Griner spent nearly 300 days incarcerated in Russia after authorities at the Moscow airport found two nearly empty cartridges of cannabis in her luggage. The WNBA star spoke with Terry Gross about the dehumanizing prison conditions, her release, and return to the court. Griner, who is 6'9", says she felt like a zoo animal in prison. "The guards would literally come open up the little peep hole, look in, and then I would hear them laughing." Her new memoir is Coming Home . Learn more about sponso...
May 07, 2024•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Climate journalist Zoë Schlanger explains the fascinating science behind how plants learn, communicate, and adapt to survive. She says plants can store memories, trick animals into not eating them, and even send alarm calls to other plants. Her new book is called The Light Eaters. TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new Netflix series A Man in Full , starring Jeff Daniels and Diane Lane. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
May 06, 2024•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a new Hulu docuseries, Jon Bon Jovi looks back on his career and his recovery after vocal surgery. He spoke with Terry Gross about his breakthrough hit "Runaway" and how he's evolved as a musician. Also, we'll hear from fantasy author Leigh Bardugo. She's best known for her YA series Shadow and Bone . Her new adult novel, The Familiar , set in 16th century Spain, is about a young woman who can perform miracles. Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews a new collection of letters by Emily Dickinso...
May 04, 2024•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast The New York Times described Paul Auster as the "Patron Saint of Literary Brooklyn." He died Tuesday of complications of lung cancer. He was 77. We'll listen back to some of our interviews with him, including one about his early career when he was desperately trying to make a living as writer, and even tried writing porn. Justin Chang reviews the new film The Fall Guy , starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Polic...
May 03, 2024•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast Congress and President Biden say TikTok must shed its financial ties to China or face a ban in the U.S. But Washington Post tech reporter Drew Harwell says selling the company is complicated. For sponsor-free episodes of Fresh Air — and exclusive weekly bonus episodes, too — subscribe to Fresh Air+ via Apple Podcasts or here . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
May 02, 2024•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast In The Demon of Unrest, author Erik Larson chronicles the five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the start of the Civil War, drawing parallels to today's political climate. Also, David Bianculli reviews the FX/Hulu spy thriller series The Veil , starring Elisabeth Moss. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
May 02, 2024•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Leigh Bardugo is best known for her YA Shadow and Bone series. Her adult novel, The Familiar, centers on a young woman in 16th century Spain who must hide her identity as a Jew who converted to Catholicism. She spoke with producer Sam Briger. Also, jazz historian Kevin Whitehead looks at a reissue of Sonny Rollins. For sponsor-free episodes of Fresh Air — and exclusive weekly bonus episodes, too — subscribe to Fresh Air+ via Apple Podcasts or here. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podca...
Apr 30, 2024•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast A few years ago, Bon Jovi stopped performing because of a vocal cord injury. The Hulu docuseries Thank You, Goodnight offers a career retrospective, plus a view of his surgery and return to the stage. He spoke with Terry Gross about his voice, writing "Livin' on a Prayer," and his forthcoming album, Forever . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 29, 2024•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast Songwriter, guitarist and singer St. Vincent talks about her new album, All Born Screaming . Also, we talk with child psychiatrist Harold Koplewicz. His latest book is called Scaffold Parenting: Raising Resilient, Self-Reliant and Secure Kids in an Age of Anxiety . To get staff recommendations, highlights from our archive, and intel on what's coming up on the show, subscribe to our newsletter . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 27, 2024•48 min•Ep 5880•Transcript available on Metacast Green's YA novel, Turtles All the Way Down, has been recently adapted to film (on MAX May 2). Green described living with OCD, and how "one little thought" could take over his mind, in this 2017 interview with Terry Gross. Also, Justin Chang reviews Challengers , starring Zendaya and directed by Luca Guadagnino. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 26, 2024•44 min•Ep 5879•Transcript available on Metacast Nearly a year after the Hollywood writers' strike started, the entertainment industry remains in flux. Harpers journalist Daniel Bessner says TV and film writers are feeling the brunt of the changes. Maureen Corrigan reviews a collection of Emily Dickinson letters. 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.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 25, 2024•45 min•Ep 5878•Transcript available on Metacast Journalist Susan Page talks about Barbara Walters's groundbreaking career as a newswoman and her signature interview specials, which blended news and entertainment. Page was interested in understanding Walters' inner life – the source of her drive, how she navigated hostile work environments, and being teased for her speech impediment. Page's book is The Rulebreaker . Also, rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Taylor Swift's 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department . Learn more about sponsor m...
Apr 24, 2024•45 min•Ep 5877•Transcript available on Metacast The songwriter, guitarist and singer known as St. Vincent took her stage name from St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, where the poet Dylan Thomas died. Her seventh album, All Born Screaming , is out April 26. She spoke with Terry Gross about visiting her dad in prison, touring with her aunt and uncle as a teen, and the inspiration for her hit song "New York." For sponsor-free episodes of Fresh Air — and exclusive weekly bonus episodes, too — subscribe to Fresh Air+ via Apple Podcasts or at here...
Apr 23, 2024•44 min•Ep 5876•Transcript available on Metacast Journalist Ari Berman says the founding fathers created a system that concentrated power in the hands of an elite minority — and that their decisions continue to impact American democracy today. Berman's book is Minority Rule . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Apr 22, 2024•46 min•Ep 5875•Transcript available on Metacast Writer Salman Rushdie talks about the knife attack that nearly killed him — and his life since then. In 2022, he was onstage at a literary event when the assailant ran up from the audience, and stabbed him 14 times. His new book is called Knife . Also, Diarra Kilpatrick talks about writing and starring in the new series, Diarra From Detroit, a dark comedy about a public school teacher who is ghosted by a Tinder date and, in her quest to find out why, investigates a decades-old mystery that takes...
Apr 20, 2024•49 min•Ep 5874•Transcript available on Metacast Longtime PBS news anchor Robert MacNeil died last week at 93. He spoke with Terry Gross a few times over the course of his journalism career. We revisit those conversations. Also, we listen back to Eleanor Coppola's 1992 interview about her documentary, Hearts of Darkness. It chronicles the chaotic filming of Francis Ford Coppola's movie Apocalypse Now. She also died last week, at age 87. David Bianculli reviews HBO's The Jinx — Part Two, which picks up where The Jinx left off: With Robert Durst...
Apr 19, 2024•46 min•Ep 5873•Transcript available on Metacast Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser says mergers and acquisitions have created food oligopolies that are inefficient, barely regulated and sometimes dangerous. His new documentary with Michael Pollan is Food, Inc. 2. Also, Justin Chang reviews the film The Beast . Keep up with Fresh Air, learn what's coming next week, and get staff recommendations by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. For sponsor-free episodes of Fresh Air — and exclusive weekly bonus episodes, too — subscribe to Fresh Air...
Apr 18, 2024•44 min•Ep 5872•Transcript available on Metacast Alua Arthur works with families, caretakers, and people close to death who want to be intentional about the end of life. She's learned through her work and her own experiences with loss that facing the inevitable can help lessen the anxiety and fear so many of us have around death. Her new book is called, Briefly Perfectly Human . Also, we remember painter Faith Ringgold, who died Saturday at the age of 93. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 17, 2024•45 min•Ep 5871•Transcript available on Metacast Rushdie was onstage at a literary event in 2022 when he was attacked by a man in the audience: "Dying in the company of strangers — that was what was going through my mind." His new book is Knife . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Apr 16, 2024•46 min•Ep 5870•Transcript available on Metacast Growing up, when Diarra Kilpatrick watched murder mystery shows with her grandmother, she never saw Black women driving the narrative. Her new BET+ series seeks to change that. It's called Diarra From Detroit . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Apr 15, 2024•45 min•Ep 5869•Transcript available on Metacast Andrew Scott stars as a con artist with no conscience in the new Netflix series Ripley. It's an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr. Ripley . He spoke with Terry Gross about tapping into his darker side for the role — and playing the "hot priest" in Fleabag . Also, we hear about how cars became our most gendered technology. Women used to be considered unqualified to drive, or just terrible drivers. Glamorous women were used to advertise cars. And yet cars have been designe...
Apr 13, 2024•46 min•Ep 5868•Transcript available on Metacast Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is the latest film starring two of cinema's biggest monsters. Today we take a look at the first time they were introduced to audiences. Film historian Rudy Behlmer tells us about the 1933 film King Kong. And Steve Ryfle wrote a book about the making of the 1954 Japanese film Godzilla . Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews Civil War . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 12, 2024•47 min•Ep 5867•Transcript available on Metacast Atlantic journalist Stephanie McCrummen says foreign interests are acquiring Serengeti territory in Northern Tanzania, effectively displacing indigenous cattle-herders from their traditional grazing lands. McCrummen spoke with Dave Davies about the billionaires, conservation groups, and safari tourism in this story. Also, John Powers reviews the TV adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Sympathizer . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoic...
Apr 11, 2024•44 min•Ep 5866•Transcript available on Metacast What happens to the body in the deep sea? You need oxygen to survive, but too much oxygen can be deadly. Also, if you rise to the surface too quickly, nitrogen bubbles can form in your body and kill you. We'll talk with author and scientist Rachel Lance, who has conducted research for the military, using a hyperbaric chamber in which the air and the pressure can be controlled to mimic what divers and submarines are exposed to. Her new book is about the scientists whose dangerous experiments abou...
Apr 10, 2024•45 min•Ep 5865•Transcript available on Metacast Linguist Amanda Montell says our brains are overloaded with a constant stream of information that stokes our innate tendency to believe conspiracy theories and mysticism. Her book is The Age of Magical Overthinking. Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Lionel Shriver's new novel, Mania . Subscribe to the Fresh Air newsletter for a peek behind-the-scenes at whyy.org/freshair For sponsor-free episodes of Fresh Air — and exclusive weekly bonus episodes, too — subscribe to Fresh Air+ via Apple Podcasts or...
Apr 09, 2024•45 min•Ep 5864•Transcript available on Metacast Andrew Scott (best known as "hot priest" from Fleabag ) plays con artist Tom Ripley in the Netflix adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley . He says his job is to advocate for his characters, not judge them. He spoke with Terry Gross about finding soul in comedy and lightness in drama. Also, Lloyd Schwartz shares a little-known history of "soundies." Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 08, 2024•45 min•Ep 5863•Transcript available on Metacast NCAA/WNBA star Sue Bird spoke with Terry Gross about her career, coming out publicly, and fighting for equity in women's sports. A new documentary about her last season on the court is Sue Bird: In the Clutch . Also, we hear from Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker, co-founders of the punk band Sleater-Kinney. While they were working on their latest album, Little Rope , Brownstein's mother died in an car accident. They'll talk about how the grief affected the album. Also, Ken Tucker reviews Beyon...
Apr 06, 2024•49 min•Ep 5862•Transcript available on Metacast HBO's Curb your Enthusiasm comes to an end Sunday night, after 25 years and 12 seasons. We're featuring our interviews with cast members Larry David, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Jeff Greene, Susie Essman and more. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Apr 05, 2024•47 min•Ep 5861•Transcript available on Metacast The Guardian 's reproductive health reporter Carter Sherman says efforts are underway in a number of states to assign fetuses "some kind of rights that we would generally ascribe to a human person." Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews Ripley starring Andrew Scott. Film critic Justin Chang reviews Woody Allen's new French-language drama Coup de Chance. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 04, 2024•45 min•Ep 5860•Transcript available on Metacast "A lot of things started going wrong from the very beginning," historian Hampton Sides says of Cook's last voyage, which ended in the British explorer's violent death on the island of Hawaii in 1779. His book is The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook. Ken Tucker reviews Beyoncé's album Cowboy Carter . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 03, 2024•47 min•Ep 5859•Transcript available on Metacast 
