022

Novelist Tells The Story Of A Haunted Crime Scene Photographer

Ramona Emerson's novel, Shutter , is about a police department photographer, who, like Emerson, grew up in the Navajo Nation. The protagonist is haunted by the ghosts of victims from scenes she's photographed. We talk with Emerson about her own experience in forensic photography and how it informed...

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November 1, 2022

'Till' Director Chinonye Chukwu

Till tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley, whose decision to hold an open-casket funeral for her murdered son served as a catalyst for the civil rights movement. "Without Mamie Till-Mobley, the world wouldn't know who Emmett Till was," director Chinonye Chukwu says. "She wanted the world to witnes...

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October 31, 2022

Halloween Special: Part II

This Halloween, we're venturing into the crypt (our archives). We'll hear from Anthony Hopkins on playing Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs , Sissy Spacek on Carrie , George Romero, director of Night of the Living Dead , Kathy Bates on Misery , and Mercedes McCambridge, who voiced the demo...

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October 28, 2022

Best Of: MAGA's Chinese Billionaire / Sports Journalist Jemele Hill

New Yorker writer Evan Osnos traces the path of Guo Wengui, a billionaire who fled China and insinuated himself into the MAGA inner circle. But his true allegiances are suspect. Maureen Corrigan reviews The Year of the Puppy , by Alexandra Horowitz. Former co-anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter, Jeme...

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October 28, 2022

Halloween Special Part I: Stephen King & Jordan Peele

We're dipping in the archive and finding our spookiest tape. Stephen King talks about what terrified him as a child — and what frightens him as an adult. Director Jordan Peele talks about the scares that inspire his filmmaking. Justin Chang reviews Armageddon Time .

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October 27, 2022

Phillies Radio Announcer On The World Series & Changes In Baseball

Scott Franzke has been calling MLB games in Philadelphia since 2006. He sizes up the teams headed into the World Series and reflects on upcoming changes designed to put more action in the game. Ken Tucker reviews Taylor Swift's new album , Midnights .

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October 26, 2022

Did The "Deep State" Protect The Country From Trump?

David Rothkopf explains how veteran U.S. government officials, sometimes scorned as the so-called Deep State, repeatedly intervened in the Trump administration to undermine presidential orders they thought were illegal, immoral, unworkable, or against America's interests. His book is American Resis...

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October 25, 2022

Sports Journalist Jemele Hill

The former co-anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter faced criticism in 2017 for calling the president a white supremacist. In her memoir, Uphill , she talks about her career and her life growing up in Detroit. She spoke with contributor Tonya Mosley. Also, David Bianculli reviews Guillermo del Toro's h...

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October 24, 2022

The "Sioux Chef," Sean Sherman

You won't find wheat flour, dairy or sugar at Sean Sherman's award-winning Minneapolis restaurant, Owamni. The menu has been "decolonized," but that doesn't mean it feels antiquated. "We look at showcasing the amazing diversity and flavor profiles of all the different tribes across North America, al...

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October 21, 2022

Best Of: Angela Lansbury / Culture Critic Hua Hsu

The legend of stage and screen died Oct. 11 at age 96. She starred in the TV series Murder, She Wrote and won Tony Awards for her performances as Mama Rose in Gypsy and the pie shop owner Mrs. Lovett in S weeney Todd . We'll hear excerpts from Terry Gross's interviews with Lansbury from 2000 and...

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October 21, 2022

Remembering Angela Lansbury

The legend of stage and screen died Oct. 11 at age 96. She starred in the TV series Murder, She Wrote , and in such films as The Manchurian Candidate and Disney's Beauty and the Beast . She won Tony Awards for her performances as Mama Rose in Gypsy and the pie shop owner Mrs. Lovett in S weene...

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October 20, 2022

Tracing The Path Of Steve Bannon's Enigmatic Chinese Benefactor

New Yorker writer Evan Osnos traces the path of Guo Wengui, a billionaire who fled China and insinuated himself into the MAGA inner circle. But who is he really working for?

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October 19, 2022

How The Far-Right Became The GOP's Center Of Gravity

Journalist Robert Draper says the GOP's embrace of extremism opened the door to fringe actors, who've become among the party's most influential leaders. His new book is Weapons of Mass Delusion . Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews an album from saxophonist Bobby Watson.

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October 18, 2022

'New Yorker' Writer Hua Hsu On Friendship, Grief, And Pop Culture

The son of Taiwanese immigrants, New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu defined himself as a teen by the music he loved. The murder of a close friend when he was in college changed the course of his life. His memoir is Stay True. David Bianculli reviews the new season of Documentary Now!

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October 17, 2022

Chelsea Manning On Life Before & After WikiLeaks

The former military analyst has been called both a whistleblower hero and a traitor for leaking classified information about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In a new memoir, READ ME.txt , she talks about why she did it. We also talk about her childhood and gender dysphoria, her time in Iraq, and ...

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October 14, 2022

Best Of: One-Pan Recipes / The History Of Money

NYT Cooking food writer and cookbook author Melissa Clark says she's always looking for shortcuts in the kitchen — including ways to use fewer pans. Her latest cookbook is Dinner in One: Exceptional & Easy One-Pan Meals . John Powers reviews the Indian film RRR . Author and podcaster Jacob Gol...

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October 13, 2022

Linda Ronstadt

Ronstadt's career spanned rock, pop, country and everything in between. Her most famous recordings include "Heart Like a Wheel," "Desperado," "Faithless Love," and many more. In 2013, Ronstadt revealed that she has Parkinson's disease and can no longer sing. Ronstadt has a new memoir called Feels L...

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October 13, 2022

The Sensory Perceptions Of Animals

There's a vast world around us that animals can perceive — but humans can't. Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Ed Yong talks about some of the sights, smells, sounds and vibrations that other living creatures experience. His book is An Immense World . John Powers reviews the new Masterpiece M...

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October 12, 2022

Exploring The History Of Money

Author and podcaster Jacob Goldstein says we don't think of money as a technology, but we should. He traces the first paper currency to China's Sichuan province, and ponders the Fed's next move. His book is Money: The True Story of a Made Up Thing. Also, Ken Tucker reviews Ashley McBryde's conce...

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October 11, 2022

Testing 'NYT Cooking' Recipes With Melissa Clark

NYT Cooking food writer and cookbook author Melissa Clark says she's always looking for shortcuts in the kitchen — including ways to use fewer pans. Her latest cookbook is Dinner in One: Exceptional & Easy One-Pan Meals. John Powers reviews the new epic Indian action film RRR.

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October 10, 2022

Journalist Maggie Haberman On The Making Of Donald Trump

New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman talks about Trump's tactics for dealing with the media and explains why he's more concerned about the Mar-a-Lago documents than the Jan. 6 hearings. Her new book is Confidence Man.

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October 7, 2022

Best Of: Loretta Lynn / Rachel Bloom

Country music star Loretta Lynn died Oct. 4 at the age of 90. Her life story was made famous in the film Coal Miner's Daughter . She had 16 No. 1 hits, some controversial in their day because they were about drinking, divorce, wayward husbands, and birth control. She spoke with Terry Gross in 2010....

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October 7, 2022

Tom Waits

Waits' two lyrical concept albums, Blood Money and Alice , are being reissued on vinyl for their 20th Anniversary. He wrote the music with his wife, Kathleen Brennan. The interviews were originally recorded in 2002 and 2011. Film critic Justin Chang reviews Tár , the new film by Todd Field, sta...

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October 6, 2022

A New Generation Of Resistance In Iran

22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in Tehran police custody after being detained for wearing her hijab loosely. Her death sparked a movement. We talk with Iranian American scholar Pardis Mahdavi about the morality police and Iran's cultural resistance. Mahdavi herself was once arrested in Tehran for lectu...

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October 5, 2022

Remembering Loretta Lynn

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October 4, 2022

Rachel Bloom On 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' & 'Reboot'

Bloom talks about writing songs for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and losing her musical collaborator Adam Schlesinger, who died from COVID-19 complications in March 2020. She now stars in the Hulu series Reboot as a writer who wants to reboot an old family sitcom from the early 2000s — but make it darker...

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October 3, 2022

Inside The World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm

When McKinsey Comes to Town authors Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe say the consulting firm helped companies boost tobacco and opioid sales — while at the same time working for the FDA. "McKinsey's working for the companies and also the regulators that regulate them," Forsythe says. "I think m...

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September 30, 2022

Best Of: Hilary Mantel / British Vogue's Edward Enninful

We remember British author Hilary Mantel who died Sept. 22. Mantel was best known for her trilogy of novels about Thomas Cromwell, the political fixer for Henry VIII. In 2012 she spoke with Terry Gross about her love of history. "Instead of thinking there was a wall between the living and the dead, ...

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September 30, 2022

The Dangerous Early Days Of The Space Race

Historian Jeff Shesol recalls the early days of the U.S. space program, when rockets often blew up in test launchings, and no one was sure John Glenn would make it through America's first orbital flight alive. In his book Mercury Rising , he describes how Soviet success in space forced a reluctant ...

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September 29, 2022

The Water Crisis In The American West

40 people rely on water from the Colorado River, but overuse and global warming have combined to create a water emergency. Tough choices must be made soon, or farms and cities will face critical shortages. We talk with ProPublica investigative reporter Abrahm Lustgarten. million Jazz critic Kevin W...

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September 29, 2022

The Water Crisis In The American West

40 million people rely on water from the Colorado River, but overuse and global warming have combined to create a water emergency. Tough choices must be made soon, or farms and cities will face critical shortages. We talk with ProPublica investigative reporter Abrahm Lustgarten. million Jazz critic ...

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September 28, 2022

Remembering 'Wolf Hall' Novelist Hilary Mantel

The British writer, who died Sept. 22, wrote a trilogy of critically acclaimed historical novels on the life of Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's most trusted advisors. Mantel was the first woman to win the Man Booker Prize twice. She spoke with Terry Gross in 2012. Also, Ken Tucker reviews a ne...

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September 27, 2022

Uncovering Racial Violence During Jim Crow

In her new book, By Hands Now Known, civil rights lawyer and professor Margaret Burnham reports on little-known cases of racial violence in the Jim Crow era, including crimes that went unreported and murderers who were never punished. Over 15 years, the project's researchers have chronicled roug...

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September 26, 2022

MMA Fighting, Memory Loss & Identity

Writer John Vercher trained in mixed martial arts as a young man. His novel, After the Lights Go Out, centers on a veteran MMA fighter who is experiencing memory loss, severe mood swings and tinnitus. The book is also about the fighter's biracial identity. Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Less is L...

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September 23, 2022

Best Of: 'Reservation Dogs' Showrunner / The Mosquito Bowl Of WWII

The FX/Hulu series Reservation Dogs follows four teens on an Oklahoma Indian reservation who are frustrated and alienated, caught between what's left of traditional Native culture on the reservation and the broader pop culture. We talk with co-creator and showrunner Sterlin Harjo about his own upb...

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September 23, 2022

Inside The Weird World Of Animal Crimes

Science writer Mary Roach ( Stiff , Gulp ) explores scenarios where animals are the ones committing "crimes" — and how society deals with it. We talk about bear attacks, drunk elephants, and monkey thieves. Her book is Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law. Justin Chang reviews the Marilyn Monroe bio...

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September 22, 2022

How Climate Change Supercharged The Weather

Washington Post reporter Brady Dennis warns our aging infrastructure systems weren't built to withstand the stresses of climate change: "There is a certain amount of suffering that we can't avoid."

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September 21, 2022

'British Vogue' Editor-In-Chief Edward Enninful

Edward Enninful grew up in Ghana, assisting his seamstress mother in her dressmaking shop. "For me, fashion was always such an inclusive, beautiful thing," he says. We talk about making the fashion industry more diverse, the famous "all Black" issue of Vogue Italia , and modeling as a teen. Enninfu...

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September 20, 2022

How Trump's DOJ Pressured The SDNY To Aid The White House

Geoffrey Berman served as U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. In his memoir, Holding the Line , he describes how the Dept. of Justice demanded he use his office to aid the Trump administration. "The Department of Justice has to remain independent of politics," Berman says. "It's sup...

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September 19, 2022

'Reservation Dogs' Showrunner Sterlin Harjo

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September 16, 2022

Best Of: Nina Totenberg / Sheryl Lee Ralph

NPR's longtime legal affairs correspondent, Nina Totenberg, talks about her long friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which began years before Ginsburg became a Supreme Court Justice. Her book is Dinners with Ruth . Sheryl Lee Ralph just won her first Emmy for role as a no nonsense kindergarten te...

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September 16, 2022

'Succession' Actor Matthew MacFadyen

The British actor played the brooding Mr. Darcy in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. Now he's won an Emmy for playing scheming Midwesterner Tom Wambsgans on Succession. Kevin Whitehead remembers jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis, who had the 1965 crossover hit "The In Crowd." Justin Chan...

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September 15, 2022

Buzz Bissinger On 'The Mosquito Bowl'

Friday Night Lights author Buzz Bissinger tells the story of Marines in 1945 who, while waiting for the Battle of Okinawa to begin, staged a football game broadcast on Armed Services Radio throughout the Pacific. Bissinger's book is The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II . ...

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September 14, 2022

Nina Totenberg On Her Friendship with RBG

The NPR legal affairs correspondent met the future SCOTUS justice in the early '70s, when Totenberg interviewed Ruth Bader Ginsburg for a story about a decision pertaining to women's rights. Her memoir about her life and friendship is Dinners with Ruth . Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Ling Ma's ne...

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September 13, 2022

How One Law Firm Influenced The Trump Administration

Servants of the Damned author David Enrich says lawyers for the firm of Jones Day were deeply embedded in the Trump White House — and helped create policy designed to limit the federal government.

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September 12, 2022

Actor Sheryl Lee Ralph

Sheryl Lee Ralph is Emmy-nominated for her role as the veteran teacher Barbara Howard on the hit ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary , about an under resourced Philly school. We talk about her long career in showbiz — from Dreamgirls on Broadway to Moesha , and how she made her own way in an industry...

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September 9, 2022

Best Of: John McEnroe / Amanda Shires

Tennis legend John McEnroe talks about his career, his outbursts on the court, and his new job as a TV tennis analyst and voice-over artist on the hit Netflix Series, Never Have I Ever . McEnroe is the subject of a new Showtime documentary. Also, songwriter and singer Amanda Shires performs a few...

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September 9, 2022

Remembering War Correspondent Anne Garrels

NPR international correspondent Anne Garrels died Wednesday at 71. She was known for fearless reporting in conflict zones, empathy for the victims of war, and a host of prestigious awards. We'll hear about her experiences in Iraq in 2003, chronicled in her book, Naked in Baghdad . Also, film criti...

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September 8, 2022

YouTube's Chaotic Rise To World Domination

Like, Comment, Subscribe author Mark Bergen says YouTube has ushered in a world of abundant content and creativity, of influencers and hustlers, of information overload and endless culture wars. Also, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews The Funky Freqs' album Hymn of the Third Galaxy. And John...

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September 7, 2022

Amanda Shires

Singer-songwriter and fiddle player Amanda Shires opens up about a rough time in her marriage and how she turned to songwriting to process her feelings. Her new solo album is Take it Like a Man . We talk about playing the songs for her husband, Jason Isbell, performing fiddle as a teen with the Tex...

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September 6, 2022

Tennis Legend John McEnroe

John McEnroe is remembered as one of the most talented — and hotheaded — tennis players of all time. Over the course of his career, he won 155 combined titles — more than any man in the game's modern era. We talk about wins, losses and notorious moments on the court. He's the subject of a new Showti...

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September 4, 2022

Pete Seeger / Bruce Springsteen

On this Labor Day, we feature Terry Gross's 1984 interview with folk singer Pete Seeger, who was famous for singing songs about workers, unions and social justice. And we'll hear her 2016 interview with Bruce Springsteen — recorded after the publication of his memoir Born to Run .

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September 2, 2022

James Brown / Ellie Greenwich

We continue our series of great music interviews from our archive with "The Godfather of Soul," "the Hardest Working Man in Show Business," "Soul Brother #1" — James Brown. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2005. Also, we hear Terry's 1986 interview with songwriter Ellie Greenwich. She collaborated on t...

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September 2, 2022

Smokey Robinson / Isaac Hayes

Our week of archival music interviews continues with Smokey Robinson, one of the greatest soul singers ever, and one of the most important figures in the development of Motown Records. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2006. The movie Shaft helped launch the blaxploitation genre of the '70s. The acad...

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September 1, 2022

Rosanne Cash

We continue our weeklong series of great music interviews from the archive with singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash. When she was 18, her father, Johnny Cash, gave her a list of 100 essential country songs he thought she should know. After recording many great songs of her own, in 2009 she made an al...

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August 31, 2022

Jay-Z / Lizzo

We continue our weeklong series of favorite music interviews from our archives with Jay-Z and Lizzo. Jay-Z grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn, and sold drugs before hitting it big as a rapper. He talks about his life and career. Lizzo grew up thinking she would become a professional, classica...

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August 30, 2022

Jazz Legend Charlie Haden

We're continuing our weeklong series of some of our favorite music interviews from our archive. We'll hear several interviews recorded with the late Charlie Haden, one of the greatest bass players in the history of jazz. Haden grew up singing in his family's country music radio shows but turned to t...

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August 29, 2022

Keith Richards / Brian May

We're kicking off a weeklong series of some of our favorite music interviews from our archive. We'll begin with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, who was our guest in 2010. He'll tell us about cofounding the band, writing songs with Mick Jagger, and how things changed when the Stones became ...

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August 26, 2022

Best Of: Comic Mo Amer / Cold Case Investigator Paul Holes

Comedian Mo Amer is of Palestinian descent, but he grew up in Kuwait and Houston. So besides his native Arabic, he learned to speak Spanish, and the kind of English that sets Texans at ease. Amer stars in a new Netflix comedy about his life, called Mo . Also, veteran cold case investigator Paul Ho...

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August 26, 2022

Colson Whitehead On 'Harlem Shuffle'

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist talks about Harlem, hooligans, race and class in the '60s. His novel Harlem Shuffle, now out in paperback, is about a furniture store owner in Harlem who's sideline is fencing stolen goods. Also Justin Chang reviews the new film Three Thousand Years of Lo...

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August 25, 2022

How The Ultrawealthy Avoid Taxes

Journalist Jesse Eisinger says a trove of IRS data acquired by ProPublica shows that many of America's billionaires avoid paying any taxes — sometimes by claiming big deductions from posh hobbies. Also, John Powers reviews the German series Kleo on Netflix, which he says is reminiscent of Killin...

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August 24, 2022

The Growing Conflict Between China & The U.S.

China scholar Michael Beckley says China is engaged in the largest military buildup since World War II, and is being increasingly aggressive with its Asian neighbors and with the U.S. Beckley's book is Danger Zone . Ken Tucker reviews a reissue by Roger Miller.

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August 23, 2022

Comedian Mo Amer

Amer stars in a new Netflix comedy about his life called Mo . His family is Palestinian, and fled the first Gulf War, so Amer grew up in Houston from age nine. "Palestinian culture is a folksy farmer kind of mentality and life," Amer says. "And when I came to Texas, one of the things that was reall...

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August 22, 2022

Former GOP Operative On Enabling Trump's Rise

Tim Miller is a former Republican communications operative who held moderate views and backed moderate candidates for years. But he says in practicing the dark arts of opposition research and planting negative stories about rival candidates, he worked with increasingly extreme right-wing media outle...

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August 19, 2022

Best Of: What Happened To The GOP / Robin Thede

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank examines how the GOP got to where it is today, with some elected leaders and candidates still endorsing the lie that Trump won. His book is The Destructionists. Film critic Justin Chang reviews Emily the Criminal starring Aubrey Plaza. Robin Thede's H...

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August 19, 2022

Remembering Actor Anne Heche

We remember actor Anne Heche, who died Sunday at age 53. She starred in Donnie Brasco , Wag the Dog , Six Days, Seven Nights, and Walking and Talking. Early in her career, she made headlines when she had a relationship with Ellen Degeneres. She spoke with Terry Gross in 2000. Also, we listen...

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August 18, 2022

Arizona's Anti-Democracy Experiment

2020 election deniers won key races in the Arizona GOP primary. New York Times Magazine journalist Robert Draper says the swing state is a bellwether for the rest of the nation.

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August 17, 2022

Harm Reduction & The Opioid Crisis

The CDC estimates over 1 million Americans have died of overdoses since Oxycontin went on the market in the mid '90s. Dopesick author Beth Macy and harm reduction specialist Michelle Mathis talk about grassroots and community efforts to address the opioid crisis. Macy's latest book is Raising Laz...

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August 16, 2022

Rep. Adam Schiff On Jan. 6, Mar-a-Lago Raid & Impeachment Hearings

Congressman Adam Schiff talks about the investigations of Donald Trump, and the significance of the top secret documents that the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago last week. Schiff was the lead manager of the first impeachment and senate trial of President Trump, and now serves on the House Committee inve...

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August 15, 2022

Robin Thede On 'A Black Lady Sketch Show'

Thede's HBO series, A Black Lady Sketch Show, is the first sketch comedy show solely written, directed and starring Black women. "It is a nonstop job," she says of the various hats she wears. Thede spoke with guest interviewer Tonya Mosley. Also, Justin Chang reviews the noir thriller Emily the...

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August 12, 2022

Best Of: Women In Afghanistan / How College Broke The American Dream

Over this past year, the Taliban have broken their promises to allow girls to continue their schooling and women to keep their jobs. Many girls and women are disappearing — arrested for violating the morality code, or abducted and forced to marry one of the Taliban. We talk with British/Iranian jour...

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August 12, 2022

Remembering Motown Songwriter Lamont Dozier

Lamont Dozier was one third of the Motown songwriting team Holland Dozier Holland. He died Monday at the age of 81. Along with brothers Brian and Eddie Holland, he helped define the Motown sound, writing 10 Number One top hits for The Supremes, The Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas, and Marvin Gay...

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August 11, 2022

The Secret History Of Family Separation At The Border

Atlantic journalist Caitlin Dickerson spent 18 months filing lawsuits for documents to put together the story of the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant families at the border.

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August 10, 2022

Cold Case Investigator Paul Holes

Investigator Paul Holes spent his career cracking cold cases. His work led to the arrest of the so-called Golden State Killer in 2018. He spoke with us about the case the the impact the work has had on his mental health. His memoir is Unmasked . Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Mohsin Hamid's latest...

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August 9, 2022

How This Political Era Of Partisan Warfare & Conspiracies Came To Be

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank examines how the GOP got to where it is today, with some elected leaders and candidates still endorsing the lie that Trump won. His book is The Destructionists.

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August 8, 2022

'Yellowjackets' Star Melanie Lynskey

Melanie Lynskey spoke with Fresh Air producer Ann Marie Baldonado about coming up as an actress in the '90s and 2000s, when she was typecast as the best friend. Now she's the lead in the Showtime series Yellowjackets . John Powers reviews the second season of Reservation Dogs.

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August 5, 2022

Best Of: Soccer Star Briana Scurry / How The Opioid Industry Operated Like A Cartel

The first time women's soccer was included in the Olympics, in 1996, the U.S. team won the gold, and Briana Scurry was the team's goalie. She went on to win a second gold medal and a World Cup. Her soccer career was ended by a severe concussion, in a collision on the field. Unable to work, broke and...

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August 5, 2022

Remembering Celtics Legend Bill Russell

Russell, who led the Boston Celtics to 11 NBA titles, died Sunday at the age of 88. He was also the first Black head coach in the NBA and a civil rights activist. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2001. Also, we remember a champion of traditional Irish music, Mick Moloney. He died last week at 77. He was...

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August 4, 2022

Undercover Journalist Finds Afghan Women Are Being Abducted & Imprisoned By Taliban

Journalist Ramita Navai went undercover in Afghanistan to film her new PBS Frontline documentary and found that girls and women are being arrested for violating the morality code. Also many girls are abducted and forced to marry Talibs.

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August 4, 2022

How College Broke The American Dream

Journalist Will Bunch says instead of opening the door to a better life, college leaves many students deep in debt and unable to find well-paying jobs. His new book is After the Ivory Tower Falls. Podcast critic Nick Quah reviews two podcasts about counterculture, Mother Country Radicals and I...

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August 2, 2022

How The Opioid Industry Operated Like A Cartel

It's estimated that more than 107,000 people in the United States died due to opioid overdoses in 2021. Washington Post journalist Scott Higham says it's "the equivalent of a 737 Boeing crashing and burning and killing everybody on board every single day." In the new book, American Cartel, Higha...

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August 1, 2022

Xenophobia & The Klan On The Texas Gulf Coast

Kirk Wallace Johnson tells the story of a bitter conflict that arose along the Gulf Coast of Texas when Vietnam War refugees began trawling for shrimp in the area. His book is The Fishermen and the Dragon .

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July 29, 2022

Best Of: Farewell 'Better Call Saul' / Rethinking The Sex Talk

Better Call Saul , the prequel and spin-off to Breaking Bad , has only a few episodes left. We talk with the show's star, Bob Odenkirk, and showrunner/co-creator Peter Gould. While filming Better Call Saul , one scene was interrupted for the worst imaginable reason: Odenkirk had a heart attack th...

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July 29, 2022

Actor Oscar Isaac

The actor is Emmy nominated for his co-starring role in Scenes from a Marriage . We talk about his latest projects, grief and fatherhood, and his evangelical Christian upbringing. "We grew up with a very, very real sense of the impending doom of the apocalypse," he says. Also, John Powers reviews...

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July 28, 2022

How 'Stop The Steal' Is Threatening Future Elections

New York Times journalist Charles Homans says scores of groups at the state and local levels, with the help of right wing media figures and activists, are taking aim at the electoral system. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Tyshawn Sorey's album Mesmerism . Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the ...

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July 27, 2022

Soccer Champion Briana Scurry

After a traumatic brain injury left her in terrible pain and unable to work, the legendary goalkeeper had to pawn her Olympic gold medals. Scurry charts her pioneering soccer career and her road to recovery in My Greatest Save .

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July 26, 2022

Rethinking The Sex Talk

Cory Silverberg's new book, You Know, Sex , touches only briefly on reproduction. Instead, it centers on young people and the questions they might have about pleasure, power and identity. Also, TV critic David Bianculli reflects on the Jan. 6 committee hearings as if they were a drama series.

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July 25, 2022

Bob Odenkirk & Peter Gould On The End Of 'Better Call Saul'

A great chapter in the history of TV is about to end. Better Call Saul , the prequel and spin-off to Breaking Bad , has only 4 episodes left. We talk with the show's star, Bob Odenkirk. In Breaking Bad , he was the sleazy, fast-talking lawyer Saul Goodman, known for his slip-and-fall cases and fr...

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July 22, 2022

Best Of: 'A Strange Loop' Creator / 'Ms. Marvel' Creator

The Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical A Strange Loop is about a Black gay man working as an usher on Broadway. Michael R. Jackson talks about writing the book, music and lyrics and how his time working as an usher at The Lion King on Broadway inspired it. Maureen Corrigan reviews The P...

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July 22, 2022

Bill Hader & Henry Winkler On 'Barry'

The HBO dark comedy series Barry is about a Marine vet-turned-hit man who starts taking acting classes, but is conflicted between the desire to open up emotionally and the need to hide the truth. We hear from Bill Hader who stars as the hitman, and co-created, co-writes, and directs many episodes....

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July 21, 2022

Inside A Powerful MAGA Messaging Force

Journalist Maggie Severns explains how the Conservative Partnership Institute helped push the Republican party further to the right and became what she calls a "clubhouse" for insurrectionists. Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews Ethan Hawke's 6-part documentary series about Paul Newman and Joa...

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July 20, 2022

Facial Reconstructive Surgery In WWI

An estimated 280,000 soldiers suffered facial trauma in WWI. Medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris tells the story of Harold Gillies, the surgeon who pioneered reconstructive surgery, trying to restore function and help the men return to society. Her book is The Facemaker . Also, John Powers review...

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July 19, 2022

'Ms. Marvel' Creator Bisha K. Ali

Ms. Marvel is the first show or film in the Marvel universe to feature a Muslim hero. Creator and heat writer Bisha K. Ali drew on her own experiences growing up in England as the child of Pakistani-born parents. Maureen Corrigan shares some books that are good for getting through the chaos of s...

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July 18, 2022

'A Strange Loop' Creator Michael R. Jackson

The Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical is about a Black gay man working as an usher on Broadway. Michael R. Jackson talks about writing the book, music and lyrics and how his time working as an usher at The Lion King on Broadway inspired it.

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July 15, 2022

Best Of: Finding 35 Siblings / Growing Up Undocumented

Chrysta Bilton's mother was a lesbian who asked a man she'd just met to be her sperm donor. It was only much later that Bilton learned the same man had donated sperm to countless other women. Bilton tells the story of connecting with her 35 siblings and her unusual childhood in her memoir Normal Fa...

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July 15, 2022

Geoff Muldaur Performs Songs From The '20s & '30s

The singer, composer and guitarist has had a lifelong passion for the jazz and blues of the '20s and '30s. In the '60s and '70s, he made a series of influential recordings with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, Paul Butterfield's Better Days, and Maria Muldaur. His new double CD, titled His Last Letter , t...

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July 14, 2022

'Normal Family' Author On Uncovering 35 Siblings

Chrysta Bilton's mother was a lesbian who asked a man she'd just met to be her sperm donor. It was only much later that Bilton learned the same man had donated sperm to countless other women. Bilton tells the story of uncovering her 35 siblings and her unusual childhood in her memoir Normal Family ...

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July 13, 2022

Hungarian Autocracy & The American Right

New Yorker journalist Andrew Marantz says Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's administration has rewritten Hungary's constitution to consolidate his power. U.S. conservatives are taking note.

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July 12, 2022

TV Writer Rafael Agustin On Growing Up Undocumented

Rafael Agustin's parents were physicians in Ecuador, but when they came to the U.S. they worked at a car wash and Kmart to get by. It wasn't until he was a teen that he learned they were undocumented. Agustin tells his story in his new memoir, Illegally Yours . He wrote for the TV series Jane the ...

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July 11, 2022

The Violent Legacy Of The British Empire

The British Empire covered 24% of the Earth's land mass by 1920. Harvard historian Caroline Elkins says British rulers portrayed themselves as benevolent, but used systematic violence to maintain control. Her book is Legacy of Violence . Later, TV critic David Bianculli reviews Better Call Saul ,...

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July 8, 2022

Best Of: A Pediatric Neurosurgeon's Stories From The O.R. / Island Records Founder

Dr. Jay Wellons regularly feels the exhilaration of saving a child from near certain death — and sometimes the anguish of failing to prevent it. He shares stories from the operating room, and talks about how the overturning of Roe v. Wade will impact pregnant women whose fetuses have neurological ...

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July 8, 2022

Denzel Washington & Megan Rapinoe

Washington and Rapinoe are among this year's recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Washington's films include "Malcolm X," "Philadelphia," "Glory," and "Training Day." Rapinoe is a soccer champion and LGBTQ activist. She fought for, and helped win, equal pay in women's soccer. Also, Jus...

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July 7, 2022

Unpacking The Supreme Court's Recent Decisions

The court's super majority of conservative judges has already passed down rulings about abortion and the 2nd Amendment. New York Times journalist Adam Liptak says more legal upheavals are likely. "[It's] a court that seems to be in an exceptional hurry," he says.

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July 6, 2022

A Pediatric Neurosurgeon Shares Stories From The O.R.

Dr. Jay Wellons regularly feels the exhilaration of saving a child from near certain death — and sometimes the anguish of failing to prevent it. He's operated on various parts of the pediatric central nervous system, including performing spine surgery on an in-utero fetus to correct spina bifida. He...

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July 5, 2022

How The Mexican Revolution Shaped The U.S.

Historian Kelly Lytle Hernández tells the story of the rebels who fled Mexico to the United States, and helped incite the 1910 Mexican Revolution that overthrew dictator Porfirio Díaz. Hernández spoke with guest interviewer Tonya Mosley about her new book, Bad Mexicans . "People who were being disp...

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July 3, 2022

Al Green

Green's string of hits in the '70s include "Let's Stay Together" and "Love and Happiness." He later became an ordained minister, and bought a church in Memphis. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1991 and 2000. Also, Justin Chang reviews the Greek film Apples .

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July 1, 2022

Best Of: Novelist Mat Johnson / Comic Joel Kim Booster

Mat Johnson's new satirical novel, Invisible Things, is set in the future, on a moon of Jupiter, in an artificial ecosystem designed to replicate life on Earth. We talk about writing satire in our current political climate, mass denialism in America, and being a caretaker of his late mother. Nick...

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July 1, 2022

The World Of Film Noir

Eddie Muller hosts the TCM series Noir Alley . An expanded edition of his book, Dark City , chronicles film noir from the '40s and '50s. We talk about the femme fatale, the sexiness of the genre, and why film noir flourished in the post-WWII era. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the album Nun...

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June 30, 2022

Investigating The Far-Right Militia Groups Of Jan. 6

New York Times journalist Alan Feuer says some members of Trump's inner circle have close ties to the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, whose leaders have been charged with seditious conspiracy.

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June 29, 2022

Novelist Mat Johnson

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June 28, 2022

Novelist John Vercher On MMA Fighting, Memory Loss & Identity

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June 27, 2022

Joel Kim Booster On 'Fire Island'

Comic Joel Kim Booster speaks with guest interviewer Sam Sanders about his new film Fire Island (which he wrote and stars in). Inspired by Pride and Prejudice , it's a rom-com about a group of gay friends and explores racism and classism in their community. Booster also talks about his Netflix st...

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June 24, 2022

Best Of: The Sensory World Of Animals / Mothering As Social Change

We explore the hidden world around us — the sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and vibrations that are imperceptible to humans, but are perceived by various animals and insects. We talk with science writer Ed Yong about his new book An Immense World . Justin Chang reviews two films from the Sundance ...

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June 24, 2022

A Former Flight Attendant Shares Stories From The Sky

T.J. Newman's book, Falling , is a thriller about a hijacking on a commercial flight. The pilot is told he must crash the plane or his family on the ground will be killed. We talk with Newman about her book and about her 10 years in the skies — from pet peeves to scary situations. Justin Chang re...

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June 23, 2022

Where The Anti-Abortion Movement Is Heading

How did we get to the point where Roe v. Wade is likely to be overturned, just as we approach its 50 anniversary? We talk with law professor Mary Ziegler. She's written several books about the abortion wars. Her new one, Dollars for Life , is about how the anti-abortion movement helped push the cou...

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June 22, 2022

The Sensory World Of Animals

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June 21, 2022

Rethinking The 'Essential Labor' Of Raising Children

In her book, author Angela Garbes makes the case that the work of raising children has always been undervalued and undercompensated in the U.S. Then came the pandemic, and everything got harder. We talk about how parents in the U.S. are often isolated, and left without a social safety net, and we ...

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June 20, 2022

Banjo Player Rhiannon Giddens Sings Slave Narratives

Giddens' album Freedom Highway is an exploration of Black experiences, accompanied by an instrument with its own uniquely African American story: the banjo. Originally broadcast May 11, 2017. Ken Tucker reviews three new country songs.

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June 17, 2022

Best Of: News Anchor Katy Tur / Linda Villarosa On Racism & Healthcare

Katy Tur's parents ran a helicopter news service in LA in the '80s and '90s. While she loved the rush of flight, her family dynamic was a volatile one. We talk about her unusual childhood and her early career in journalism. She's now an anchor for MSNBC and a correspondent for NBC News. Tur's memoir...

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June 17, 2022

The History Of Juneteenth / Remembering Philip Baker Hall

Juneteenth, formerly Emancipation Day or Jubilee, celebrates the day slavery ended in Texas, June 19, 1865. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed studies the early American republic and the legacy of slavery. "It was a very, very tense time — hope and at the same time, hostility," Gor...

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June 16, 2022

How Phones Are Mining Data On Kids (And All Of Us)

Washington Post tech writer Geoffrey Fowler says that apps are collecting data on kids on a massive scale — despite a law that was designed to prevent that. Fowler explains the loophole in the law that apps are using, and ways that the system can and should be changed. We'll also talk about medica...

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June 15, 2022

Searching For The Source Of The Nile

Writer Candice Millard chronicles the arduous journey of two 19th century explorers through East Africa, where they battled heat, insects, and diseases that at times rendered one or the other deaf, blind or paralyzed. After discovering the sprawling lake that feeds the world's longest river, the two...

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June 14, 2022

The Hidden Toll Of Racism On Health

1619 Project journalist Linda Villarosa says bias in the healthcare system and the "weathering" affect of living in a racist society are taking a serious toll on Black people in America. Her new book is Under the Skin. Maureen Corrigan reviews Greenland, a debut novel by David Santos Donaldso...

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June 13, 2022

MSNBC Anchor Katy Tur

Tur's parents ran a helicopter news service in LA in the '80s and '90s. While she loved the rush of flight, her family dynamic was a volatile one. We talk about her unusual childhood and her early career in journalism. Tur's memoir is Rough Draft .

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June 10, 2022

Best Of: Comic Sam Jay / Coach Dawn Staley

On her HBO show, PAUSE with Sam Jay , SNL alum Sam Jay talks with with friends and fellow comics about topics like queer culture, relationships, and racism in America. She came out in her 20s and much of her comedy is about her relationship with her fiancé, and the life she had prior to coming ou...

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June 10, 2022

Julie Andrews

Julie Andrews is this year's recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. The star of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Musi c says because of those roles, many of her fans have a certain image of her. "They think I am this very squeaky clean, upper class lady that came from suc...

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June 9, 2022

The Jan. 6 Insurrection: Understanding The Big Picture

New York Times Congressional reporter Luke Broadwater says the effort to overturn the 2020 election results was a "sprawling and diffuse" one that involved local governments as well as White House insiders. We'll talk about the investigations by the House Select Committee and the Justice Departmen...

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June 8, 2022

Island Records Founder Chris Blackwell

Blackwell grew up in Jamaica, and, as the head of Island Records, helped launch the careers of reggae stars like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff, as well as rock bands like U2. His memoir is The Islander . Maureen Corrigan reviews The Facemaker, a nonfiction book by medical historian Lindsey Fitzharri...

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June 7, 2022

Comic Sam Jay

On her HBO show, PAUSE with Sam Jay , the SNL alum talks with with friends and fellow comics about topics like queer culture, relationships, and racism in America. Sam Jay came out in her 20s and much of her comedy is about her relationship with her fiancé, and the life she had prior to coming ou...

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June 6, 2022

Basketball Star Dawn Staley

Dawn Staley has won Olympic gold medals as a player and as a head coach. She played in the WNBA, and is now head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team. In April, she led her team to its second NCAA championship. We'll talk about how she's seen women's basketball change and g...

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June 3, 2022

Best Of: David Sedaris / Political Discord In The White Evangelical Church

Humorist David Sedaris talks about his new collection of personal essays, called Happy-Go-Lucky . This book has some pretty serious writing about his late father, who died a year ago at the age of 98. Throughout Sedaris' life, his father bullied him, and belittled him and his accomplishments. "My f...

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June 3, 2022

Remembering Ray Liotta

Actor Ray Liotta died last week at 67. We'll listen back to Terry's 2016 interview with him. He got his start playing a nice guy on a soap opera. Then came his tough-guy role in Something Wild – and his starring role in Goodfellas . He also played Shoeless Joe Jackson in the film Field of Dreams...

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June 2, 2022

Uncovering Abuse In The Southern Baptist Convention

A new report commissioned by the Southern Baptist Convention found that "survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved, or discredited." Even some convicted molesters continued as ministers, without the SBC informing their congregations. The report's bombshell is that the SBC had...

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June 1, 2022

Did Jack Welch Break Capitalism?

The legendary GE CEO wowed investors and mingled with celebrities. But New York Times correspondent David Gelles says Welch's aggressive tactics also caused irreparable harm to American industry. His book is The Man Who Broke Capitalism . David Bianculli reviews a Netflix comedy special by the ...

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May 31, 2022

David Sedaris Returns

"My father was not a good person, but he was a great character," Sedaris says. The humorist writes about his efforts to make peace with his memories of his late father in Happy-Go-Lucky . Also, Ken Tucker reviews Kendrick Lamar's new album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers .

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May 29, 2022

Country Star Tim McGraw

Country music singers McGraw and Faith Hill star in the Paramount+ series 1883 . The show tells the story of a group of Eastern European immigrants trying to make their way in covered wagons from Texas to Oregon. Before they filmed, they attended "cowboy camp," to learn the basics of riding horses ...

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May 27, 2022

Best Of: Comic Sarah Silverman / Poet Diana Goetsch

As a kid, Sarah Silverman says, the fact that she wet the bed was her "deepest, darkest shame." Decades later, she wrote about the humiliation in her 2010 memoir The Bedwetter — now adapted into a musical. The comic talks with Terry Gross about the songs, cringing at some of her old jokes, and sat...

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May 26, 2022

Angela Lansbury

In June, Lansbury will receive the Tony Award for lifetime achievement. The Murder, She Wrote star previously won Tonys for her performances in Gypsy and Sweeney Todd . She spoke with Terry Gross in 2000. Also, David Bianculli reviews the PBS Great Performances documentary about Stephen Sond...

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May 26, 2022

How A Disinformation & Harassment Expert Became A Target

Nina Jankowicz was tapped to head the Biden administration's new Disinformation Governance Board but resigned after being deluged with online threats. Her new book is How to Be a Woman Online .

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May 25, 2022

Diana Goetsch's Long Journey To Living As A Woman

Diana Goetsch grew up in a time when she didn't have the language to help her understand what it meant to be trans. The poet chronicles her later-in-life transition in the memoir This Body I Wore . "I felt that the universe owed me 50 years as a female living this way," she explains. "That's crazy,...

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May 24, 2022

Comic Sarah Silverman

As a kid, Silverman says, the fact that she wet the bed was her "deepest, darkest shame." Decades later, she wrote about the humiliation in her 2010 memoir The Bedwetter — now adapted into a musical. The comic talks with Terry Gross about the songs, cringing at some of her old jokes, and satirizin...

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May 23, 2022

Novelist Emma Straub

Straub's new novel, This Time Tomorrow , is a time-travel fantasy about a 40-year-old woman who's tending to her ailing father — until, that is, the day she's transported to her childhood home on her 16th birthday. Straub owns the independent bookstore Books Are Magic in Brooklyn. She spoke with co...

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May 20, 2022

Best Of: George Floyd's Life / The Queer History Of A Women's Prison

We remember George Floyd as we approach the second anniversary of his murder. We'll speak with Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa. They argue that George Floyd's struggles in life reflect the challenges and pressures of institutional racism in the country. Their new boo...

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May 20, 2022

George Carlin

Carlin was one of the most famous comics to emerge from the '60s counterculture. After it was broadcast on radio, his comic monologue Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Television became the focus of an obscenity case that made it all the way to the Supreme Court. Carlin is the subject of a new tw...

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May 19, 2022

Political Discord In The White Evangelical Church

New York Times journalist Ruth Graham says many pastors are being pressured to resist vaccines and mask mandates, embrace Trump's claims about election fraud and adopt QANON-based conspiracy theories. Maureen Corrigan shares four terrific novels perfect for your early summer reading: This Time T...

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May 18, 2022

How Systemic Racism Shaped George Floyd's Life

As we approach the second anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, two journalists report on the life of the man whose death sparked a massive protest movement and a national conversation about race. Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa drew on hundreds of interviews an...

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May 17, 2022

Frank Bruni On Vision Lost & Found

After experiencing a rare kind of stroke, NYT writer Frank Bruni suddenly became blind in his right eye. Doctors told him there was a decent chance the same could happen to his other eye. It forced him to make a decision: He could focus on what had been lost or on what remained. He chose the latte...

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May 16, 2022

The Queer History Of The Women's House Of Detention

In New York City, in the 20th century, tens of thousands of women and transmasculine people were incarcerated at the so-called "House of D." Author Hugh Ryan says that in many cases, the prisoners were charged with crimes related to gender non-conforming behavior. "Drunkenness, waywardism, disobedie...

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May 13, 2022

Best Of: Rosie Perez / Stephen Merchant

Rosie Perez was a dancer on Soul Train, the choreographer for "the Fly Girls," the dancers on the sketch comedy show In Living Color, and she did the now-famous dance in the opening credit sequence of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing . She's now co-starring in the HBO max series The Flight Atten...

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May 13, 2022

Met Opera Star Anthony Roth Costanzo

A decade ago, Costanzo had surgery that threatened to destroy his singing voice. Now he stars as a gender-fluid Egyptian pharaoh in the Met Opera's production of Philip Glass' Akhnaten . He's a countertenor, meaning he sings in a high range that's associated with women's voices. He knows all about ...

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May 12, 2022

How Tucker Carlson Conquered Cable

The New York Times did an exhaustive survey of the Fox News hosts' broadcasts. Reporter Nicholas Confessore says Carlson's show is based on ideas that were once "caged in a dark corner of American life." Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Trust by Hernan Diaz.

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May 11, 2022

Former Attorney General Eric Holder

Holder was America's first Black attorney general when he served in the Obama administration. He has a new book called Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote .

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May 10, 2022

British Comedy Writer & Actor Stephen Merchant

Merchant co-created the British Office and Extras with Ricky Gervais. His new show, The Outlaws , is about people court-ordered to do community service for low-level crimes. He spoke with producer Sam Briger about what inspired the new series, his best writing advice, and how being very tall (6...

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May 9, 2022

Rosie Perez

Raised in a convent for abandoned kids, The Flight Attendant co-star used to dream of stability and a loving home. Now that she has it, Perez says, "It's priceless." We talk with Perez about overcoming the trauma of her childhood, how a fight with Spike Lee helped land her breakthrough role in Do...

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May 6, 2022

Best Of: Alexander Skarsgård / Comedy Writer Jessi Klein

Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård describes himself as "quite a mellow guy." Playing a Viking warrior in the film The Northman gave Skarsgård a chance to tap into his animalistic nature. We talk about being a child actor in Sweden, growing up in a bohemian family, and his roles in Big Little Lies...

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May 6, 2022

'Better Things' Star Pamela Adlon

Adlon is the co-creator, director and star of the FX comedy series Better Things , which ended its fifth and final season last month. The Peabody award-winning series has been heralded as a "masterpiece of unreal realism." Her character, like Adlon herself, is the single mother of three girls, who ...

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May 5, 2022

How The UK Became A Safe-Deposit Box For Russian Oligarchs

We talk with journalist Oliver Bullough about how Russian oligarchs have stashed their wealth and laundered their money in Britain, and how that's helped Putin – and the Russian state – launch its war in Ukraine. There's so much oligarch money in London, it's been nicknamed "Londongrad." Bullough sa...

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May 4, 2022

Alexander Skarsgård

The Swedish actor describes himself as "quite a mellow guy." Playing a Viking warrior in the film The Northman gave Skarsgård a chance to tap into his animalistic nature. We talk about being a child actor in Sweden, growing up in a bohemian family, and his roles in Big Little Lies , Succession ,...

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May 3, 2022

How GOP Leaders (Briefly) Turned Against Trump After Jan. 6

In their book, This Will Not Pass , NYT journalists Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns reveal that GOP leaders, including Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Sen. Mitch McConnell privately discussed removing Trump from office.

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May 2, 2022

Stopping Mass Shootings Before They Happen

Mother Jones national affairs editor Mark Follman has studied mass shootings in America for much of the past decade. He says a growing number of mental health experts, educators and law enforcement leaders are engaged in the emerging field of behavioral threat assessment. They study the psychology...

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April 29, 2022

Best Of: Tim McGraw / Zain Asher

Country music singers McGraw and Faith Hill star in the Paramount+ series 1883 . The show tells the story of a group of Eastern European immigrants trying to make their way in covered wagons from Texas to Oregon. We talk with McGraw about the series and learning about his birth father, MLB pitcher ...

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April 29, 2022

The Wonder of the Human Voice

We talk with 'New Yorker' writer John Colapinto, author of This Is the Voice , about how voices work, how they evolved in our prehistoric ancestors, how babies learn to vocalize words of their parents' languages so quickly, and what makes voices sexy or authoritative. Colapinto's own vocal injury l...

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April 28, 2022

Moral Panic in the Classroom

Florida officials recently rejected a slew of math textbooks, claiming they included "prohibited topics." NYT journalist Dana Goldstein theorizes the objections related to social-emotional learning. The goal of social-emotional learning is to provide kids with a set of skills that they can draw on...

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April 27, 2022

Comedy Writer Jessi Klein On Motherhood

Klein was the head writer of Inside Amy Schumer and is one of the lead voices in the animated Netflix series Big Mouth . She has a new book of essays about motherhood called I'll Show Myself Out . Klein talks about how having a baby made her feel like a stranger in her own body and life. "There'...

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April 26, 2022

CNN Anchor Zain Asher

When Asher was five, living with her family in London, her mother got a call informing her that her husband and son, who were on a road trip in Nigeria, their ancestral home, had been in a terrible accident. She was told her husband or her son had survived, but the caller didn't know which. That sto...

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April 25, 2022

Michelle Yeoh

When Yeoh first read the script for Everything Everywhere All at Once , she gave a big sigh of relief: Finally, here was a film that put a middle-aged mother in the role of action hero. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her path from dancer to martial artist to leading lady, as well as joining the...

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April 23, 2022

Best Of: Comic Jerrod Carmichael / Musician Richard Thompson

Comic, actor and writer Jerrod Carmichael goes deeper into the secrets he reveals in his new HBO comedy special, Rothaniel — secrets about his real name, his family tree, and his sexual orientation. Carmichael's new special is directed by Bo Burnham. A previous one was directed by Spike Lee. Also...

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April 22, 2022

Pianist Jeremy Denk

Acclaimed classical pianist Jeremy Denk's new memoir begins with his first piano lessons and ends with his last formal lesson when he was 26. He'll talk about the obsessive practicing and repetition that's essential to reach his level of proficiency, and what he's learned about technique and conveyi...

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April 21, 2022

Inside The Murdoch Media Empire

The new CNN+ docuseries The Murdochs looks inside the Fox media empire and the family's behind-the-scenes in-fighting. Journalist Jim Rutenberg says the real-life drama rivals HBO's Succession . "I ... have always suspected that the Succession writers have some mole in the family because it's j...

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April 20, 2022

Fairport Convention Band Co-Founder Richard Thompson

The British singer, songwriter and guitarist talks about his formative years, and about pioneering a new musical genre that blended rock with traditional music of the British isles. Thompson's new memoir is Beeswing.

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April 19, 2022

Tim McGraw

Country music singers McGraw and Faith Hill are starring in the Paramount+ series 1883 . The show tells the story of a group of Eastern European immigrants trying to make their way in covered wagons from Texas to Oregon. Before they filmed, they attended "cowboy camp," to learn the basics of riding...

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April 18, 2022

Comic Jerrod Carmichael Reveals His Secrets

In his new HBO comedy special, Rothaniel , Carmichael opens up about his real name, his family tree, and his sexual orientation. We'll go deeper into these issues — and talk about how being honest about them changed his comedy and his life. "The more honest I am, the freer I am," he says.

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April 15, 2022

Best Of: Molly Shannon / Delia Ephron

In addition to SNL , Molly Shannon has co-starred in the comedy series The Other Two and The White Lotus , and will soon appear in the Showtime comedy series I Love That for You . We talk with Shannon about the tragic event of her childhood that changed her life, and how she found comedy. Her ...

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April 15, 2022

Remembering Jazz Pianist & Composer Jessica Williams

Williams was a dazzling player and a favorite at Fresh Air. She died March 10 at 73. We'll listen back to her 1997 performance and interview.

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April 14, 2022

Trump, The GOP Kingmaker / Remembering Gilbert Gottfried

NYT correspondent Shane Goldmacher says Trump doles out endorsements to Republican candidates to elevate allies, punish enemies, and make the "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was stolen into a party litmus test. Also, we remember comic Gilbert Gottfried who died this week. Known for his unusual...

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April 13, 2022

Writer Delia Ephron's Real-Life Rom-Com

Delia Ephron, who co-wrote the '90s film You've Got Mail with her sister Nora, found herself in the plotline of a romantic comedy. In her new memoir Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life , Delia Ephron writes about finding new love at age 72, in the face of grief and cancer. Also, TV critic Da...

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April 12, 2022

The Pandemic Profiteers

ProPublica reporter David McSwane tells the story of people and businesses that profited from the COVID-19 pandemic. He found the government awarded lucrative contracts to many people with a history of fraudulent business practices documented in public records, if anyone had bothered to check. His n...

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April 11, 2022

Actor & Comedian Molly Shannon

When Molly Shannon started finding success on Saturday Night Live , she remembers feeling depressed. "I realized that really the only person I wanted to say, 'Oh my gosh, I'm so, so proud of you, Molly' was my mom," she says. But Shannon's mother, along with her younger sister and a cousin, had die...

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April 8, 2022

Best Of: Groundbreaking Conductor Marin Alsop / Poet Ocean Vuong

In 2007, Alsop became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony. But on the way to great success, she faced plenty of rejection. "Girls can't do that," Alsop recalls her violin teacher told her at age nine, of becoming a conductor. "I'd never heard a phrase like that...

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April 8, 2022

Acclaimed Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro

The Nobel Prize-winning novelist's latest book, Klara and the Sun , is set in the future and has an artificially intelligent narrator. "I wanted some of that childlike freshness and openness and naivety to survive all the way through the text in her," he says. We talk about his writing process, hit...

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April 7, 2022

The Abortion Underground

Activists are mobilizing in preparation for the weakening or end of Roe v. Wade. That's the subject of Jessica Bruder's new cover story for The Atlantic . "There are lots of people who want to keep abortion accessible for everybody who might want access to abortion, regardless of what the Supreme C...

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April 6, 2022

Actor Adam Scott On 'Severance'

Scott is known for TV comedies like Parks and Recreation and Party Down , the drama series Big Little Lies , and the film Step Brothers . Now Scott stars in the Apple TV+ series Severance , which gives a sci-fi take on work-life balance. He plays a man who's chosen to have a chip implanted in ...

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April 5, 2022

Poet & Author Ocean Vuong

Vuong is author of the acclaimed novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous . It was published in 2019, the same year he won a MacArthur "genius" grant. It was also the same year his mother died. "Ever since I lost her, I've felt that my life has been lived in only two days," Vuong tells Tonya Mosley. "...

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April 4, 2022

Groundbreaking Conductor Marin Alsop

In 2007, Alsop became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony. But on the way to great success, she faced plenty of rejection. "Girls can't do that," Alsop recalls her violin teacher telling her at age nine, of becoming a conductor. "I'd never heard a phrase like t...

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April 1, 2022

Best Of: Sam Waterston / A Civil Rights Leader Who Investigated Lynchings

Waterston joined the cast of Law & Order in 1994 on a one-year contract. He wound up staying 16 years, until the series wrapped in 2010. Now the show's back — and so is he. We talk about working into his 80s, Grace and Frankie , and how the 1984 film The Killing Fields changed his life and care...

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April 1, 2022

The Extraordinary Lives Of Migratory Birds

Author Scott Weidensaul talks about the millions of birds flying unseen over our heads in the night sky, how the bar-tailed godwit can fly more than a week over water without stopping, and how new tracking technology may help with strategies to keep them alive. His book is A World on the Wing . Al...

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March 31, 2022

How Ukraine Is Fighting On The Digital Battlefield

Time 's Vera Bergengruen says Ukraine's citizen IT force, led by a 31-year-old minister of digital transformation, is blunting Russian disinformation and galvanizing international support. The Ukrainian government has enlisted as many as 300,000 citizens to volunteer for the so-called IT army. "The...

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March 30, 2022

How A Civil Rights Leader Risked His Life to Investigate Lynchings

White Lies author A.J. Baime tells the story of Walter White, a light-skinned Black man whose ancestors had been enslaved. For years White risked his life investigating racial violence in the South.

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March 29, 2022

The History Of Surgery

Medical historian and surgeon Ira Rutkow points to physical evidence that suggests Stone Age people conducted — and survived — brain surgery. We talk about the evolution of surgery from ancient societies to robotic surgery today. His new book is Empire of the Scalpel. Also, Maureen Corrigan revie...

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March 28, 2022

Sam Waterston On Returning To 'Law & Order'

Waterston joined the cast of the original NBC series in 1994 on a one-year contract. He wound up staying 16 years, until the series wrapped in 2010. Now the show's back — and so is he. We talk about working into his 80s, Grace and Frankie, and how the 1984 film The Killing Fields changed his life ...

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March 25, 2022

Best Of: Pianist Jeremy Denk / Columnist Frank Bruni

MacArthur "genius" grant winner Jeremy Denk talks about what he learned from his piano teachers, his pivotal artistic moments and his failures and frustrations. Denk's new memoir is Every Good Boy Does Fine . John Powers reviews Life & Beth on Hulu, created by and starring Amy Schumer. After e...

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March 25, 2022

Remembering Secretary Of State Madeleine Albright

Appointed by President Clinton in 1997, Albright advocated for the expansion of NATO into the former Soviet bloc countries of Eastern Europe. She died March 23. Originally broadcast in 2003 and 2018. Justin Chang reviews Everything Everywhere All At Once starring Michelle Yeoh.

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March 24, 2022

The Massive Aid Flowing Into Ukraine

Time reporter Simon Shuster recently returned from the Ukrainian-Polish border. Watching as U.S. planes brought in loads of weapons, he felt like he was standing on the brink of something massive. "We are on the edge of a really era-defining war. We're already in it," he says.

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March 23, 2022

Healing & Heartbreak In A Chicago ER

Veteran ER doctor Thomas Fisher's new book describes his experiences in the first year of the Covid pandemic treating patients on Chicago's South Side. He never had enough time or resources for his needy patients before the pandemic, but 2020 brought COVID and a wave of gun violence that stressed pa...

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March 22, 2022

Columnist Frank Bruni On Vision Lost & Found

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March 21, 2022

Classical Pianist Jeremy Denk

The MacArthur "genius" grant winner talks about what he learned from his piano teachers, his pivotal artistic moments and his failures and frustrations. Denk's new memoir is Every Good Boy Does Fine .

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March 18, 2022

Best Of: Seth Meyers / A Tour Of The Human Body

As the host of NBC's Late Night , it's Seth Meyers' job to be funny, even when the news is catastrophic. He's satirized issues in the news, including in times of tragedy and war ever since he became an anchor on Saturday Night Live 's Weekend Update in 2006. His first SNL episode was the episod...

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March 18, 2022

Remembering Actor William Hurt

Hurt died March 13 at the age of 71. He was a leading man in the 1980s in the films Body Heat , Broadcast News , and The Big Chill . But he thought of himself as a character actor, and won an Oscar for his performance as a drag queen sharing a prison cell with a political dissident in the film K...

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March 17, 2022

A Crash Course On NATO History

Historian Mary Elise Sarotte tells how NATO expanded into Eastern Europe after the fall of the U.S.S.R, and is now obligated to defend nations near Russia's war in Ukraine. Her book is Not One Inch.

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March 16, 2022

A Doctor's Guided Tour Inside Your Body

We talk with Dr. Jonathan Reisman, author of The Unseen Body, about how our organs function, the messages contained in our body fluids, and his experiences treating patients with diseased organs. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead remembers trumpet player and bandleader Ron Miles, who died last week at...

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March 15, 2022

Former U.S. Ambassador To Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch

Yovanovitch was relieved of her post following a smear campaign orchestrated by Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. She also testified at Trump's first impeachment. Her new memoir is 'Lessons from the Edge.' Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews a new collection of the novels of esteemed YA author Virginia Hami...

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March 14, 2022

Seth Meyers On Fear, Fatherhood & Friendship

We talk with the Late Night host about his second son's dramatic birth story, John Mulaney's intervention, and his new children's book, I'm Not Scared, YOU'RE Scared. Meyers says the book is about our relationship with fear. Maureen Corrigan reviews The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka.

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March 11, 2022

Best Of: Amy Bloom On Alzheimer's And Assisted Suicide / Cartoonist David Sipress

Shortly after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2019, architect Brian Ameche, then in his mid-60s, told his wife, novelist Amy Bloom, that he wanted to end life on his own terms, before the disease robbed him of everything. Bloom talks about how she traveled with him to Zurich so he could...

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March 11, 2022

Patrick Stewart On 'Star Trek: Picard'

Patrick Stewart is back as Jean-Luc Picard in season 2 of the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Picard. "I am not averse to risk-taking and I don't judge myself," he says. Stewart spoke with Sam Briger in 2020. Also, Justin Chang reviews the new Pixar film Turning Red .

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March 10, 2022

Why Russians Are Fleeing Their Country

New Yorker staff writer Masha Gessen says there's been an exodus from Russia in the last week and a half: "It's a sudden and drastic descent into a sense of having no country." Gessen reported in late January and February from Ukraine, and then went to Moscow after the invasion. On the night Puti...

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March 9, 2022

How Sandy Hook Ushered In A New Era Of Conspiracies

In the years since the Sandy Hook shooting, the victims' families have endured relentless online abuse, stalking and personal threats. New York Times journalist Elizabeth Williamson examines how the conspiracy theories around the tragedy began — and how they changed America. Her book is Sandy Hoo...

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March 8, 2022

Writer Amy Bloom Reflects On Her Husband's Assisted Suicide

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March 7, 2022

New Yorker Cartoonist David Sipress

Sipress endured years of rejection before finally landing a gig with The New Yorker in '98. "I wasn't about to let all that rejection get in the way," he says. His new memoir is What's So Funny?

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March 4, 2022

Best Of: China's Influence On Hollywood / Living With Chronic Illness

Wall Street Journal reporter Erich Schwartzel says that Hollywood film studios increasingly rely upon Chinese audiences to break even — which can result in self-censorship. His new book is Red Carpet . Film critic Justin Chang reviews The Batman , starring Robert Pattinson. Also, we'll hear fro...

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March 4, 2022

Benedict Cumberbatch / Film Composer Jonny Greenwood

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in Jane Campion's Western The Power of the Dog as Phil Burbank, a hyper-masculine cattle rancher living on the plains of Montana in the 1920s. We talk about how body odor helped him channel the character, toxic masculinity, and filming on location in breathtaking landsca...

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March 3, 2022

How The War Between Russia & Ukraine Might End

Historian and former State Department official Michael Kimmage says the war in Ukraine is going "surprisingly badly" for the Kremlin: "It didn't get the politics of Ukraine right. It didn't expect the Ukrainians to fight." We talk about possible scenarios of how this conflict could end, and what tha...

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March 2, 2022

'Raised By Wolves' Series Creator

In the HBO Max series Raised By Wolves , humanity is near extinction after a global religious war. Two androids are sent to another planet to raise human children and keep the species alive. We talk with series creator Aaron Guzikowski about how parenthood and faith inspired the show. Also, John ...

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March 1, 2022

How Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine Changes The World As We Know It

Journalist Anne Applebaum has been covering the war in Ukraine for The Atlantic . "I don't think that we will ever again smugly assume that borders in Europe can't be changed by force," she says. We talk about why Putin takes Ukrainian democracy as a personal and political threat — and how Stalin c...

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February 28, 2022

Long COVID, Chronic Illness & Searching For Answers

Meghan O'Rourke says long COVID and other chronic illnesses put an unwieldy burden on patients, who have to testify to the reality of their own illness. Her new book, The Invisible Kingdom , chronicles her personal struggle to find diagnoses for her own nerve pain, brain fog, extreme fatigue and ot...

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February 25, 2022

Best Of: 'Abbott Elementary' Creator Quinta Brunson / Novelist Julie Otsuka

Quinta Brunson stars as a rookie second grade teacher in an under-resourced public elementary school in the mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary . Brunson says she conceived of the show with her mother — a teacher — in mind. Kevin Whitehead reviews a new stash of home and live recordings by jazz ...

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February 25, 2022

The Remarkable Life Of Frederick Douglass

Historian David Blight's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography traced Frederick Douglass' path from slavery to abolitionist and inspired HBO's documentary, Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches . "Seeing and hearing Douglass became, through the course of the 19th century, a kind of American wonder of the...

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February 24, 2022

What The Insect Crisis Means For Humans

Environmental writer Oliver Milman says habitat loss, pesticides and climate change are killing off insects worldwide, which, in turn, threatens humans. We talk about the critical role insects play in pollinating plants we eat, breaking down waste, and forming the base of a food chain for other anim...

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February 23, 2022

'Abbott Elementary' Creator/Star Quinta Brunson

Quinta Brunson stars as a rookie second grade teacher in an under-resourced public elementary school in the mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary . Brunson says she conceived of the show with her mother — a teacher — in mind. "The beauty is someone being so resilient for a job that is so underpaid ...

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February 22, 2022

Novelist Julie Otsuka On 'The Swimmers'

Though the main character in Julie Otsuka's new novel has lost much of her memory to dementia, she still remembers being sent to an incarceration camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. We talk with the novelist about her family's history and writing The Swimmers . Maureen Corrigan revie...

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February 21, 2022

Does China Have Hollywood In An Economic Muzzle?

Wall Street Journal reporter Erich Schwartzel says that film studios increasingly rely upon Chinese audiences to break even — which can result in self-censorship. His new book is Red Carpet.

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February 18, 2022

Best Of: Bill Cosby's Legacy / Matthew Macfadyen

Comic and producer W. Kamau Bell talks about directing the Showtime series We Need to Talk About Cosby , which explores how Bill Cosby became "America's dad," and a hero in Black culture — and how that changed when he was accused and convicted as a rapist. Podcast critic Nick Quah reviews The Tr...

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February 18, 2022

Penélope Cruz / Javier Bardem

Penélope Cruz is nominated for Best Actress for her role in Parallel Mothers , the latest movie written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. And her husband, Javier Bardem, is nominated for his role as Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos . He's probably best known for playing a psychopathic serial kill...

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February 17, 2022

The Battle For Voting Rights

Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, says lawmakers in 27 states are considering hundreds of bills designed to limit voting or undermine the integrity of the election process. We talk about the ongoing threat to our democracy and fair elections. Waldman's book is The Fight ...

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February 16, 2022

The Untold Story Of 'Civil Rights Queen' Constance Baker Motley

Though she litigated Brown v. The Board of Education, was the first Black woman to argue before the Supreme Court, and represented MLK, few people know her name: Constance Baker Motley. Guest interviewer Tonya Mosley speaks with her biographer, Tomika Brown-Nagin, author of Civil Rights Queen . J...

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February 15, 2022

An Underground Journey With Afghan Refugees

Journalist Matthieu Aikins accompanied his Afghan interpreter when he decided to flee Afghanistan in 2016, using smugglers' routes to make his way to Europe and start a new life. For Aikins, it meant shedding his own identity and passport and taking risks refugees take — heading into the Mediterrane...

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February 14, 2022

W. Kamau Bell On Bill Cosby's Legacy

About 60 women have come forward accusing Cosby of drugging and raping them. In 2018, Cosby was convicted of three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault, though that conviction was overturned on a technicality in 2021. W. Kamau Bell's new Showtime documentary series, We Need To Talk About Co...

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February 11, 2022

Best Of: Jonny Greenwood / How The Method Changed Acting

Jonny Greenwood plays guitar and keyboard in Radiohead, but in 2007 director Paul Thomas Anderson enlisted him to score his film There Will Be Blood . Since then, Greenwood has scored such films as The Power of the Dog , S pencer , and Phantom Thread . Method acting is more than mining personal...

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February 11, 2022

Remembering Antiwar Activist Todd Gitlin / 'Maus' Author Art Spiegelman

We remember activist, scholar and social critic Todd Gitlin, who died Feb. 5 at the age of 79. He was president of SDS, the Students for a Democratic Society and helped organize the first national demonstration against the Vietnam War. He continued his commitment to social change as a teacher and wr...

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February 10, 2022

What We Know Now About Jan. 6

NYT congressional reporter Luke Broadwater was in the Capitol when the mob started breaking down barricades. We talk about the House committee's investigation into the attack and new revelations about Trump destroying documents and attempting to seize voting machines to overturn the election. We'l...

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February 9, 2022

How The Method Changed Acting

Method acting is more than mining personal experiences to play a character — or physically transforming for a role. Author and cultural critic Isaac Butler traces the history of the technique in The Method .

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February 8, 2022

How The GOP Became The Party Of Trump

New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters says the religious right and social conservatives "got basically everything that they wanted" from Trump's presidency. We also talk about how Sarah Palin pushed the Republican Party to the right. Peters' new book is Insurgency . Also, David Bianculli review...

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February 7, 2022

Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood On Scoring Films

Greenwood plays guitar and keyboard in Radiohead, but in 2007 auteur director Paul Thomas Anderson enlisted him to score his film There Will Be Blood . Since then, Greenwood has scored such films as The Power of the Dog , S pencer , and Phantom Thread . We talk with the musician about his scoring...

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February 4, 2022

Best Of: Guillermo del Toro / The Science Of Heartbreak

Guillermo del Toro's new movie, Nightmare Alley , is a film noir starring Bradley Cooper as a murderer who joins a traveling carnival, first as part of the crew, and then as part of a clairvoyant act. The Oscar-winning Mexican director talks about researching psychics and why he relates to Frankens...

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February 4, 2022

Christine Baranski / Remembering Actor Howard Hesseman

Actor and singer Christine Baranski is now one of the stars of the new HBO series The Gilded Age . She spoke with Terry Gross in 2020. Also, we listen back to our 1988 interview with Howard Hesseman, who died last Saturday at the age of 81. Hesseman played a DJ in the series WKRP in Cincinnati, ...

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February 3, 2022

Teachers Could Face Penalties For Lessons On Race, Gender, Politics

Across the U.S., educators are being censored for broaching controversial topics. Since January 2021, researcher Jeffrey Sachs says that 35 different states have introduced 137 bills limiting what schools can teach with regard to race, American history, politics, sexual orientation and gender identi...

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February 2, 2022

A Family's Secret Mob Operation

Russell Shorto's grandfather was a mob leader in the industrial town of Johnstown, Pa. Shorto writes about the havoc that resulted from his grandfather's operation in the memoir, Smalltime . The story involves rackets, political payoffs, and the unsolved murder of a bookie. John Powers reviews R...

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February 1, 2022

The Science Of Heartbreak

Science writer Florence Williams experienced what felt like a brain injury when her husband left her after more than 25 years together. So she decided to explore the connection between heartache and physical pain — including possible changes in the immune, digestive and nervous systems. Her new book...

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January 31, 2022

Dir. Guillermo del Toro

Del Toro's new movie, Nightmare Alley , is a film noir starring Bradley Cooper as a murderer who joins a traveling carnival, first as part of the crew, and then as part of a clairvoyant act. The Oscar-winning Mexican director talks about researching psychics, his feelings about mortality, and why h...

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January 28, 2022

Best Of: A Journey Through The South / The Genius Of Buster Keaton

Princeton African American Studies professor Imani Perry says the South can be seen as an "origin point" for the way the nation operates. Her book, South to America , reflects on the region's history and traces the steps of an enslaved ancestor. Ken Tucker reviews Neil Young's newest album, Barn...

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January 28, 2022

Remembering Comic Louie Anderson

Anderson grew up poor in Minnesota, in a family with 11 children. His Emmy-winning performance in the FX series Baskets was based upon his own mother. Anderson died Jan. 21. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2016 about his family, mortality, and how his material onstage has evolved. Also, TV critic ...

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January 27, 2022

Is Ginni Thomas A Threat To SCOTUS?

New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer discusses the conservative beliefs and influence of Ginni Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas. She's a right-wing activist and has been associated with some groups involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

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January 26, 2022

'Succession' Actor Matthew Macfadyen

In 2005, the British actor played brooding aristocrat Mr. Darcy in the film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice . Now, he's a scheming Midwesterner on Succession : "Tom Wambsgans is a long way from Mr. Darcy," he says. We talk about Tom's complicated relationships with Shiv Roy and cousin Greg, Macfad...

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January 25, 2022

A Journey Through The American South

Princeton African American Studies professor Imani Perry says the South can be seen as an "origin point" for the way the nation operates. Her book, South to Americ a, reflects on the region's history and traces the steps of an enslaved ancestor. "The South in some ways becomes the repository for th...

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January 24, 2022

The Genius Of Buster Keaton

We explore the subtle genius of a man often remembered for pratfalls and sight gags. Buster Keaton was a silent film star in the 1920s, but he was far more than an actor and stuntman. He conceived and directed his films, cited by some of America's leading filmmakers as inspirations. We speak with S...

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January 21, 2022

Best Of: Benedict Cumberbatch / Brian Cox

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January 21, 2022

Remembering André Leon Talley / Ronnie Spector

André Leon Talley, titan of the fashion world, died this week at 73. He was Vogue editor-at-large from 1998 until 2013. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2018 about his journey from the Jim Crow South to Paris ateliers. Also, we remember Ronnie Spector, the leader of the '60s girl group the Ronettes...

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January 20, 2022

A Marine-Turned-Journalist Returns To Afghanistan

Thomas Gibbons-Neff served two tours in Afghanistan in the Marines, and is now a New York Times reporter and Kabul bureau chief. He recently interviewed a high-level Taliban commander about a battle they had both been engaged in. Ken Tucker reviews Neil Young's new album Barn.

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January 19, 2022

Benedict Cumberbatch

Cumberbatch stars in Jane Campion's Western The Power of the Dog as Phil Burbank, a hyper-masculine cattle rancher living on the plains of Montana in the 1920s. We talk about how body odor helped him channel the character, toxic masculinity, and filming on location in breathtaking landscapes of Ne...

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January 18, 2022

'Succession' Star Brian Cox

Cox says ruthless business tycoon Logan Roy is one of the most extraordinary roles he's ever played: "He is a misanthrope [who] is very disappointed with the human experiment." We talk with the Scottish actor about the musicality of his voice, why he doesn't practice method acting, and growing up in...

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January 16, 2022

Attorney Laura Coates On The Fight For Voting Rights

While working for the Department of Justice, attorney Laura Coates says she saw voter rolls being purged and instances where polling places were moved to known Klan locations. She also worked as a prosecutor and had to grapple with her own relationship with law enforcement, as a Black woman. Coates ...

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January 14, 2022

Best Of: Sidney Poitier / Nicole Kidman

Sidney Poitier, who paved the way for Black actors in film, died last week at 94. He was the first Black man to win an Oscar. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2000 about growing up in the Bahamas and breaking into acting. A leading man in the '50s and '60s, some of his best-known films include Lilies o...

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January 14, 2022

Remembering Lyricist Marilyn Bergman & Dir. Peter Bogdanovich

We remember lyricist Marilyn Bergman, half of a songwriting duo with her husband Alan. The songs she and her husband co-wrote won Oscars, Golden Globes and Grammys, and were popularized by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Fred Astaire and Barbra Streisand, just to name a few. She died last week at 93. ...

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January 13, 2022

The Unreported Civilian Deaths In The U.S. Air War Against ISIS

New York Times reporter Dave Philipps says a top-secret special ops unit disregarded official protocols to pick targets for airstrikes, resulting in the death of thousands of farmers and families.

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January 12, 2022

Nicole Kidman

While her friends and family went to the Australian beaches, Kidman stayed indoors reading — and imaged herself as a character in the books. She says reading is what led her to acting. We talk with the Oscar-winning actor about ageism in Hollywood, singing in a cover band as a teenager, and playing ...

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January 11, 2022

Remembering Sidney Poitier

The legendary actor, who paved the way for Black actors in film, died last week at 94. Poitier was the first Black performer to win the best actor Academy Award. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2000 about growing up in the Bahamas and breaking into acting while working as a dishwasher in New York. A le...

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January 10, 2022

Actor Kal Penn

The actor spoke with contributor Ann Marie Baldonado about navigating Hollywood as a young actor of color at a time when there were only stereotypical roles available — and why he took a break from acting to work in the Obama administration. He's best known for his roles in the Harold and Kumar fr...

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January 10, 2022

Best Of: Kirsten Dunst / The Global Supply Chain

Kirsten Dunst co-stars in the new film The Power of the Dog , along with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons, who plays her husband in the film, and is her husband in real life. We talk about being a child actor and the formative experience of working with Sofia Coppola early in her career. Al...

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January 7, 2022

Remembering Joan Didion & Betty White

We remember writer Joan Didion, known for her cool, unsentimental observations and distinctive writing. After the sudden death of her husband in 2003, she turned her gaze on her own grief in the memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking . Didion died last month. She spoke with Terry Gross in 1987 and 20...

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January 6, 2022

Why Dan Bongino Is Building A Right-Wing Media Infrastructure

New Yorker writer Evan Osnos says no one in the media has profited more from the Trump era than Dan Bongino, who hosts the country's fourth most listened to radio show and has 8.5 million weekly listeners. Bongino has also helped create and fund right-wing platforms that replicate Twitter, PayPal ...

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January 5, 2022

Inside The Global Supply Chain

In a new book, Wall Street Journal columnist Christopher Mims looks at how goods make their way from factories in Asia, across the Pacific in container ships and then are moved, sorted and delivered in American warehouses and trucks. Much of the handling is highly automated, he says, which cuts co...

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January 4, 2022

Rep. Raskin Reckons With His Son's Suicide And The Jan. 6 Attack

A year ago, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., experienced two unimaginable traumas in the span of a single week: On New Year's Eve 2020, his son Tommy died by suicide after succumbing to mental illness. Then, on Jan. 6, 2021, just a day after Tommy's funeral, Raskin was at work in the U.S. Capitol with his ...

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January 3, 2022

Kirsten Dunst

Dunst stars opposite her husband, Jesse Plemons, in Jane Campion's Western, 'The Power of the Dog.' She calls it a "cinematic love letter" to their children. Dunst spoke with Terry Gross about how her experience with depression helped her performance in the film, how she uses dreams to deepen her un...

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December 31, 2021

Best Of: The World Of Film Noir / Colson Whitehead

We talk about classic film noir — movies from the '40s and '50s with doomed characters, sexual heat and double crosses — with Eddie Muller, host of the Turner Classic Movies show Noir Alley and author of Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir . Film critic Justin Chang reviews the new movie The...

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December 30, 2021

Dave Grohl

The Foo Fighters frontman (and Nirvana drummer) talks about his journey from playing small punk clubs to giant stadiums in his memoir, The Storyteller. He reflects on how he taught himself drums, his friendship with Kurt Cobain, and reinventing himself after Cobain's death. "I was heartbroken," he...

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December 30, 2021

A 'Schmigadoon!' Show

SNL 's Cecily Strong co-stars in the Apple TV+ satire series Schmigadoon!. It centers on a couple who gets trapped in a town where people burst into song. We talk with Strong as well as Cinco Paul, the show's co-creator.

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December 29, 2021

Remembering Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a legendary leader in the fight to end apartheid in South Africa, died Sunday at age 90. After Nelson Mandela was elected president in the country's first democratic election, he asked Tutu to chair South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which examined the crime...

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