A global pandemic, school shootings, climate change, war: Children and teenagers are experiencing and being treated for unprecedented levels of anxiety and depression. We talk with founding president of the Child Mind Institute, Dr. Harold Koplewicz, about screen time, suicidal ideation, and testing for ADHD. His latest book is Scaffold Parenting: Raising Resilient, Self-Reliant, and Secure Kids in an Age of Anxiety. Also, Justin Chang reviews the film La Chimera . Learn more about sponsor messa...
Apr 02, 2024•46 min•Ep 5858•Transcript available on Metacast Retired point guard Sue Bird holds the record for most career assists in the WNBA, with 3,234 over the course of her 19-season professional career. She's also won four WNBA championships, five Olympic gold medals and two NCAA championships. She spoke with Terry Gross about playing overseas in Russia, staying cool under pressure, and her pump-up song for games. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 01, 2024•46 min•Ep 5857•Transcript available on Metacast If you've ever wondered how directors convince stars to appear in their films, or what they do when an actor committed to a lead role suddenly starts throwing up roadblocks, you can ask Ed Zwick. He's a writer, director and producer who's been making TV and movies for decades. His new memoir is Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood . Also, we'll hear from Eugene Levy. He's appeared in dozens of films, including four satirical movies by Christopher Guest, which he...
Mar 30, 2024•47 min•Ep 5856•Transcript available on Metacast Beyoncé's highly anticipated country album, Cowboy Carter , is out today. One of the musicians on it is fiddle and banjo player Rhiannon Giddens. We'll listen to our 2010 in-studio performance with the group she was part of then, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. They played string band and jug band music of the '20s and '30s, music most people associate with a white southern tradition. But the members of the Carolina Chocolate Drops are Black. They saw themselves as part of a little known Black str...
Mar 29, 2024•47 min•Ep 5855•Transcript available on Metacast Author Nancy Nichols says that for men, cars signify adventure, power and strength. For women, they are about performing domestic duties; there was even a minivan prototype with a washer/dryer inside. Her book is Women Behind the Wheel: An Unexpected and Personal History of the Car. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Mar 28, 2024•45 min•Ep 5854•Transcript available on Metacast In 2020, Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved to decriminalize possession of small amounts of hard drugs, and mandate more spending on drug treatment and social services. But 3.5 years of frustration, with overdose deaths and open air drug use, has turned public opinion around, and lawmakers have restored criminal penalties. We'll speak with New Yorker contributing writer E. Tammy Kim, who traveled through the state speaking with activists, treatment providers, police, lawmakers and drug users ...
Mar 27, 2024•45 min•Ep 5853•Transcript available on Metacast ProPublica reporter Abrahm Lustgarten says in the coming decades it's likely tens of millions of us will relocate to escape rising seas, punishing heat, floods and wildfires due to global warming. He says nine of the ten fastest growing regions of the country are on the front lines of the most severe and fast-changing climate conditions. His book is On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America . Ken Tucker has high praise for Tierra Whack's new album, World Wide Whack . For sp...
Mar 26, 2024•45 min•Ep 5852•Transcript available on Metacast Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker co-founded the band Sleater-Kinney together 30 years ago, and became an important part of the 1990s feminist punk scene in Olympia, Washington. Rolling Stone once called Sleater-Kinney the best American punk rock band ever. Brownstein and Tucker just released their 11th album, called Little Rope . While they were working on the record, Brownstein's mother died in a car accident. They spoke with Ann Marie Baldonado about how the grief affected the album, and wha...
Mar 25, 2024•47 min•Ep 5851•Transcript available on Metacast Catherine Coldstream spoke with Terry Gross about her years as nun in a Carmelite monastery. She talks about what drew her to the vocation, what it was like to live a silent and obedient life, and why she ran away. Her memoir is called Cloistered . Maureen Corrigan reviews Percival Everett's new novel, James . It's a reimagining of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . When Mark Daley and his husband became foster parents to two brothers, they fell in love with the children right awa...
Mar 23, 2024•49 min•Ep 5850•Transcript available on Metacast Reporter Jake Adelstein's memoir, Tokyo Vice , is about covering the organized crime beat in Japan. The MAX series (based on the book) is now in its second season. Adelstein spoke with Dave Davies in 2009. Also, Justin Chang reviews the remake of the '80s film Road House . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Mar 22, 2024•46 min•Ep 5849•Transcript available on Metacast Marijuana has been legalized in some states, but ProPublica 's Sebastian Rotella says there's still a thriving illicit market in the U.S., dominated by criminals connected to China's authoritarian government. Also, John Powers reviews the Romanian film Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Mar 21, 2024•45 min•Ep 5848•Transcript available on Metacast Catherine Coldstream spoke with Terry Gross about her years as nun in a Carmelite monastery. She talks about what drew her to the vocation, what it was like to live a silent and obedient life, and why she ran away. Her memoir is called Cloistered . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Mar 20, 2024•45 min•Ep 5847•Transcript available on Metacast Christine Blasey Ford describes what it was like to come forward and testify that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school. Her 2018 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee threatened to derail his confirmation, but Kavanaugh succeeded in being becoming a supreme court justice. Ford still requires security for protection. After mostly avoiding the media, she's written a memoir. It's called One Way Back . Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Percival Everett's new book, James , whi...
Mar 19, 2024•46 min•Ep 5846•Transcript available on Metacast NPR Politics correspondent Sarah McCammon grew up in a white evangelical church that taught her to never question her faith. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her upbringing, how her faith was tested, and her decision to leave the church. She now reports on the Christian right and their support of Donald Trump. McCammon's book is The Exvangelicals . Also, Justin Chang reviews The Shadowless Tower . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Mar 18, 2024•45 min•Ep 5845•Transcript available on Metacast Jenny Slate talks about childbirth and motherhood, the subjects of her new comedy special, Seasoned Professional . She'll do the voices of some of her animated characters, including Marcel from her Oscar-nominated film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On . Also, we hear from comic/actor Julio Torres. Growing up in El Salvador as a gay atheist he says he felt like an alien. Then he literally was labeled an "alien" when he came to the U.S. on a student visa. He's drawn on those experiences to write, di...
Mar 16, 2024•49 min•Ep 5844•Transcript available on Metacast 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 . Also, Terry shares a remembrance of revered magazine editor William Whitworth. David Bianculli reviews Restless Dreams , a documentary about Paul Simon. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Mar 15, 2024•46 min•Ep 5843•Transcript available on Metacast We talk with Peter Pomerantsev, whose new book, How to Win an Information War , is about the man he describes as the "forgotten genius" of propaganda. Throughout WWII, Sefton Delmer ran propaganda campaigns for the British against Hitler's regime. Some of those efforts bordered on pornography. We'll also talk about witnessing Putin's use of disinformation when Pomerantsev worked in Russia, and his work as the co-founder of a project documenting Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Learn more about spo...
Mar 14, 2024•44 min•Ep 5842•Transcript available on Metacast Schitt's Creek star Eugene Levy visits distant lands and tastes exotic foods as the host of the Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler . Levy describes it as a show about "a guy traveling who doesn't love to travel." Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Adelle Waldman's new novel, Help Wanted , and David Bianculli reviews a TV show about the Lincoln assassination called Manhunt . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Mar 13, 2024•47 min•Ep 5841•Transcript available on Metacast The comic/actor returns. Now she has a 3-year-old daughter, who she sings to in the voice of her character Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. Slate spoke with Terry Gross about finding comedy in her feelings, divorce, and growing up in a haunted house. Her new stand-up special on Amazon Prime Video is Seasoned Professional . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Mar 12, 2024•47 min•Ep 5840•Transcript available on Metacast Comic, actor and filmmaker Julio Torres came to the U.S. from El Salvador in his 20s. His new film, Problemista , draws from his personal experience struggling to get a visa. "This movie deals with the problem of immigration, but I think of it as a very silly, happy and joyful movie," he says. Torres talks with Terry Gross about his love of difficult people, collaborating with his mom, and getting started in stand-up. For sponsor-free episodes of Fresh Air — and exclusive weekly bonus episodes, ...
Mar 11, 2024•47 min•Ep 5839•Transcript available on Metacast New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos recently interviewed Biden for his new profile about the president's accomplishments and failures in office, his current face-off with Trump, and the fears of many voters that he is too old for the job. Also, we'll hear from writer Lucy Sante. She's been writing books since the 1980s, exploring everything from photography to urban history. In her latest memoir, I Heard Her Call My Name , she writes about coming out as a trans woman in her 60s. Maureen Corrigan ...
Mar 09, 2024•48 min•Ep 5838•Transcript available on Metacast Emma Stone has two Oscar nominations for Poor Things: One for best actress and one for best picture, as a producer. She spoke with Terry Gross about working with an intimacy coordinator and why she sees her anxiety as a superpower. Mark Ruffalo plays a debauched cad opposite Emma Stone in the movie. The role was a big departure from his previous work playing real people, in dramas like Spotlight or Foxcatcher , or as the Incredible Hulk in the Marvel movies. The Oscar-nominated actor spoke with ...
Mar 08, 2024•46 min•Ep 5837•Transcript available on Metacast Writer, director and producer Ed Zwick has made dozens of films and TV shows including Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai , and Blood Diamond . In his memoir, Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions , he writes about studios, actors and the frustrations and joys of the business. John Powers reviews the pulpy noir crime film Love Lies Bleeding . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Mar 07, 2024•45 min•Ep 5836•Transcript available on Metacast In a wide-ranging conversation with The New Yorker , President Biden proclaimed that he is the best option to beat Donald Trump — despite polls indicating he is falling behind. We talk with Evan Osnos about Biden's outlook. Among the things that Americans are unsure of are Biden's age, his mental agility, his handling of immigration, and the war in Gaza. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Mar 06, 2024•45 min•Ep 5835•Transcript available on Metacast As a war correspondent, Rod Nordland faced death many times over. But in 2019, Nordland confronted a different type of danger when he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most lethal form of brain tumor. "I had to face the reality that my death was within a fairly short timespan, highly probable," he says. "I think it made me a better person." His new memoir is Waiting for the Monsoon . Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Sloane Crosley's new memoir Grief Is For People . And David Bianculli reviews J...
Mar 05, 2024•45 min•Ep 5834•Transcript available on Metacast The Emmy-winning host of RuPaul's Drag Race describes himself as "an introvert masquerading as an extrovert." In a new memoir, he writes about growing up Black and queer in San Diego. And how he forged a new and glamorous identity in the punk rock and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York City. The memoir is titled The House of Hidden Meanings. Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews a new oral history of the Village Voice . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy...
Mar 04, 2024•45 min•Ep 5834•Transcript available on Metacast Denis Villeneuve remembers watching the 1984 movie version of Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel Dune and thinking, " S omeday, someone else will do it again" — not realizing he would be that filmmaker. He spoke to Sam Briger about shooting Dune in the desert and his love of silent film. Ken Tucker reviews a new solo album from guitarist Mary Timony. Neuroscientist Dr. Charan Ranganath's book is Why We Remember . We talk about how stress affects memory and what's happening in the brain when somet...
Mar 02, 2024•49 min•Ep 5833•Transcript available on Metacast Paul Giamatti stars in The Holdovers as a pompous and disliked teacher at a boys boarding school in the '70s. He's now up for an Oscar for best actor. Giamatti spoke with Sam Briger about the role and reuniting with director Alexander Payne, 20 years after Sideways . Also, we remember comic and Curb Your Enthusiasm actor Richard Lewis, who died Feb. 27. The Brooklyn-born comic made his standup debut in 1971. His routines were full of biting takes on love, life, and physical and mental health. Le...
Mar 01, 2024•46 min•Ep 5832•Transcript available on Metacast Why do many Christian nationalists think Trump is chosen by God to lead the country? We talk with Bradley Onishi about the ties between Christian nationalism and political and judicial leaders. Onishi became a Christian nationalist and a youth minister in his teens and then left the church. He is the author of Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism — and What Comes Next, and he cohosts a podcast about religion and politics called Straight White American Jesus . L...
Feb 29, 2024•45 min•Ep 5831•Transcript available on Metacast Villeneuve remembers watching the 1984 movie version of Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel Dune and thinking, " S omeday someone else will do it again" — not realizing he would be that filmmaker. He spoke to Sam Briger about shooting Dune in the desert, depicting sandworm surfing, and his love of silent film. Also, David Bianculli reviews the new CBS murder mystery series, Elsbeth . For sponsor-free episodes of Fresh Air — and exclusive weekly bonus episodes, too — subscribe to Fresh Air+ via App...
Feb 28, 2024•46 min•Ep 5830•Transcript available on Metacast 
