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 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
Location:
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 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
Twitter:
@nprfreshair
Language:
English
Contact:
635 Massachusetts Av. NW, Washington, DC 20001 (202) 513-2300
Email:
freshair@freshair.com
Episodes
How Does Pain Work? Dr. Sanjay Gupta Explains
9/4/2025
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta's new book examines the world of pain — why we feel it, and how we can treat it. He says distraction and meditation can be useful tools for managing pain. He spoke with Terry Gross about how the brain gets pain signals wrong, alternatives to painkillers, and how a family of circus performers inspired a new drug. Gupta's book is It Doesn't Have to Hurt.
Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the HBO series Task, by the creator of Mare of Easttown, starring Mark Ruffalo.
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Duration:00:45:26
RFK Jr.'s Impact On Americans' Health
9/3/2025
We look at the stormy tenure of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. New York Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg discusses how RFK Jr.'s cuts to government staff and expert groups will impact everyday Americans. A vaccine skeptic, Kennedy fired the CDC director last week.
Also, John Powers reviews the Prime Video thriller series Butterfly, starring Daniel Dae Kim.
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Duration:00:45:30
Jane Fonda Is Not Backing Down
9/2/2025
Earlier 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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Duration:00:45:15
Roots of Rock and R&B: Dion and Allen Toussaint
9/1/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. We listen back to a 2000 interview with former teen idol Dion. Plus we’ll hear an interview Terry Gross recorded in 1988 with New Orleans songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint. And jazz critic Kevin Whitehead profiles jazz saxophonist Art Pepper, who was born 100 years ago today.
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Duration:00:46:40
Roots of R&B: Charles Brown & Ray Charles
8/30/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. We listen back to a 1989 interview with singer and pianist Charles Brown. Brown is credited with creating an expressive style of music that blended rough Texas blues with the soft glamour of Hollywood. And we revisit a 1998 interview with soul singer Ray Charles, who helped shape American music, beginning with his 1955 hit, “I Got a Woman.”
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Duration:00:49:06
Roots of R&B: 'Stand By Me'
8/29/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. Soul singer Ben E. King began his career in the ‘50s with The Drifters but it was the '61 hit "Stand by Me" that sealed his musical legacy. He spoke to Fresh Air in 1988. We also listen back to a 1991 interview with lyricist Jerry Leiber and composer Mike Stoller, who wrote and produced music for King. Plus, we'll revisit Terry Gross' 1993 interview with Jerry Wexler, the hitmaker who coined the term "rhythm and blues."
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Duration:00:46:36
Roots of R&B: Johnny Otis & Etta James
8/27/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. Singer, songwriter, producer and talent scout Johnny Otis got his start leading a big band that had the 1945 hit “Harlem Nocturne.” Later, as a talent scout, he discovered such performers as Big Mama Thornton, Esther Phillips and Etta James. James' career took off in the '60s with hits including “At Last," “A Sunday Kind of Love” and “I’d Rather Go Blind."
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Duration:00:46:15
Roots of Rock: Sun Records & Johnny Cash
8/26/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. Sam Phillips discovered Elvis Presley and produced his first records, which many consider Elvis’ best. He also founded Sun Records and launched the careers of Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich and Johnny Cash. Cash is one of the most influential figures in country music. His collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, starting in the late 1990s, transformed Cash’s image and gained him a new, young audience.
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Duration:00:46:41
Roots Of Rock: "Blue Suede Shoes"
8/25/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. We're kicking it off with Terry Gross's interviews with Elvis Presley's guitarist Scotty Moore, who tells stories about playing with the King and recording "Blue Suede Shoes." That song was written by rockabilly musician Carl Perkins, who also spoke with Terry about his career.
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Duration:00:45:25
Remembering Actor Terence Stamp
8/22/2025
We remember British actor Terence Stamp, who died last week at age 87. He starred in the film The Limey, as an ex-con out for revenge, and in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as a transgender performer on the road with a lip-synch club act. Stamp got his start in the ’60s, starring in the films Billy Budd, Far From the Madding Crowd and The Collector. Stamp grew up in a working class cockney neighborhood and as a teenager, when he let it be known he wanted to be an actor, his father told him, "People like us don't do things like that." He spoke with Terry Gross in 2002.
Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews the new hit horror film Weapons.
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Duration:00:45:48
Robert Reich: The Baby Boomers Fell Short
8/21/2025
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich served under President Clinton from 1993 to 1997. He opens his new memoir, Coming Up Short, with an apology on behalf of the Baby Boom generation for failing to build a more just society.
Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the books Pariah and The Dancing Face.
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Duration:00:43:43
The Dramatic Overhaul Of The Justice Dept.
8/20/2025
The New Yorker’s Ruth Marcus says Bondi has presided over the DOJ's most convulsive transition of power since Watergate, aggressively reversing policies, investigating Trump’s foes and firing staff.
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Duration:00:45:10
Spike Lee On Dynamic Duos & Reimagining Kurosawa
8/19/2025
Spike Lee's new film, Highest 2 Lowest, centers on a music mogul (Denzel Washington) who faces a moral dilemma when kidnappers mistakenly hold his friend's son ransom instead of his own: Will he risk it all to save a child who isn't his? The Oscar-winning filmmaker spoke with Tonya Mosley about his decades-long partnership with Denzel, an upcoming docuseries about Hurricane Katrina, and Do The Right Thing, 35+ years later.
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Duration:00:44:41
Bowen Yang's 'Wicked' White Lie
8/18/2025
The Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Live cast member talks with Terry Gross about his favorite pop culture in the aughts, his SNL audition, and his recent trip to China.
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Duration:00:45:52
Thomas Mallon
8/15/2025
Writer Thomas Mallon looks back on the early years of the AIDS epidemic, when he was in his 30s, living in Manhattan. His friends were sick or dead, and he was terrified that he’d die, too. Excerpts of his journals from those years are collected in The Very Heart of It. He'll also talk about his latest novel, Up with the Sun, based on the life and murder of a little-known gay actor from the 1950s and '60s.
Also, we remember jazz singer Sheila Jordan, who died Monday at age 96. And Justin Chang reviews Spike Lee's new film, Highest 2 Lowest.
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Duration:00:44:53
Best Of: AI's Writing Critique / The Rise And Fall Of Condé Nast
8/15/2025
After writing chapters of her new book about how tech companies help and exploit us, tech journalist and novelist Vauhini Vara fed those chapters to ChatGPT. She told the AI chatbot she needed help with her writing. But her real goal was to analyze and critique the chatbot’s advice. Her book is Searches.
Also, before social media, before influencers, the magazines Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, and Architectural Digest were among the most significant tastemakers, informing readers what clothes, celebrities, and trends were hot. We’ll talk with Michael Grynbaum about how Condé Nast cultivated a mystique that captivated subscribers.
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Duration:00:48:50
Pedro Pascal Got Fired A Lot
8/14/2025
Chilean-born actor Pedro Pascal has faced countless on-screen challenges, including cosmic battles and cartel kingpins. He's nominated for an Emmy for his role on the HBO series, The Last of Us. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about getting fired from restaurant jobs, his dance training, and his parents' exile from Chile.
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Duration:00:43:46
Musician Charley Crockett's Road From Busking To The Grammys
8/13/2025
Crockett grew up poor and got his start in music busking for tips on the street and in the subway. He's since played the Hollywood Bowl and been nominated for a Grammy. The country/roots musician talks with Terry Gross and plays songs from his new album, Dollar a Day.
John Powers reviews The Diary of Lies, a new mystery novel about a reporter. TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new series Alien: Earth, a TV prequel to the film Alien.
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Duration:00:45:49
Jeff Hiller's Big Break Came In His 40s
8/12/2025
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 new memoir is Actress of a Certain Age.
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Duration:00:43:47
Daniel Dae Kim Fakes His Own Death In 'Butterfly'
8/11/2025
Daniel Dae Kim became the first actor of Asian descent to be nominated for a Tony, for his performance in Yellow Face, in the role of a playwright trying to deal with Asian American representation. His new Amazon Prime Video spy series Butterfly premieres today. Kim spoke with Ann Marie Baldonado about his career, his big break with Lost, and filming his new series in his hometown in Korea. Book critic Maureen Corrigan reflects on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for its 100th anniversary.
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Duration:00:46:44