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Fresh Air

Fresh Air

Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries. Subscribe to Fresh Air Plus! You'll enjoy bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening - all while you support NPR's mission. Learn more at plus.npr.org/freshair And subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Fresh Air Weekly, to get interview highlights, staff recommendations, gems from the archive, and the week's interviews and reviews all in one place. Sign up at www.whyy.org/freshair

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Episodes

Best Of: George Clooney / Costume Designer Paul Tazewell

George Clooney stars in ?Jay Kelly? as a famous actor at a crossroads. He talks about his own relationship to fame and what drew him to the role. Also, Oscar-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell talks about his road to ?Wicked.? He?s spent more than three decades shaping looks for the stage and screen. 

And rock critic Ken Tucker has a round up of some of this year?s new Christmas songs.


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2025-12-06
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Remembering Steve Cropper / Playwright Tom Stoppard

We remember guitarist, songwriter, and producer Steve Cropper, who helped create the Memphis soul sound of the ?60s and ?70s. He died this week at age 84. Stax Records produced soul hits by Booker T. & the M.G.s, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, and more. Cropper spoke with Terry Gross in 1990 about how he became part of the house rhythm section, and went on to help write hits for Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett.  

Also, we remember the celebrated English playwright Tom Stoppard, who was considered a giant of theatre. He died at age 88. Stoppard wrote ?Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead? and ?The Real Thing,? and the screenplays for ?Empire of the Sun? and ?Shakespeare in Love.?

Jazz historian Kevin Whitehead pays tribute to jazz organist Jimmy Smith, and John Powers reviews the new Brazilian film ?The Secret Agent.'

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2025-12-05
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George Clooney

Clooney stars as an aging movie star who has neglected his family life in favor of his career in Noah Baumbach?s new film ?Jay Kelly. ' He spoke with Tonya Mosley about his own journey with fame, his Broadway rendition of ?Good Night, and Good Luck,? and his op-ed calling for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. 

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2025-12-04
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Was The U.S. Attack On A Venezuelan Boat A War Crime?

Washington Post reporter Alex Horton talks about the Sept. 2 US military strike on a boat with alleged "narco terrorists," in which a second strike was ordered to kill two survivors in the water. 

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2025-12-03
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War Photographer Lynsey Addario Still Has Hope

For 25 years, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario has covered conflicts and humanitarian crises across the globe, from Sudan to Syria. She?s been kidnapped twice, thrown from a car, and shelled in war zones more times than she can count. A new Nat Geo/Disney+ documentary called 'Love+War' follows Addario as she is torn in two directions ? her all-consuming reporting in Ukraine and her life at home as a wife and mother of two young kids. Addario spoke with Fresh Air contributor, host of Talk Easy, Sam Fragoso. 

Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews 'Some Bright Nowhere,' by Ann Packer.

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2025-12-02
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?Wicked? Costume Designer Paul Tazewell

Tazewell made history as the first Black man to win the Oscar for costume design for the first installment of Wicked. He talks with Tonya Mosley about Wicked: For Good, the movies that inspired him, and learning to sew as a child. ?I made the decision that I would devote myself to costume design and live vicariously through other characters,? he says. ?Where I might not be cast in certain roles because of how I looked, as a designer, I could be anyone.

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2025-12-01
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Best Of: Nutritionist Marion Nestle / Science Writer Mary Roach

Food policy expert and nutritionist Marion Nestle's 2006 book, ?What to Eat,? became a consumer bible of sorts when it came out, guiding readers through the supermarket while exposing how industry marketing and policy steer our food choices. Now, two decades later, she's back with ?What to Eat Now,? a revised field guide for the supermarket of 2025.

Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews the new film Hamnet.

Science writer Mary Roach?s latest book, ?Replaceable You,? is about innovations in transplant medicine thanks to promising research and breakthroughs. She tells us about organs transplanted from pigs and attempts to replace bald spots on the scalp with hair from other parts of our bodies.

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2025-11-29
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Grand Ole Opry At 100: Earl Scruggs & Loretta Lynn

We mark the 100th anniversary of The Grand Ole Opry, country music?s biggest stage, and feature interviews with two of its members. First up, bluegrass banjo player Earl Scruggs. He and guitarist Lester Flatt had a hit with ?Foggy Mountain Breakdown.? Scruggs told Terry Gross how he developed his famous three-finger picking style while absent-mindedly playing the banjo one day. Also, we listen back to Terry?s interview with country music star, ?Honky Tonk Girl? Loretta Lynn. 

Film critic Justin Chang reviews a new documentary about Russia's crackdown on independent journalists. It?s called ?My Undesirable Friends: Part I ? Last Air in Moscow.?

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2025-11-28
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?Merrily We Roll Along,? From Flop To Hit

A filmed version of the live Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim?s ?Merrily We Roll Along? will open in theaters on Dec. 5. We listen back to a 2024 interview with revival director Maria Friedman and actor Jonathan Groff.

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2025-11-27
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Michael Shannon Gets A Turn Playing Good Guys

Shannon's known for playing intense, menacing characters, like Agent Nelson Van Alden in ?Boardwalk Empire.? In two new projects, though, he plays good guys ? historical figures pursuing justice and political reform. He?s President James Garfield in the new Netflix series ?Death by Lightning.? And he?s a prosecutor trying Nazi leaders for war crimes in the new film ?Nuremberg.? Shannon spoke with Dave Davies.

Also, David Bianculli reviews a revived and expanded TV documentary series about the Beatles.Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes.

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2025-11-26
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A Manual For Keeping A Democracy

MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) legal analyst and former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance discusses recent impactful decisions by courts and the Justice Department, and how her son helped her understand Gen Z?s view of defending democracy. Her new book is ?Giving Up is Unforgivable.?

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2025-11-25
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Brendan Fraser Has Everything & Nothing To Prove

In his new film, 'Rental Family,' Brendan Fraser plays an actor in Tokyo who takes a job with a rental family service. It's based on a real phenomenon in Japan: companies where you can hire someone to fill a gap in your life. Fraser spoke with Tonya Mosley about shooting in Japan, working with Scorsese on ?Killers of the Flower Moon,? and his struggle with confidence.

Also, Ken Tucker shares three songs dominating the charts: Neko Case's "Oh, Neglect...," Valerie June's "Runnin' and Searchin'" and Olivia Dean's "Man I Need" 

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2025-11-24
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Best Of: Ben Stiller / Cynthia Erivo

Ben Stiller talks about his new Apple TV+ documentary about his actor/comedian parents Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. In the ?60s and ?70s, they were famous as the comedy duo, Stiller and Meara. Ben talks about growing up in a showbiz family, where there was no separation between work and personal lives. 

Also, we hear from Cynthia Erivo. She stars in ?Wicked: For Good,? reprising her role as Elphaba. 

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2025-11-22
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A Look Back At Hitchcock?s ?Psycho?

Sixty-five years ago, Alfred Hitchcock shocked audiences with his film ?Psycho.? It broke Hollywood conventions about what a film should and should not do, ushered in a new era of horror/thriller, and became one of the most studied movies in cinema history. We listen back to Terry?s interview with star Janet Leigh, who talks about filming the famous shower scene. And we hear from screenwriter Evan Hunter about working with Hitchcock on his next film, ?The Birds.?

Also, Justin Chang reviews the new film ?Hamnet,? about Shakespeare as a young playwright, husband and father. 

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2025-11-21
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A Sleep Scientist Excavates The World Of Dreams

Michelle Carr has spent years researching what goes on in the brain while we dream. She explains dream engineering, including how sensory inputs like light, sound and vibration can influence the subconscious. Her book is ?Nightmare Obscura.? 

Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new season of ?A Man on the Inside.? 
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2025-11-20
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How Kash Patel Is Changing The FBI?s Mission

?New Yorker? staff writer Marc Fisher says Kash Patel became FBI director without senior law enforcement experience because of his loyalty to Trump and willingness to seek retribution for his perceived enemies. ?There are some ways in which many FBI agents like the fact that Patel has steered the agency back towards what they see as basic crime fighting,? Fisher says. ?But the overwhelming sentiment, I think, is that he has more than shaken up the Bureau?he has gutted it.?

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2025-11-19
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Ben Stiller On His Parents? Showbiz Marriage

After the deaths of his parents, comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Ben found a stash of their audio recordings. Those tapes are at the center of a new documentary, ?Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost.? He spoke with Terry Gross about growing up in the spotlight, his father?s life-changing role on ?Seinfeld,? and the connection between his family life and ?Severance.? 
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2025-11-18
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Cynthia Erivo's Road To 'Wicked'

Erivo speaks with Tonya Mosley about the parallels between her life and the experience of her ?Wicked? character, Elphaba. She also talks about singing as a child, using perfume to get into character, and why she shaved her head. Erivo's new memoir is called ?Simply More: A Book for Anyone who Has Been Told They're Too Much.?



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2025-11-17
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Best Of: Ethan Hawke / Tim Robbins

Ethan Hawke stars in the new movie ?Blue Moon,? about lyricist Lorenz Hart, half of the Broadway duo Rodgers and Hart. It?s his ninth collaboration with director Richard Linklater. He?s also in the new noir-inspired streaming series ?The Lowdown.? He tells Terry Gross while playing Hart pushed him to the edge of his ability, he totally related to his character in ?The Lowdown.? 

Also, we hear from actor and director Tim Robbins. He reflects on 30 years of making films and why he believes live theater can sometimes speak to us in more profound ways than film can. He spoke with Tonya Mosley.

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2025-11-15
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The High Pressure Experiments That Made D-Day

What happens to the body in the deep sea? You need oxygen to survive, but too much oxygen can be deadly. If you rise to the surface too quickly, nitrogen bubbles can form in your body and kill you. Terry Gross spoke with author and scientist Rachel Lance last year about her research for the military. She used a hyperbaric chamber that mimics what divers and submarines are exposed to. Her book, ?Chamber Divers,? is about the scientists whose dangerous experiments about underwater pressure and injury were critical to the success of D-Day.


Also, Justin Chang reviews ?Sirat,? which he calls one of the most gripping movies of the year. 
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2025-11-14
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Ethan Hawke On The Role That Pushed Him To His Limit

"Every now and then you bump up against a part that presses you to the wall of your ability," Hawke says of playing lyricist Lorenz Hart in ?Blue Moon.? Hawke spoke with Terry Gross about collaborating with Richard Linklater, 'The Lowdown,' and his thoughts on aging. 

Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. 


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2025-11-13
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Who Is Laura Loomer, Trump's 'Loyalty Enforcer'?

'New Yorker? staff writer Antonia Hitchens describes how Laura Loomer went from a conspiracy theorist to a close ally of Trump who?s gotten government officials she claims are disloyal to the president fired. Hitchens has a new profile of Loomer in the magazine. 

Also, David Bianculli reviews Ken Burns? new six-part PBS docuseries on the American Revolution.

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2025-11-12
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Nutrition, SNAP & Why We Need A Food Revolution

Food policy expert and nutritionist Marion Nestle's 2006 book, ?What to Eat,? became a consumer bible of sorts when it came out, guiding readers through the supermarket while exposing how industry marketing and policy steer our food choices. Now, two decades later, she's back with ?What to Eat Now,? a revised field guide for the supermarket of 2025.

Also, Justin Chang reviews Joachim Trier?s new film, Sentimental Value.?  

Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. 

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2025-11-11
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Tim Robbins Believes In The Power Of Theater

The Oscar-winning actor/director has a new play, ?Topsy Turvy,? about a chorus that loses its ability to sing together after COVID isolation."Things that I had held sacred or had held as truths were challenged," Robbins says of the pandemic. He talks with Tonya Mosley about ?Shawshank Redemption,? ?Dead Man Walking,? and how working with Robert Altman changed the trajectory of his career.

Also, David Bianculli reviews the new Netflix miniseries, ?Death by Lightning.?

Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. 


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2025-11-10
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Best Of: Judd Apatow / Misty Copeland

Before he was directing box office hits or launching the careers of comedy superstars, Judd Apatow was a kid writing fan letters to his heroes, collecting autographs, and obsessively documenting everything. He?s now opened his personal archive for a new book of photographs, letters, scripts, and journals that shaped movies like ?The 40-Year-Old Virgin,? ?Knocked Up,? and ?Trainwreck.? 

Also, we hear from Misty Copeland, who captivated audiences as the first Black woman to become a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. She also performed with Prince, who helped change her perception of herself. ?He was my biggest supporter. He showed what it was the be one of a kind, to be unique and to use that as a power.?

Ken Tucker celebrates 50 years of Patti Smith?s album ?Horses.?

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2025-11-08
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Patti Smith?s ?Horses? Turns 50

50 years ago next week, Patti Smith released her debut album, ?Horses,? ushering in a new era of rock and roll. We?re listening back to portions of our interviews with Smith, from 1996 and 2010. She talks about her early days in New York City, when she was trying to find her way as a poet, performer and later songwriter. When it came to ?Horses,? she says, ?I thought I would do this record and then go back to my writing and my drawing and return to my somewhat abnormal normal life. But ?Horses? took me on a whole different path.?  And Ken Tucker reviews the new anniversary edition of the album. 

Also, we remember actress Diane Ladd in an excerpt of an interview with her daughter, Laura Dern. And David Bianculli reviews ?Pluribus,? the new series from ?Breaking Bad? creator Vince Gilligan.


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2025-11-07
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Trump's Options To Subvert The 2026 Midterms

'Atlantic' journalist David Graham describes how President Trump could potentially use troops near polling places, pressure local election workers and have federal agents seize voting machines.


Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Patti Smith?s ?Bread of Angels,? a prequel/sequel to ?Just Kids.? 


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2025-11-06
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Misty Copeland Begins A New Chapter

Copeland says her final performance with American Ballet Theatre was a thank you to the communities that had supported her. "What I represented is something far bigger than me," she says. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her final bow, her relationship to pain, and the legacy of Black ballet dancers.

Also, David Bianculli reviews the new Peacock thriller series ?All Her Fault,? starring Sarah Snook.

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2025-11-05
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The Undoing Of The Department Of Justice

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis talk about why the U.S. Justice Department?s cases against Donald Trump for alleged interference in the 2020 election and his retention of government documents never made it before a jury. They find both FBI officials and government prosecutors were at times reluctant to pursue leads out of concern for preserving the department?s commitment to fairness and independence from politics. Leonnig and Davis also detail many cases of Trump as president pressuring the DOJ to protect his friends and punish his perceived enemies. Their book is ?Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America?s Justice Department.? They spoke with Fresh Air?s Dave Davies.

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2025-11-04
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Richard Linklater: 'Filmmaking Is Problem Solving'

Filmmaker Richard Linklater doesn't speak French, but that didn't stop him from directing a movie that's almost entirely in French. ?Nouvelle Vague? focuses on the beginning of the New Wave of cinema, specifically Jean-Luc Godard and his landmark 1960 movie ?Breathless.? "I know that sounds insane," Linklater says, "but me not having the language wasn't even in my top 10 concerns about if I could pull off the movie." Linklater spoke with Terry Gross about the impact of the French New Wave, and his other new film, ?Blue Moon.? It?s about Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart, the former creative partner of Richard Rodgers.

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the novel Heart the Lover by Lily King. 


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2025-11-03
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Best Of: Guillermo Del Toro / Cameron Crowe

The great filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro has a new adaptation of Frankenstein. He saw the 1931 film when he was 7. ?I realized I understood my faith better through Frankenstein than through Sunday Mass,? he tells Terry Gross. ?And I decided at age seven that the creature of Frankenstein was gonna be my personal avatar and my personal messiah.? His other films include Pan?s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water. 


Also, we hear from Cameron Crowe, who wrote and directed Jerry Maguire, Say Anything and the semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous, about writing for Rolling Stone starting at age 15. His new memoir is about being a naive teen, exposed to the excesses of rock musicians.

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2025-11-01
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The Making Of ?Young Frankenstein?

Mel Brooks?s classic 1974 movie Young Frankenstein parodies the iconic Frankenstein movies of the 1930s. This Halloween, we?re featuring our interviews with director Mel Brooks and stars Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Teri Garr and Cloris Leachman.

And film critic Justin Chang reviews the new film Bugonia.


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2025-10-31
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The ?Shadow President? Dismantling The Government

In a New Yorker article co-published with ProPublica, reporter Andy Kroll describes Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, as a "shadow president" with oversized influence. ?I don't think you can take in the full sweep of what this administration has done in less than a year and not come away with thinking that chaos is a goal, and certainly an outcome that serves Vought and his team?s larger agenda of putting cracks in the federal government, shaking the stability of this typically rock-solid steady institution that is the federal bureaucracy,? Kroll says.


 

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2025-10-30
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Filmmaker Nia DaCosta Defies Categorization

DaCosta directed the box office hit horror movie Candyman and The Marvels. Her latest, Hedda, is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play, Hedda Gabler. She reimagines the main character as a queer, mixed-race Black woman, played by Tessa Thompson. DaCosta spoke with Tonya Mosley about navigating white spaces in Hollywood, why she loves horror, and her time as a production assistant. 


Also, jazz critic Martin Johnson reviews bassist Linda May Han Oh?s album Strange Heavens.



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2025-10-29
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Judd Apatow Unpacks His Comedy Memorabilia

Long before Judd Apatow was directing box office hits or launching the careers of comedy superstars, he was a fan. As a kid he wrote letters to his heroes, collected autographs, and obsessively documented everything. He?s now opened up his personal archive: decades of photographs, letters, scripts, and journals for a new book that reveals how his childhood inspirations led to the creation of works like '40-Year-Old Virgin,' 'Knocked Up,' and 'Trainwreck.' It?s called 'Comedy Nerd: A Lifelong Obsession in Stories and Pictures.'


Also, John Powers reviews the new museum heist film 'The Mastermind,' starring Josh O?Connor. 


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2025-10-28
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For Cameron Crowe, Being 'Uncool' Is A Badge Of Honor

The filmmaker's new memoir, 'The Uncool,' is about his teen years in the '70s as a rock journalist for 'Rolling Stone.' His unconventional story was dramatized in the 2000 movie 'Almost Famous.' Crowe spoke with Terry Gross about getting access to rockstars before he could drink, being mentored by Lester Bangs, and his interviews with David Bowie. 
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Also, David Bianculli reviews the new season of 'The Diplomat.' 

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2025-10-27
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Best Of: Malala Yousafzai / Ken Burns On The Revolutionary War

We know Malala as the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, the girl who survived a Taliban bullet at 15 for advocating for girls' education in Pakistan. Now in a new book, she's reintroducing herself to the world. It's called Finding My Way, and in it she writes about the messy, funny, and flawed experiences that come with age, while carrying both the honor and the weight of being an activist for women?s rights. 
TV critic David Bianculli reviews a new documentary series about Martin Scorsese. And Ken Burns talks about his new PBS documentary on the Revolutionary War. It includes the perspectives of women, Native Americans, and enslaved and free Black people?the people initially excluded from the declaration ?all men are created equal.? 

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2025-10-25
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Remembering NPR 'Founding Mother' Susan Stamberg

As longtime co-host of All Things Considered, Stamberg was the first woman to anchor a national news program in the U.S. People weren't used to hearing women's voices on the radio. "We were imitating men, so I was lowering my voice to sound as authoritative as I could," she said. Stamberg died Oct. 16. She spoke with Terry Gross in 1982, 1993, and 2021.

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2025-10-24
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Guillermo Del Toro Finally Makes His Own 'Frankenstein'

When Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro was a kid growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico, he would draw monsters all day. His deeply Catholic grandmother even had him exorcised because of it. But when del Toro saw the 1931 film Frankenstein, his life changed. "I realized I understood my faith or my dogmas better through Frankenstein than through Sunday mass." His new adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic book drops on Netflix Nov. 7. He spoke with Terry Gross about getting over his fear of death, the design of Frankenstein's creature, and his opinion on generative AI. 
Also, Justin Chang reviews the Palme d'Or-winning film It Was Just An Accident. 

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2025-10-23
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Confused By The U.S. Economy? You're Not Alone

How are changing tariffs, the AI boom, immigration policies and uncertainty in employment and the stock market impacting the economy? Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, explains.

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2025-10-22
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Malala Yousafzai On Breaking Rules & Finding Her Way

After surviving the Taliban's 2012 attempted assassination, activist Malala Yousafzai didn't back down. She continued to advocate for girls' education across the globe. In 2014, Yousafzai became the youngest person to win a Nobel Prize, an honor that weighed on her when she went off to college. In Finding My Way, she writes about her life at Oxford and beyond. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about reliving childhood, PTSD, and her decision to get married.

 Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new Apple TV+ docuseries Mr. Scorsese.

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2025-10-21
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Ken Burns On The American Revolution

Burns' new six-part PBS documentary series includes the perspectives of women, Native Americans and enslaved and free Black people ? all of whom were initially excluded from the declaration "all men are created equal." The series begins Nov. 16. 

Also, Lloyd Schwartz reviews a recording of Handel arias from soprano Julia Lezhneva.


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2025-10-20
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Best Of: Julian Brave NoiseCat / Laufey

Julian Brave NoiseCat's Oscar-nominated documentary Sugarcane is about the mostly Catholic missionary boarding schools which Indigenous children, including older members of his family, were required to go to get "assimilated." Many were physically and sexually abused. While making the film and writing his new memoir, NoiseCat learned why minutes after his father was born, he was abandoned in a boarding school trash incinerator room. His memoir is We Survived the Night.

Also, Grammy-winning Icelandic musician Laufey plays guitar and sings some songs for us.

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2025-10-18
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A Girl Grows Up In The Epicenter Of Gay Liberation

The new movie Fairyland, produced by Sofia Coppola, is adapted from the memoir by Alysia Abbott. She wrote about being the child of a gay single father at the dawn of the gay liberation movement. He raised her in 1970?s San Francisco, after her mother died. He later died from complications from AIDS. Abbott spoke with Terry Gross in 2013. 

John Powers reviews the new film Blue Moon, directed by Richard Linklater.



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2025-10-17
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A Story Of Indigenous Survival & Resurgence

Filmmaker and writer Julian Brave NoiseCat is the son of an Indigenous Canadian father and white mother. After a cultural genocide, he says, living your life becomes an existential question. "To live a life in an Indigenous way is a kind of profound thing, and it has been really beautiful to get to make art and tell stories from that position." NoiseCat spoke with Terry Gross about his father's origin story, dancing at powwows, and the bonds of kinship. His new memoir, We Survived the Night, takes its name from a translation of the Secwépemc morning greeting. His Oscar-nominated documentary Sugarcane is on Hulu/Disney+.

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Daphne Du Maurier's collection of short stories, After Midnight. 

Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. 



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2025-10-16
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How Trump?s Transactional Nature Led To The Ceasefire

Former State Department negotiator Aaron David Miller, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, attributes the Gaza deal in part to Trump's transactional nature and breaking of traditional diplomatic crockery. Miller spoke with Dave Davies about the prospects for lasting peace and recovery in the territory. 

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2025-10-15
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Remembering Diane Keaton

The incomparable Diane Keaton died last week at age 79. Her career spanned more than five decades and 60 film and TV roles, including standout performances in Marvin's Room, Reds, The First Wives Club and Something?s Gotta Give. But it was her starring role in the Woody Allen classic Annie Hall that made Keaton an American film icon. The Oscar-winning actor spoke with Terry Gross in 1997 about finding the character's voice, her audition for The Godfather, and what she wants in a director. 

Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews a new documentary about SCTV and Spaceballs star John Candy. 

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2025-10-14
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Mitch Albom Is A 'Walking Example Of A Second Chance'

Albom's new novel, Twice, asks a question most of us have daydreamed about: what if you could go back and relive any moment of your life? In the book, a man is born with that exact power, but every second chance comes with a cost. Albom talks with Tonya Mosley about his new book, and the lasting influence of Morrie Schwartz, his old college professor who died in 1995 of ALS. Nearly 30 years ago, Albom chronicled their weekly visits in his bestselling book Tuesdays With Morrie. Since then, he has written several more bestsellers, exploring love, loss, and what it means to live fully in the face of mortality.

Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. 

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2025-10-13
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Best Of: Dwayne Johnson / Comic Cristela Alonzo

WWE superstar Dwayne Johnson plays MMA fighter Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie's The Smashing Machine. "The Rock" spoke with Terry Gross about the role, his many injuries, and his wrestling personas.

For the first seven years of her life, Cristela Alonzo lived in an abandoned diner in a south Texas border town. She spoke with Terry Gross about the culture shock of having money after growing up so poor and the recent ICE raids in L.A. Her new Netflix stand-up special is called Upper Classy.


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2025-10-11
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Jane Goodall

Today we?re remembering renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, known for her work researching the behavior of chimpanzees and protecting their habitats. She died last week at the age of 91. "Every time somebody discovers an animal doing something that we used to think was unique to us, there is this scientific uproar, because we [humans] have to keep our uniqueness. And of course the chimps have challenged this belief again and again and again," Goodall told Terry Gross in 1999. 

John Powers reviews the Netflix thriller film A House of Dynamite, directed by Kathryn Bigelow. 

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2025-10-10
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