The Atlantic writer George Packer calls JD Vance the most interesting figure in the Trump administration: "He's capable of complex thought, and I also think he may be the future of the MAGA movement." Also, David Bianculli reviews the HBO movie Mountainhead , written by Succession writer/creator Jesse Armstrong. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
James Patterson's books have sold over 400 million copies worldwide. He says he often gets ideas for them late at night. His latest, The #1 Dad Book, offers advice for fathers. He spoke with Terry Gross at a WHYY live event for the "Lifelong Learning Award." Also, Martin Johnson reviews a new album from accordionist Will Holshouser, and we listen back to Terry's interview with him when he brought his instrument to the studio. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
For the holiday weekend, we're revisiting our recent interview with Questlove. His documentary, SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), examines Sly Stone's enormous impact on music — and the price he paid for it. "Sly will invent the alphabet for which most of pop and R&B or Black music will write from for the next 60 years," Questlove says. "We're still writing from his dictionary to this day." Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Professors and educators are now turning to A.I. to prepare lessons, teach, and even grade students' work. We talk with New York Times tech reporter Kashmir Hill about the ongoing debate in higher-ed about A.I.. TV critic David Bianculli reviews One to One , a new documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Also, writer Amanda Hess talks about motherhood in the digital age, navigating a world where apps, surveillance tech, and a relentless stream of algorithmic advice have become part of pregnan...
We remember Broadway composer Charles Strouse, who died May 15 at age 96. He wrote the music for the hit musicals Bye Bye Birdie and Annie , which included such songs as "Put On a Happy Face," "A Lot of Livin' to Do," and "Tomorrow." Jay-Z sampled "Hard Knock Life," from Annie , on a Grammy-award-winning rap recording. Strouse understood why: "I wanted that song to be gritty. I didn't want it to be a fake. I wanted it to show these desperate times and these maltreated girls." Strouse spoke with ...
Walton Goggins talks with Tonya Mosley about growing up poor in the Deep South, the travel that changed him, and collaborating with his wife. He says his unconventional childhood shaped his approach to acting, from Justified to The White Lotus and The Righteous Gemstones. David Bianculli reviews a new two-part HBO documentary about Paul Reubens, who played Pee-Wee Herman. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Colleges and universities have been trying to fight against students using tools like ChatGPT to do class assignments and communicate. But here's a twist: Professors and educators are now turning to A.I. to prepare lessons, teach, and even grade students' work. We talk with NYT tech reporter Kashmir Hill about these conflicts on campus. Also, she shares what she learned after giving over her life for a week to A.I. tools, which wrote emails for her, planned her meals, chose what she should wear,...
CNN host Jake Tapper's book, Original Sin , co-authored by Alex Thompson, describes a president who struggled to function: "One person told us that the presidency was, at best, a five-person board with Joe Biden as chairman." Tapper spoke with Terry Gross about moderating the disastrous Biden/Trump debate, George Clooney's op-ed calling for the president to drop out, and the White House's "cover-up" about Biden's decline. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR...
Escola gives former first lady Mary Todd Lincoln a wild second act in the Tony-nominated play Oh, Mary! "This play is about a woman with a dream that no one around her understands," Escola says. The actor spoke with Ann Marie Baldonado about growing up in rural Oregon, the inspiration for the play, and making sense of its surprise success. Maureen Corrigan reviews Ocean Vuong's new novel, The Emperor of Gladness . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy...
Ramy Youssef's new animated comedy series, #1 Happy Family USA , is about an Egyptian American Muslim family living in New Jersey, after 9/11, trying to blend in and doing everything they can to avoid being seen as a threat. Youssef spoke with Terry Gross about the series and his own experience during that time. Also, Danny McBride talks with Tonya Mosley about his HBO series The Righteous Gemstones , about a wildly dysfunctional family of televangelists fighting for power, influence, and their ...
There's a new documentary about the '60s British band The Zombies. It's called 'Hung Up on a Dream' and it's streaming on Amazon Prime. We're listening back to Terry's 1998 interview with lead singer of The Zombies, Colin Blunstone. The band had a reputation for being clean cut and well mannered. "People want rascals and rogues and naughty boys. So in a way, I think that it went against us a bit," he said. Also, we remember actor/director James Foley. He directed Glengarry Glen Ross . Learn more...
Journalist Amy Larocca says our society's obsession with optimization and self-care has reached a fever pitch. She unpacks what it really means to take care of ourselves in How to Be Well. Also, Justin Chang reviews the Chinese film Caught by the Tides . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
ProPublica reporter David Armstrong began investigating the pharmaceutical industry when he learned a single pill of his cancer treatment costs about the same as a new iPhone — but costs 25 cents to make. His investigation into the discovery and marketing of the drug Revlimid revealed strategies employed by pharmaceutical companies to ward off competition, and keep prices of their medications high. We'll also talk about ways insurance companies deny claims for tests and treatment recommended by ...
Actor Ramy Youssef was in 5th grade and living in New Jersey when the Twin Towers fell. His new Amazon Prime animated show, #1 Happy Family USA , draws on the experiences of his own Egyptian American family navigating Islamophobia after Sept. 11. Conan O'Brien was the recipient of this year's Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. David Bianculli reviews the Netflix special of the ceremony. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
The Georgia native has seen how Hollywood traffics in stereotypes about the American South. He talks with Tonya Mosley about making creative work that challenges them. His HBO show The Righteous Gemstones , which satirizes televangelists, just wrapped its fourth and final season. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Michelle Williams talks about starring in Dying For Sex — a dark but funny TV series based on a true story about a woman with stage four cancer who, facing death, decides to take ownership of her sexual pleasure. Also, we hear from Sarah Snook. She's best known for her role on HBO's Succession as Shiv Roy. She tells us why she almost didn't audition for the part. Snook was recently nominated for a Tony for her performance on Broadway in the stage adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Learn m...
R. Crumb created Zap Comix and such characters as Mr. Natural and Fritz the Cat. His comics were a staple of the 1960s counterculture, and came out of his nightmares, fantasies and fetishes. There was a time when he wanted to censor that part of himself — but then he took LSD. He told Terry Gross about that experience in a 2005 interview. We'll also hear from his wife Aline Kominsky Crumb, who is also a cartoonist. Film critic Justin Chang reviews the new Marvel film, Thunderbolts* . Learn more ...
When NYT critic-at-large Amanda Hess learned her unborn child had an abnormality, she turned to the internet — but didn't find reassurance. "My relationship with technology became so much more intense," she says. She talks with Tonya Mosley about pregnancy apps, online forums, and baby gadgets. Her new book is Second Life: Having A Child In The Digital Age . Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Daniel Kehlmann's new novel, The Director. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adch...
New York Times reporter Eric Lipton says the Trump family businesses, including their crypto company, are capitalizing on the President's position, and creating unprecedented conflicts of interest. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Michelle Williams' FX/Hulu series Dying For Sex follows a woman with terminal cancer who decides to pursue her own sexual pleasure. She says the show is about sex, friendship and "being scared and brave at the same time." Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Snook, who played Shiv Roy on Succession , was just nominated for a Tony for playing all the characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray on Broadway. "I don't know what comes after this," she says. She talks about playing 26 different parts in Dorian , why she almost didn't audition for Succession , and the word she could never quite say in an American accent. Also, Ken Tucker shares a remembrance of the leader of Pere Ubu, David Thomas. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/...
We're diving into the resurgence of the pronatalism movement, the belief that having more babies will save a failing civilization. With new Trump-backed policies promising "baby bonuses" and even a "National Medal of Motherhood," pronatalists are warning that falling U.S. birth rates could mean economic collapse, or even extinction. Sociologist Dr. Karen Guzzo and NPR reporter Lisa Hagen join us to unpack the motivations behind this growing movement. Also, we'll talk with author Daria Burke. She...
David Grann's book, The Wager , is about an 18th century British warship that wrecked on an island after passing through the treacherous waters of Cape Horn. The castaways faced terrible conditions and starvation, and descended into chaos, including cannibalism and mutiny. 81 sailors escaped the island on a makeshift boat, and sailed nearly 3000 miles to Brazil. Only 29 survived. Grann is also the author of Killers of the Flower Moon . David Bianculli reviews the new Netflix miniseries The Four ...
Fresh Air host Terry Gross lost her husband, acclaimed writer Francis Davis, on April 14. They were together for 47 years. Today, she shares some of Francis with the audience, including the story of how they met and became a couple. Also, we listen back to our 2005 interview with George Clooney. He just received a Tony nomination for his role as Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck on Broadway. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
A once-fringe movement claims having more babies is the only way to save civilization. NPR reporter Lisa Hagen and sociologist Karen Guzzo explain who's empowering pronatalism today. Plus, jazz critic Martin Johnson reviews a new album from Wilco guitarist Nels Cline. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Journalist David Graham says the aim of the creators of the conservative action plan Project 2025 aim is to push the federal government "as far to the right as they can." His new book is The Project. Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews a new PBS documentary about libraries. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Daria Burke spent several years digging into the science of how our brains and bodies carry the imprint of early experiences. She wanted to understand the trauma she lived through growing up in 1980s Detroit with a mother who battled addiction. She suffered years of neglect before finding stability through school and rising in the corporate world. In her new memoir, Of My Own Making , she writes about the limits of success, how she was shaped by her past, and the work it took to change course. P...
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ryan Coogler's movies include both Black Panther films and Creed . His latest fillm, Sinners , is a vampire thriller about twins, both played by Michael B. Jordan, opening a juke joint in 1930s Mississippi. The film explores race, faith, and American history through the lens of horror. Also, Noah Wyle talks about his starring role in the MAX series The Pitt , about life at a Pittsburgh hospital emergency room. He also played a doctor on the long-running hit ER . Plus, c...
Before he became a musician, Merle Haggard lived the kind of life that's often mythologized in song: Hopping freights and doing prison time. When he became a star, he acquired his own observation car. Now that coach is part of the Virginia Scenic Railway. Terry Gross spoke with Haggard in 1995. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews two albums: one's a collection of recordings by Paul Robeson, and the other features the music of Paul Robeson, performed by singer Davóne Tines. Finally, Jus...
ADHD has been considered a medical disorder, treatable with drugs like Ritalin, but New York Times Magazine writer Paul Tough says recent studies question that assumption and treatment options. Also, Martin Johnson reviews a new tribute to Anthony Braxton, who Johnson says is one of the most polarizing figures in jazz. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
