Fresh Air
NPR
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, 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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Philadelphia, PA
Description:
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, 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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@nprfreshair
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English
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635 Massachusetts Av. NW, Washington, DC 20001 (202) 513-2300
Email:
freshair@freshair.com
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Episodes
Remembering British Singer Marianne Faithfull
2/7/2025
Discovered at a Rolling Stones party at the age of 17, Marianne Faithfull broke out in the early '60s with the Jagger/Richards song "As Tears Go By." Faithfull's liaison with Mick Jagger kept her in the public eye. In the '70s, she struggled with addiction, but she made a triumphant comeback in her 30s, and became a critically acclaimed rock cabaret singer.
Also, critic-at-large John Powers reviews the Brazilian film I'm Still Here, which he describes as a "moving, inspiring, beautifully made story about learning to confront tyranny."
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Duration:00:46:25
A Dominatrix/Writer Takes Readers Into A Dungeon
2/6/2025
After publishing her first novel when she was 21, Brittany Newell started working as a dominatrix. The job gave her time to write — and plenty of material to draw from. "I always like to say that what makes a good writer is also what makes a good dominatrix, which is empathy and curiosity and bravery," she says. Newell's new novel is Soft Core.
Also, David Bianculli reviews the comedy TV series Clean Slate starring Laverne Cox. And Maureen Corrigan reviews two quintessential New York books.
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Duration:00:43:39
Trump's Plan For Gaza / The U.S. Military's Recruiting Crisis
2/5/2025
Last night, President Trump proposed a plan to displace all the Palestinians from Gaza, and get Jordan and Egypt to take them in, while the U.S. takes ownership of Gaza and rebuilds it into a Middle East Riviera. We'll talk with New Yorker staff writer Dexter Filkins about the impact of this proposal. We'll also talk with him about the recruitment crisis in the U.S. military, which has led military leaders to ask: can our country defend itself if not enough people are willing or able to fight? It's the subject of his latest article in the New Yorker.
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Duration:00:45:39
Ariana Grande Loves Being In A 'Beautiful Coven'
2/4/2025
As a kid, Ariana Grande loved singing karaoke with her family. "I looked up to Whitney and Mariah and Celine endlessly," she says. "I think that's a large part of the reason why I learned to sing." She spoke with Tonya Mosley about auditioning for and landing the role of Glinda in Wicked, her signature whistle register, and how she quiets the voice of self-doubt.
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Duration:01:12:26
Parenting A Child With Terminal Cancer
2/3/2025
Sarah Wildman's daughter Orli died from cancer when she was 14. "She would sometimes ask me, 'What do you think I did to deserve this?' And of course, that's not an answerable question," Wildman says. The NYT Opinion writer spoke with Terry Gross about her daughter's treatment and death and living with grief.
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Duration:00:44:09
Best Of: 50 Years Of SNL Musical Guests / Black History Through Blues
2/1/2025
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is the co-director of a new documentary about the music of Saturday Night Live over the last 50 years. It's called Ladies & Gentlemen and it's streaming on Peacock.
We'll also hear from author and scholar Imani Perry. Her new book Black In Blues explores the significance of the color blue in Black life, from the indigo trade to the birth of blues music.
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Duration:00:48:36
For 'Severance' Star Adam Scott, Work & Life Can't Be Separated
1/31/2025
The Apple TV+ drama series Severance is back for its second season. It's a dystopian take on work-life balance — where characters have their personal and professional lives surgically separated. He spoke with Ann Marie Baldonado in 2022 about the making of the series.
Also, Justin Chang reviews one of this year's most talked-about Oscar nominees for Best Documentary Feature, No Other Land. It was directed by a collective of two Palestinian filmmakers and two Israeli filmmakers. Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Mothers and Sons by Adam Haslett.
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Duration:00:43:48
How Louis Armstrong Became The First Black Pop Star
1/30/2025
Author Ricky Riccardi says Louis Armstrong's innovations as a trumpeter and vocalist helped set the entire soundtrack of the 20th century. His new book about Armstrong's early life is Stomp Off, Let's Go.
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Duration:00:45:43
This Anti-Social American Life
1/29/2025
Research shows we're spending more time alone than ever before. Atlantic writer Derek Thompson says all this "me time" has a profound impact on our relationships and politics.
Also, David Bianculli reviews the documentary Without Arrows.
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Duration:00:44:54
What The Color Blue Tells About Black History
1/28/2025
Award-winning author and scholar Imani Perry traces the history and symbolism of the color blue, from the indigo of the slave trade, to Coretta Scott King's wedding dress, to present day cobalt mining. Her new book is Black in Blues.
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Duration:00:44:48
Questlove Digs Into 50 years Of 'SNL' Musical Hits (And Misses)
1/27/2025
Questlove's documentary, Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music, airs tonight on NBC. It highlights some of the show's most iconic musical performances and comedy sketches — from break-out stars to lip-syncing controversy. Our TV critic David Bianculli reflects on the documentary, and then Questlove joins Terry Gross to talk about some of the highlights.
Also, Ken Tucker reviews Ringo Starr's new country album, Look Up.
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Duration:00:45:49
Best Of: Jesse Eisenberg / Pamela Anderson
1/25/2025
Jesse Eisenberg talks about writing, directing and starring in the film A Real Pain. Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin play cousins who go to Poland on a Jewish Heritage Tour. One of the stops is the Majdanek death camp. He spoke with Terry Gross about questions the film raises. Also, we hear from Pamela Anderson. In the new film, The Last Showgirl, she stars as a veteran Vegas dancer who must face the end of her legendary show. She talked with Tonya Mosley about her big career comeback.
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Duration:00:48:45
Remembering David Lynch
1/24/2025
Filmmaker and painter David Lynch died January 15 at age 78. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1994 about making his surrealist first movie, Eraserhead, leaving things up for interpretation, and where he finds inspiration.
Also, we'll hear from Isabella Rossellini who starred in Lynch's Blue Velvet as a nightclub singer, and Nicolas Cage, who worked with him in Wild At Heart. And our TV critic David Bianculli shares an appreciation.
Also, Justin Chang reviews the new film supernatural thriller Presence.
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Duration:00:46:53
Trump's Foray Into Cryptocurrency
1/23/2025
Bloomberg investigative reporter Zeke Faux says the Trump family's new crypto businesses have earned them tens of millions, while raising questions about political influence and ethics.
Also, we remember Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, playwright and screenwriter Jules Feiffer.
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Duration:00:44:29
Pamela Anderson Is Still Reinventing Herself
1/22/2025
Pamela Anderson's role as a lifeguard on Baywatch made her a global sex symbol in the '90s. But she longed to be taken seriously as a performer and person. "I've always been carrying this secret. I feel like I've known I was capable of more, but I didn't know what," she says. She now stars in The Last Showgirl. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her career comeback, crafting her persona, and ditching makeup.
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Duration:00:44:46
Jesse Eisenberg Hated Bar Mitzvahs As A Kid
1/21/2025
Eisenberg's film, A Real Pain, follows two cousins on a Jewish heritage tour of Poland, which includes a stop at the Majdanek death camp. Eisenberg spoke with Terry Gross about tragedy tourism, and his own relationship to Judaism. The "Hebrew school dropout" says the suburban bar mitzvah scene made his 12-year-old stomach turn.
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Duration:00:44:17
MLK, The Organizer & Radical Thinker
1/20/2025
NYT columnist and sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom and scholar Eddie Glaude Jr. reflect on the struggle for civil rights and what it means to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the same day that President Donald Trump is sworn into office. "Perhaps the juxtaposition of seeing Donald Trump preside over the official state memorialization of Martin Luther King will remind us of our responsibility to remembering King as he actually was ... as he was a philosopher, an organizer of the people," Cottom says.
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Duration:00:45:06
Best Of: Learning From Silence / Comic Roy Wood Jr.
1/18/2025
Writer Pico Iyer lost everything in a 1990 California wildfire. After being rendered homeless and sleeping on a friend's floor, he was told about a Benedictine monastery. His time spent in silence on retreat there changed him both as a person and as a writer. He spoke with Terry Gross about his new memoir about the experience, Aflame.
Also, comic and former Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. talks with Tonya Mosley about his new comedy special, Lonely Flowers.
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Duration:00:47:33
The True Story Of Abuse And Injustice Behind 'Nickel Boys'
1/17/2025
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys has been adapted for the big screen. In 2019, Whitehead spoke with Dave Davies when the book was released. It's set in the early '60s, based on the true story of the Dozier reform school in Florida, where many boys were beaten and sexually abused. Dozens of unmarked graves have been discovered on the school grounds. "If there's one place like this, there are many," he says.
Later, guest critic Martin Johnson reviews a new recording featuring two giants of jazz. And film critic Justin Chang reviews Mike Leigh's new film, Hard Truths.
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Duration:00:44:44
The Secret History Of The Rape Kit
1/16/2025
Rape kits were widely known as "Vitullo Kits" after a Chicago police sergeant. But a new book tells the story of Marty Goddard, a community activist who worked with runaway teenagers in the 1970s.
Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the Western miniseries American Primeval, now streaming on Netflix.
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Duration:00:44:37