As a comedy writer for shows like The Late Late Show with James Corden , Ian Karmel spent most of his life making fun of his weight, starting at a very young age. His new memoir is called T-Shirt Swim Club: Stories of Being Fat in a World of Thin People. It chronicles how he used comedy to cope growing up, and now that he's lost hundreds of pounds, what he's discovered about himself and society. Also, David Bianculli reviews season three of The Bear . Learn more about sponsor message choices: po...
Jul 02, 2024•45 min
New Yorker writer Emily Nussbaum discusses the lawsuits brought forth by the Love is Blind cast members, and reflects on how reality TV has impacted our culture. Her new book about the history of reality TV is Cue the Sun! Also, classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a recording by Finnish condutor Klaus Mäkelä. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 02, 2024•46 min
If you've ever wondered what conversations were like between Donald Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci during the Covid pandemic, wonder no more. Fauci talks about his new memoir, in which he relates several profanity-laced scoldings he got from the President. Also, we hear from Hannah Einbinder, who stars with Jean Smart in the comedy series Hacks . And Maureen Corrigan shares some summer book recommendations. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 29, 2024•48 min
British singer/guitarist Richard Thompson spoke to Fresh Air in 1994 and 2022 about about his formative years and about pioneering a new musical genre that blended rock with traditional music of the British isles. He has a new album called Ship to Shore . Justin Chang reviews the new film Janet Planet , the first feature from the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 28, 2024•47 min
New York Times political correspondent Shane Goldmacher has been following the flood of campaign finance money for both presidential candidates. Trump is now ahead of President Biden, backed by wealthy independent donors, many of whom gave millions after he was convicted of felony charges. Also, we discuss how Trump and Biden have prepared for their first debate Thursday night, and how this debate will be different. Also, Ken Tucker revisits Steely Dan's 1974 album Pretzel Logic , on its 50th an...
Jun 27, 2024•46 min
Buteau says covering the news of the 2001 terrorist attacks crystalized her desire to go into comedy. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her journey to the stage, needing humor in dark times, and proving her college professor wrong. She stars in the film Babes and in the Netflix series Survival of the Thickest. Also, Ken Tucker shares three summer songs he's had on repeat. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 26, 2024•44 min
Bazawule is best-known for directing 2023 adaptation of The Color Purple: The Musical. He also co-directed Black Is King with Beyoncé . He has a new exhibit of paintings about his formative years growing up in Ghana. Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan shares her picks for summer crime/suspense novels. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 25, 2024•46 min
New York Times correspondent Peter Goodman illuminates the breakdown of the global supply chain during the pandemic. He says it was rooted in risky management practices, government deregulation, and a quest for greater profits. His new book is How the World Ran Out of Everything . TV critic David Bianculli reviews the sequel to the science fiction series Orphan Black , titled Orphan Black: Echoes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 24, 2024•46 min
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson still remembers the first time he heard The Sugarhill Gang's 1980 hit "Rapper's Delight." It felt like a paradigm shift: "Suddenly they start talking in rhythmic poetry and we didn't know what to make of it," The Roots bandleader says. Questlove's new book is Hip-Hop is History. The Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-creator and co-star Rob McElhenney bought a Welsh football club during the pandemic. McElhenney says he and actor Ryan Reynolds bought the team to "bring hop...
Jun 22, 2024•48 min
The award-winning playwright talks about his provocative Slave Play, which earned 12 Tony nominations. A new HBO documentary chronicles the making of the production. Plus, Justin Chang reviews Kinds of Kindness. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jun 21, 2024•45 min
Von Furstenberg and filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy discuss Woman in Charge , a Hulu documentary about the fashion designer's meteoric rise in the '70s. Plus, Maureen Corrigan recommends two perfect summer reads. And David Bianculli reviews the Netflix miniseries Kafka . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 20, 2024•45 min
Oyelowo produced and stars in the Paramount+ series about Bass, a formerly enslaved man who went on to become one of the nation's first Black Deputy U.S. Marshals. "We see many stories centering Black people, from a historical context, about how we've been brutalized, how we've been marginalized," Oyelowo says. "But very rarely, in my opinion, do you see those triumphant stories where we overcome." Plus, John Powers reviews Green Border. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.c...
Jun 19, 2024•45 min
During his decades-long career, Dr. Fauci worked with seven different presidents to manage various public health crises, including AIDS, Ebola, SARS and COVID-19. For Fauci, speaking what he calls the "inconvenient truth" is part of the job. His new memoir is On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 18, 2024•45 min
Einbinder co-stars with Jean Smart in the HBO Max series Hacks . Her new Max special is Everything Must Go. Einbinder grew up in a comedic household — her mom, Laraine Newman, is an original SNL cast member. Being funny was "the main currency in our home," she says. "It was a love language for sure." Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 17, 2024•46 min
About 25 years ago, acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma asked a high school student to help him name his instrument. He brings his 18th century cello — aka "Petunia" — to the Fresh Air studio for music and conversation. Actor Griffin Dunne grew up in Beverly Hills, where his family would entertain Hollywood celebrities. That made for entertaining stories, but at the heart of his new memoir, Griffin writes about how the Dunne family overcame significant traumas, including the murder of his sister, Dominiq...
Jun 15, 2024•48 min
Hall of Famer Satchel Paige started his career pitching in the Negro leagues and later became a major league star. Author Larry Tye tells his story in Satchel. Plus, Justin Chang reviews Inside Out 2. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jun 14, 2024•46 min
Journalist Alexia Fernández Campbell says that some freed men and women were given titles to land following the Civil War — but after President Lincoln's death, the land was taken back. Campbell is a contributor to 40 Acres And A Lie , a three-part series featured in Mother Jones and the public radio show and podcast Reveal , which explores how the land loss deprived Black people of building intergenerational wealth. David Bianculli reviews the new Apple TV+ series, Presumed Innocent. Learn more...
Jun 13, 2024•44 min
'The Always Sunny in Philadelphia' co-creator and co-star bought a Welsh football club during the pandemic. McElhenney says he and actor Ryan Reynolds bought the team to "bring hope to a town that had fallen on hard times." The FX series 'Welcome to Wrexham,' now in its third season on Hulu, chronicles the team, its owners and fans. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 12, 2024•44 min
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson still remembers the first time he heard The Sugarhill Gang's 1980 hit "Rapper's Delight." It felt like a paradigm shift: "Suddenly they start talking in rhythmic poetry and we didn't know what to make of it," The Roots bandleader says. Questlove's new book is Hip-Hop is History. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 11, 2024•46 min
Dunne grew up in Beverly Hills, in a family of storytellers — including his father, author Dominic. He talks about his complicated relationship with fame and the trauma the family experienced after the 1982 murder of his sister, Dominique. Dunne's new memoir is 'The Friday Afternoon Club.' Maureen Corrigan reviews 'Consent,' by Jill Ciment. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 10, 2024•45 min
Stephen Sondheim's musical Merrily We Roll Along flopped when it debuted in 1981. But its Broadway revival has been a hit, garnering seven Tony nominations. We talk with director Maria Friedman, who was a friend of Sondheim's, and actor Jonathan Groff. MSNBC host Ali Velshi traces his family's migration across three continents, from a village in India to South Africa — where his grandfather crossed paths with Mahatma Gandhi — to Kenya, Canada and the U.S. Velshi's new memoir is Small Acts of Cou...
Jun 08, 2024•48 min
Comic, actor and filmmaker Julio Torres came to the U.S. from El Salvador in his early 20s — and he says he is personally familiar with "all the Catch-22s of the immigration system." Torres addressed immigration in Problemista ; his new HBO comedy series is Fantasmas . Plus, John Powers reviews Becoming Karl Lagerfeld. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 07, 2024•44 min
While reporting on Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement, Farrow unearthed details of the National Enquirer 's plan to pay for damaging stories about Trump and then bury those stories — a practice known as "catch and kill." The connection between that practice and the 2016 election gave prosecutors a felony case against the former president. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 06, 2024•43 min
Whitehead's sequel to Harlem Shuffle centers on crime at every level, from small-time crooks to Harlem's elite. "My early '70s New York is dingy and grimy," the Pulitzer Prize-winning author says. Plus, Ken Tucker reviews Swamp Dogg's new album, Blackgrass . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 05, 2024•46 min
In his memoir, Small Acts of Courage , Velshi chronicles his family's journey, from a village in India to South Africa — where his grandfather crossed paths with Mahatma Gandhi — to Kenya, Canada and the U.S. Plus, David Bianculli reviews Hit Man. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jun 04, 2024•45 min
Stephen Sondheim's 1981 flop is now a Broadway hit. This revival of Merrily We Roll Along is nominated for seven Tony Awards. Two of those nominees, actor Jonathan Groff and director Maria Friedman, talk with Terry Gross about the show. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jun 03, 2024•45 min
In 2021, burnt out from the intensity of her early career, Maggie Rogers considered quitting music entirely. Instead, she took a detour — to Harvard Divinity School, where she earned a master's degree in religion and public life. Her new album is Don't Forget Me. SNL alum Kristen Wiig co-stars with Carol Burnett in Palm Royale , an Apple TV+ series about a former pageant queen who wants to break into high society. Wiig talks about working with Burnett and the rush of SNL. Learn more about sponso...
Jun 01, 2024•48 min
How do you get on with life after an accident that leads to disability and chronic pain? That's the central question in Andre Dubus III's novel, Such Kindness . He talks about the injuries he faced when he was a carpenter, and how his relationship changed with his father after the senior Dubus was struck by a car and never walked again. His previous books include Townie and House of Sand and Fog . Justin Chang reviews the Western film The Dead Don't hurt . Learn more about sponsor message choice...
May 31, 2024•46 min
Yohance Lacour's Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast, You Didn't See Nothin' , tells the story of Lenard Clark, a 13-year-old Black boy who was beaten into a coma by white teenagers, after riding his bike into a predominantly white neighborhood. Lacour talks about the importance of the case today, and how it shaped his life and the city of Chicago. Also, John Powers reviews the film Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR...
May 30, 2024•44 min
About 25 years ago, the acclaimed cellist asked a high school student to help him name his instrument. Yo-Yo Ma brings his cello — aka "Petunia" — to his conversation with Terry Gross. He talks about being a child prodigy, his rebel years, and straddling three cultures: American, French, and Chinese. For sponsor-free episodes of Fresh Air — and exclusive weekly bonus episodes, too — subscribe to Fresh Air+ via Apple Podcasts or at here. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.co...
May 29, 2024•46 min
