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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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
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
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...
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...
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...
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...
When journalist Rachel Somerstein had an emergency C-section with her first child, the anesthesia didn't work. She recounts her own experience and the history of C-sections in her book, Invisible Labor. TV critic David Bianculli reviews the last season of Evil. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
The small Memphis label Stax Records created soul hits by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, Rufus and Carla Thomas, and others. It's the subject of a new documentary on MAX. We're featuring interviews with musicians who were a big part of the Stax sound: Guitarist, songwriter, and producer Steve Cropper tells us about becoming part of the house rhythm section, and going on to help write hits for Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett. Keyboardist Booker T. Jones remembers being pulled out of cl...
Grammy-winning musician Michael McDonald looks back on his childhood and his career in a new memoir. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about imposter syndrome and his first band as a tween. Also, investigative journalist and author Eric Schlosser talks about how mergers and acquisitions and very little regulation have all but decimated competition within food systems and supply chains. And Justin Chang reviews Furiosa , the latest film in the Mad Max franchise. Learn more about sponsor message choices:...
The fifth installment of the Mad Max series of post-apocalyptic action films is roaring into theaters. It's called Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga , and it's a prequel to the 2015 film, Mad Max: Fury Road , which earned 10 Oscar nominations. First, Justin Chang reviews the new movie, and then we revisit our 2016 interview with director George Miller. Also, we remember alto saxophonist David Sanborn, who toured or recorded with David Bowie, James Brown, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and others. ...
In Fat Leonard , journalist Craig Whitlock tells the story of a defense contractor who plied Navy commanders with lavish meals, trips, cash and sex workers. In return they let him overcharge taxpayers. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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. Rogers spoke with Fresh Air 's Sam Briger about her songwriting process, becoming a star overnight, and being a nostalgic person. Her new album is Don't Forget Me. This episode is a special extended version of the interview that aired on NPR. Learn more about sponsor me...
The SNL alum 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 talked with Ann Marie Baldonado about working with Burnett, the rush of SNL , and co-writing the mega hit movie Bridesmaids . Ken Tucker shares three songs of the summer. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
McDonald says that earlier in his career, he tended to avoid writing about himself directly in songs. He opens up about his life and career in the memoir, What a Fool Believes. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about his first band as a tween, his songwriting process, and being big in the Black community. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Musician, activist, and punk pioneer Kathleen Hanna talks about being at the epicenter of the '90s riot grrrl movement. She talks about the early days of Bikini Kill and writing the anthem "Rebel Girl." Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Claire Messud's new novel. Also, actor Tyler James Williams shares the motivation behind his role as a no-nonsense teacher on the hit series Abbott Elementary . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Filmmaker Roger Corman, the "King of the B" movies, died last week at the age of 98. He made hundreds of films, such cult classics as Little Shop of Horrors , A Bucket of Blood , House of Usher , The Last Woman on Earth , and The Cry Baby Killer . We feature our 1990 interview with him, and with those whose careers he helped launch – including actors Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern, as well as directors James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, and Jonathan Demme. And our critic at large, John Powers, has an a...
Wallace is known for his celebrity profiles, but his new memoir, Another Word For Love , is about his own life, growing up unhoused, Black and queer, and getting his start as a writer at the age of 40. David Bianculli shares an appreciation of John Mulaney's six-part live Netflix talk show, Everybody's in L.A . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
The Economist Middle East correspondent Gregg Carlstrom explains why some Arab leaders hate Hamas, fear Iran and have some sympathy for Israel — although not for how Israel is waging the war. 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...
Williams was thrust into the public eye as a kid, when he starred in Everybody Hates Chris . Now, playing a teacher on Abbott Elementary , he strives to make the child actors on set feel comfortable. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about the trauma of fame as a kid, his Crohn's diagnosis, and tuning out online chatter. Justin Chang reviews the Japanese film Evil Does Not Exist, by Drive My Car director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Priva...
Kathleen Hanna's band Bikini Kill was the epicenter of the riot grrrl feminist punk movement of the '90s. Their song "Rebel Girl" was the anthem. Now Hanna has a memoir (also called Rebel Girl ) about her time in the punk scene, her childhood, and finding joy in expressing anger in public. Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Claire Messud's new novel, This Strange Eventful History . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
WNBA star Brittney Griner talks about the physical and emotional hell of her nearly 300 days in Russian prisons. Russian authorities apprehended Griner at the Moscow Airport when she was found carrying a tiny amount of medically prescribed cannabis — then charged her with drug smuggling. Her memoir is Coming Home . Jazz historian Kevin Whitehead reviews a 1959 Sonny Rollins reissue. And we'll talk about plant intelligence with climate journalist Zoë Schlanger. Her book is The Light Eaters . Lear...
Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sympathizer has been adapted into a series on HBO/MAX. It's set in Vietnam during the last days of the war, and in LA, just after. The narrator becomes a consultant to a Hollywood film about the war. The novel is written from a Vietnamese perspective. "It's my revenge on Francis Ford Coppola, my revenge on Hollywood, to try to get Americans to understand that Vietnam is a country and not a war," he told Terry Gross in 2016. Nguyen's family fle...
We remember painter and sculptor Frank Stella, whose early work was considered revolutionary. He died last week at age 87. Stella became famous and controversial in the 1950s for his "black paintings," which were a stark contrast to the abstract expressionism of the time, and made him one of the fathers of minimalism. Later, we'll feature an interview with one of the most influential early rock and roll guitarists, Duane Eddy. He also died last week. Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Long Isl...
#BlackLivesMatter. #OscarsSoWhite. #ICantBreathe. Filmmaker Prentice Penny's docuseries about Black Twitter celebrates the voices and movements that impacted politics and culture. Penny was also the showrunner of the HBO series Insecure . Also, John Powers reviews the four-part series Shardlake , based on C.J. Sansom's first novel in a series about a crime-solving lawyer in 16th-century England. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
