The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright has written a debut novel that asks a provocative question: What if a woman claimed the right to a spiritual quest like men have done for centuries in literature? 'The White Hot' follows a young mother from Philadelphia who walks away from everything to find herself. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her antihero April, her collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda on 'In The Heights,' and her mother?s spiritual gifts.

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the mystery novel ?Even the Dead,? by John Banville. 

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As protestors clash with some 3,000 federal immigration agents in the Twin Cities, we look at the legal issues with law professor Emmanuel Mauleón and Brennan Center for Justice's Elizabeth Goitein. "The principle that the military should not act as a domestic police force goes back centuries, all the way to the Magna Carta," Goitein says. "I think the reason for it is obvious: If a leader can turn the army inward against the people, that can be a very powerful instrument of tyranny and oppression."

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On the day Griffiths married author Salman Rushdie, her long time best friend died unexpectedly. Eleven months later, Rushdie was stabbed multiple times while being interviewed on stage. In her new memoir, ?The Flower Bearers,? Griffiths examines her grief, healing, and living with Dissociative Identity Disorder. She spoke with Terry Gross. 

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Four years ago, Heather McGhee examined a question at the heart of American life: Why do so many Americans believe that progress for one group means loss for another? She traveled the country talking to factory workers, homeowners who'd lost everything, organizers, and scholars, trying to understand where that belief comes from, and what it costs us. This MLK Day, McGhee spoke with Tonya Mosley about this and how it comes on the heels of President Trump's comments that civil rights protections resulted in white people being ?very badly treated.? McGhee?s book is ?The Sum of Us.?  

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Jodie Foster has been acting since she was 3. At 12 she was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Scorsese?s ?Taxi Driver.? This year marks the 50th anniversary of that film. Foster spoke with Terry Gross about her early acting career, including getting mauled by a lion on set. Her new film is ?A Private Life.?  

Tessa Thompson stars in the new Netflix murder mystery limited series ?His & Hers? and in Nia DaCosta?s adaptation of Ibsen?s ?Hedda.? She spoke with Tonya Mosley about navigating her biracial identity and why she has both ?yes? and ?no? tattooed.

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We remember Bob Weir, founding member of the Grateful Dead, who died last week at 78. The guitarist spoke with Fresh Air Executive Producer Sam Briger in 2016 about working on a ranch, learning to ride, and getting to know cowboys. Also, we remember jazz singer Rebecca Kilgore, who was known for her interpretations of the Great American Songbook. She died at age 76. Kilgore often performed and recorded with pianist Dave Frishberg. We listen to excerpts of their in-studio concerts with Terry Gross. 

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The Man Booker Prize-winning writer says his new book, ?Departure(s),? will be his last. He spoke with Terry Gross about blending genres, moving through grief after his wife died, and the fallibility of memory. 

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new series ?Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.? 

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Marco Rubio once called Trump a "con artist." He?s now among his most loyal defenders. New Yorker staff writer Dexter Filkins describes Secretary of State Rubio's character, political transformation and ambition. Filkins also spoke with Tonya Mosley  about Venezuela and what he thinks will happen next. 

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Foster was just 12 years old when she starred in Scorsese?s 1976 film ?Taxi Driver.? "What luck to have been part of that, our golden age of cinema in the '70s," she says. She talks with Terry Gross about the 50th anniversary of that movie, getting mauled by a lion on a set, and why she kept her sexuality private for most of her career. Foster?s latest film, ?Vie Privée? (?A Private Life?), is in French, which she speaks fluently. 

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Moore says writing is mostly labor, but "2% of the time, usually at the very beginning of a book and the very end of a book, it feels like flying." She's also the author of ?Long Bright River,? which was adapted into a series on Peacock starring Amanda Seyfried. Her latest bestseller, ?The God of the Woods? centers on a missing girl at a summer camp in the Adirondacks. Moore spoke with contributor Dave Davies about her writing process and adapting her work for TV. 

Also, John Powers reviews the thriller series ?Hijack? and ?The Night Manager,? both of which are returning for their second seasons.


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Will Arnett stars in the new film ?Is This Thing On?? about a man going through a divorce, who finds himself onstage doing stand-up. He spoke with Terry Gross about trying out stand-up under a fake name, and his voiceover work.  

Also, director Craig Brewer talks about his film, ?Song Sung Blue.? It?s based on the true story of a Milwaukee couple who became local legends performing as a Neil Diamond tribute band.

Plus, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the roadtrip novel ?The Rest of Our Lives,? by Benjamin Markovits. 

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The new film ?Song Sung Blue? is about a Neil Diamond tribute band and stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. Before Diamond began recording his own hits like ?Solitary Man,? ?Cherry, Cherry,? ?America,? and ?Sweet Caroline,? he wrote songs for other musicians, including The Monkees. Diamond spoke with Terry Gross in 2005. 

Also, the hit HBO medical drama ?The Pitt? is back for season two. Noah Wyle plays the veteran attending physician in a Pittsburgh emergency room. The actor/producer spoke with Dave Davies about his tenure on ?ER? and putting scrubs back on for ?The Pitt.? 

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Thompson is nominated for a Golden Globe for her starring role in ?Hedda.? She spoke with co-host Tonya Mosley about her collaboration with director Nia DaCosta, navigating her biracial identity, and why she almost quit acting before ?Dear White People.? She stars as a news anchor investigating a suspicious death in the new Netflix limited series ?His & Hers.? 

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Journalist Eric Lichtblau says President Trump's incendiary rhetoric has stoked a "new age of hate." His book, ?American Reich,? centers on a murder committed by a young neo-Nazi in Orange County, Calif. He spoke with Dave Davies.

Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews ?Marty Supreme.? 

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Once a fierce advocate for Trump and his MAGA base, Marjorie Taylor Greene has broken with the president and resigned from Congress. ?New Yorker? staff writer Charles Bethea discusses Greene's past ? and what may lie ahead. He spoke with Fresh Air contributor Dave Davies. 

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MS NOW journalist (and Palisades native) Jacob Soboroff says covering the 2025 wildfires was the most important assignment he's ever undertaken. His new book, ?Firestorm,? offers a minute-by-minute account of the catastrophe. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about the systems that failed during the disaster and the effort to rebuild. 

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the roadtrip novel ?The Rest of Our Lives,? by Ben Markovits. 

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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.

Chilean-born actor Pedro Pascal has faced countless on-screen challenges, including cosmic battles and cartel kingpins. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about getting fired from restaurant jobs, his dance training, and his parents' exile from Chile.

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The WWE superstar considered pursuing a career in mixed martial arts before realizing, "I don't like getting punched in the face." Johnson plays MMA fighter Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie's ?The Smashing Machine.? He spoke with Terry Gross about his many injuries, his relationship with his late father, and his wrestling personas.

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Hiller spent years scraping by in Hollywood by taking on various small roles and commercials. Then he landed the role of Joel on HBO's ?Somebody Somewhere? and everything changed. His memoir is ?Actress of a Certain Age.?

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Kind is the announcer and host sidekick on the Netflix show ?Everybody's Live with John Mulaney.? "I don't know what the hell I'm doing. You must understand ? it's anarchy," he says of the show. He spoke with Terry Gross about having ego but no confidence, working with Sondheim, and working in his father's jewelry store as a teen.

Jazz historian Kevin Whitehead has as remembrance of musicians we lost this year.

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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, critic at large John Powers highlights some things he wish he had reviewed this year. 


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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 ICE raids, being mentored by labor activist Dolores Huerta, and the culture shock of having money after growing up so poor. Her recent Netflix stand-up special is called ?Upper Classy.?

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Singer, songwriter and guitarist Billy Strings has one foot in traditional bluegrass and another in improvisational jam music. He has a new album, ?Live at the Legion,? and he brought his guitar to our studio. He spoke with Sam Briger about healing himself through songwriting.

Also, Icelandic jazz-pop star Laufey spoke with Terry Gross about her classical training in cello, breaking out online during COVID, and her first arena tour. Her recent album is ?A Matter of Time.? 


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Early this year, Fonda made headlines for delivering a fiery critique of the Trump administration during a SAG-AFTRA award acceptance speech. "This is not the time to go inward," Fonda says. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her career onscreen and off, as an activist. 


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Bruce Springsteen's groundbreaking album, ?Born to Run,? came out 50 years ago this year, marking a turning point for rock and roll ? and for "The Boss." Before he made that record, Springsteen's label, Columbia, was on the verge of dropping him because his first two albums, though critically acclaimed, had sold poorly. Biographer Peter Ames Carlin describes the creation of ?Born to Run? as an "existential moment" for Springsteen. His book is ?Tonight in Jungleland.? 

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Albom's 2025 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.?

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Arnett stars in Bradley Cooper?s new film, ?Is This Thing On?? as a man who turns to the New York comedy scene as he grapples with his divorce. The ?SmartLess? podcast co-host talked with Terry Gross about voicework, how ?Arrested Development? changed his life, and being a troublemaker in school. 

Also, critic David Bianculli shares his picks for best TV of 2025.

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Director Craig Brewer has made a career of telling stories about dreamers and misfits chasing something bigger than themselves, from ?Hustle & Flow? to ?Dolemite Is My Name.? Now he's back with ?Song Sung Blue,? a film based on the true story of a Milwaukee couple who became local legends performing as a Neil Diamond tribute band. He spoke with Tonya Mosley. 

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To celebrate the holidays, we?re looking back at four archive Fresh Air interviews discussing popular Christmas songs: First, jazz singer Mel Torme tells Terry Gross about co-writing ?The Christmas Song? on a hot summer day, in an interview from 1977. Then we hear from songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane in 1989 about making ?Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,? and then Martin drops in again in 2006 to discuss the song?s long impact. Finally, musician Jon Batiste sits at the piano with Terry in 2024 to play some other favorite holiday tunes live.

Listen to an episode of NPR's All Songs Considered podcast on the origin and impact of ?The Christmas Song.?

Listen to 40+ years of Fresh Air's archives at FreshAirArchive.org. To access bonus episodes, sponsor-free listening and to support public radio, become a Fresh Air+ supporter at plus.npr.org/freshair.

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Lucy Liu joins Tonya Mosley to talk about her new film ?Rosemead,? where she stars as a terminally ill woman grappling with her teenage son?s escalating mental health crisis and the impossible choices she faces to protect him. It?s based on a true story.

Also, writer Zadie Smith talks with Terry Gross about her new collection of essays, ?Dead and Alive.? She reflects on aging and generational discourse. 

Film critic Justin Chang shares his list of the best films of the year.

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Writer Nick Harkaway grew up hearing his dad read drafts of his George Smiley novels. He picks up le Carré's beloved spymaster character in the novel ?Karla's Choice,? now out in paperback. He spoke with Sam Briger about choosing his own pen name, channeling his dad's writing style, and his stint writing copy for a lingerie catalogue.

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The child of Chinese immigrants, Liu grew up in Queens where she spoke Mandarin at home and didn't learn English until she was 5. She returns to the language in her new film, ?Rosemead.? It?s about a terminally ill mother grappling with her teenage son?s escalating mental health crisis and the impossible choices she faces to help him. Liu spoke with Tonya Mosley about rejection, representation, and the first time she heard her name in OutKast?s hit ?Hey Ya.?

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'Vanity Fair' writer Chris Whipple interviewed Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles 11 times, getting her view on cabinet members, Trump's revenge tour, Venezuela policy, and why she says Trump has an "alcoholic's personality." 

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The great filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were killed in their home Sunday. Their son Nick has been arrested on suspicion of murder. It?s a shocking and tragic end to a life that brought joy to so many. Reiner?s contributions to American film include canonical movies such as ?The Princess Bride,? ?Stand By Me,? ?When Harry Met Sally? and ?This Is Spinal Tap.? He spoke with Terry Gross this past September about his reunion with the ?Spinal Tap? guys, growing up among comedy legends, and collaborating with his son Nick on a film inspired by Nick?s struggle with addiction. 

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Zadie Smith returns to talk with Terry Gross about her new collection of essays, 'Dead and Alive.' She reflects on the "nonsense" of generational discourse, being raised by TV, and her obsession with time.

Also, Martin Johnson has an appreciation of drummer and composer Jack deJohnette, who died in October.

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Michael Shannon understands he?s associated with some intense, menacing characters he?s played, like Agent Nelson Van Alden in ?Boardwalk Empire.? ?I?m a big fella, and I got this giant head, and it?s not too difficult for me to seem intimidating I suppose, but it couldn?t be further from what I?m actually like,? he tells Dave Davies. In two new projects, though, Shannon plays good guys. He?s President James Garfield in the new series ?Death by Lightning? and he?s a prosecutor trying Nazi leaders for war crimes in the new film ?Nuremberg.?

Also, we hear from Rhea Seehorn, star of Apple TV?s ?Pluribus.? The series has a sci-fi premise, but the themes of the show are more existential. Like, what is happiness? What is the importance of individuality? She spoke with Terry Gross. 

Maureen Corrigan shares her list of the best books of the year.

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Frank Gehry, whose steel and titanium curved structures seemed more like sculptures than buildings, died last week at age 96. His masterpiece was the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2004 about finding his design voice. 

Also, we remember Raul Malo, the lead singer and songwriter of The Mavericks, the country band with rock and roll roots. 

Justin Chang reviews ?Wake Up Dead Man,? the newest ?Knives Out? mystery movie starring Daniel Craig.  

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Legendary NBA head coach Phil Jackson and sports journalist Sam Smith talk about the stars who helped define the sport, including Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq. They spoke with Tonya Mosley about their new book, 'Masters of the Game.'

Also, Justin Chang shares his picks for the 10 best films of 2025. 

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New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin, a student of past financial calamities, talks about the likelihood the U.S. economy could be headed toward another crisis. He says there are concerns about the impact of AI, crypto currencies and shadowy investment firms operating outside the regulated banking system. How the nation fares, he says, depends much on the judgement, and perhaps financial interests of Donald Trump. ?The entire business world now runs through one address ? 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ? and to some degree through the prism of the whim of one individual,? Sorkin says. His new book, 1929, is about the financial panic that led to the Great Depression.


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The new Apple TV+ series was created by Vince Gilligan, who also created ?Breaking Bad? and co-created ?Better Call Saul.? He liked her work in ?Saul? so much, he wrote the lead in ?Pluribus? for her. The story has a sci-fi premise, but the themes of the show are more existential ? like what is happiness? What is the importance of individuality? Seehorn spoke with Terry Gross about the show, her secretive father who worked in counter intelligence, and her memories of Bob Odenkirk?s nearly fatal heart attack on set.

Also, critic Ken Tucker shares Christmas music from Brad Paisley, Mickey Guyton, Leon Bridges, and Old Crow Medicine Show. 


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In New York City, 100,000 people sleep in shelters every night. Patrick Markee has spent decades fighting for them with the Coalition for the Homeless. He?s written a new book that gives an on-the-ground view of what he?s learned. It?s called ?Placeless: Homelessness in the New Gilded Age.? He asks, what if homelessness isn't a personal failing, but the result of policy choices? 

Also, Maureen Corrigan shares her picks for the 10 best books of the year. You can see her list here. 

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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