Fresh Air

The ‘Shadow President’ Dismantling The Government

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In a New Yorker article co-published with ProPublica, reporter Andy Kroll describes Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, a...

Filmmaker Nia DaCosta Defies Categorization

29 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 Gabl...

Judd Apatow Unpacks His Comedy Memorabilia

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 he...

For Cameron Crowe, Being 'Uncool' Is A Badge Of Honor

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 d...

Best Of: Malala Yousafzai / Ken Burns On The Revolutionary War

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Remembering NPR 'Founding Mother' Susan Stamberg

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 heari...

Guillermo Del Toro Finally Makes His Own 'Frankenstein'

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro was a kid growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico, he would draw monsters all day. His deeply Catholic grand...

Confused By The U.S. Economy? You're Not Alone

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How are changing tariffs, the AI boom, immigration policies and uncertainty in employment and the stock market impacting the economy? Zanny Minton Bed...

Malala Yousafzai On Breaking Rules & Finding Her Way

21 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After surviving the Taliban's 2012 attempted assassination, activist Malala Yousafzai didn't back down. She continued to advocate for girls' educati...

Ken Burns On The American Revolution

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Burns' new six-part PBS documentary series includes the perspectives of women, Native Americans and enslaved and free Black people — all of whom wer...

Best Of: Julian Brave NoiseCat / Laufey

18 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Julian Brave NoiseCat's Oscar-nominated documentary Sugarcane is about the mostly Catholic missionary boarding schools which Indigenous children, in...

A Girl Grows Up In The Epicenter Of Gay Liberation

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 fath...

A Story Of Indigenous Survival & Resurgence

16 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Filmmaker and writer Julian Brave NoiseCat is the son of an Indigenous Canadian father and white mother. After a cultural genocide, he says, living yo...

How Trump’s Transactional Nature Led To The Ceasefire

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Former State Department negotiator Aaron David Miller, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, attributes the Gaza deal...

Remembering Diane Keaton

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 perform...

Mitch Albom Is A 'Walking Example Of A Second Chance'

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Best Of: Dwayne Johnson / Comic Cristela Alonzo

11 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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, hi...

Jane Goodall

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today we’re remembering renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, known for her work researching the behavior of chimpanzees and protecting their habitat...

National Guard Deployment In American Cities

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Trump has deployed National Guard troops to Portland, Chicago and D.C., and while Democrat-led states are fighting back, some Republican-led...

Laufey Is Unapologetically Herself

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Icelandic jazz-pop star Laufey spoke with Terry Gross about her classical training in cello, breaking out online during COVID, and her first arena to...

'Dopesick' Writer Returns To Her 'Fractured' Hometown

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist and Dopesick author Beth Macy returned to the Ohio factory town where she grew up to find jobs have left, families are struggling and old ...

Poet Ada Limón On Writing In Uncertain Times

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the nation’s 24th Poet Laureate, Ada Limón has spent her career writing about the hardest parts of being human: loss, grief, longing, and our re...

Best Of: Scarlett Johansson & June Squibb / Mark Ronson

04 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Oscar-nominated actors Scarlett Johansson and June Squibb talk about their new film, Eleanor The Great. In Johansson's directorial debut, a woman ...

Al Pacino & Sidney Lumet: 'Dog Day Afternoon' At 50

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A film about a man trying to fund a gender-affirming operation by robbing a bank sounds like a modern-day plot. But 50 years ago, that was the scenari...

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 f...

Implications Of The DOJ Targeting The President’s Critics

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Trump is pressuring the Department of Justice to pursue his political enemies, like former FBI director James Comey. Legal scholar (and form...

Mark Ronson On DJing In The '90s

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Oscar and Grammy-winning music producer Mark Ronson says nothing beats the rush of a great DJ set. "You can call it the scream, the chant, whatever it...

Comic Cristela Alonzo

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Best Of: Samin Nosrat / Elizabeth Gilbert

27 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After the tremendous success of Salt Fat Acid Heat, chef and author Samin Nosrat realized she needed to recalibrate her life. "I really believed on s...

Jimmy Kimmel's Path To Late Night

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the center of a free speech debate, we're revisiting Kimmel's 2013 interview with Terry Gross. The late night host talked ...

Scarlett Johansson & June Squibb On 'Eleanor The Great'

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Actor Scarlett Johansson makes her directorial debut with Eleanor The Great, about a 94-year-old woman who claims her dead friend's Holocaust story ...

Samin Nosrat Is Embracing 'Good Things'

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After the tremendous success of Salt Fat Acid Heat, chef and author Samin Nosrat realized she needed to recalibrate her life. "I really believed on s...

Elizabeth Gilbert On Love, Loss, And Liberation

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabeth Gilbert's new memoir, All the Way to the River, is an unflinching personal account of addiction, grief, and healing. The book tells the st...

Best Of: Jude Law / Pedro Pascal

20 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jude Law now stars in the thriller series Black Rabbit on Netflix. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about the show, working with a dialect coach, and why ...

Robert Redford, Over The Years

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The legendary actor died Tuesday at age 89. He spoke with Terry Gross about his movies, creating the Sundance Film Festival and Institute, and why he ...

Jude Law

18 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jude Law's new Netflix series Black Rabbit with Jason Bateman follows two brothers in New York City, one a successful restaurateur, the other on the...

How Charlie Kirk Became A Voice Of Conservative Youth

17 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on Sept. 10, NYT reporter Robert Draper talks with Terry Gross about the conservative activist's rise an...

Mary Roach On Our Remarkable, Replaceable Bodies

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Science writer Mary Roach is fascinated by the human body, especially, she says, the "gooey bits and pieces of us that are performing miracles on a d...

The Cost Of Gun Violence On Black Life

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Trymaine Lee's new memoir, A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America, is part hist...

Terry Gross On 50 Years Of Fresh Air (Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso)

14 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This month marks 50 years of Terry Gross as the host of Fresh Air. What began in 1975 as a local experiment at WHYY in Philadelphia has since grown i...

Best Of: Rob Reiner On 'Spinal Tap II' / Billy Strings

14 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rob Reiner talks with Terry Gross about directing the new sequel to Spinal Tap, the mockumentary about a heavy metal band.  He’ll  also talk about...

Inside Netflix's 'Adolescence'

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Netflix miniseries follows a 13-year-old accused of murdering a girl from his school. Co-creator and star Stephen Graham says he read about simila...

NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner

11 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Veteran Air Force linguist Reality Winner was working at the NSA in 2017 when she leaked a classified document to the press about Russian election int...

The Future Of Free And Fair Elections

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Before 2026's midterms, President Trump wants to ban mail-in ballots and electronic voting machines, and change voting rules. Legal expert Richard Has...

Rob Reiner's 'Spinal Tap' Still Goes To 11

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reiner's 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap sparked a new genre of satire. Now, more than 40 years later, the band is back in a new sequel, Spina...

Bluegrass Star Billy Strings

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and guitarist has one foot in traditional bluegrass and another in improvisational jam music. He has a new album...

Best Of : Jane Fonda / Spike Lee

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At 87, Oscar-winning actor Jane Fonda is pouring her energy into activism. She’ll reflect on her decades-long career, and how she first began her fi...

Noah Wyle, Star Of 'The Pitt'

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After 11 seasons on ER, Noah Wyle thought he was finished with medical dramas: "I spent 15 years avoiding — actively avoiding — walking down what...

How Does Pain Work? Dr. Sanjay Gupta Explains

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 distracti...

RFK Jr.'s Impact On Americans' Health

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Jane Fonda Is Not Backing Down

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, Fonda made headlines for delivering a fiery critique of the Trump administration during a SAG-AFTRA award acceptance speech. "This ...

Roots of Rock and R&B: Dion and Allen Toussaint

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 for...

Roots of R&B: Charles Brown & Ray Charles

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 sin...

Roots of R&B: 'Stand By Me'

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Roots of R&B: Johnny Otis & Etta James

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. Singer, songwriter, producer and talent sco...

Roots of Rock: Sun Records & Johnny Cash

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 p...

Roots Of Rock: "Blue Suede Shoes"

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 int...

Remembering Actor Terence Stamp

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 Ad...

Robert Reich: The Baby Boomers Fell Short

21 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 o...

The Dramatic Overhaul Of The Justice Dept.

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The New Yorker’s Ruth Marcus says Bondi has presided over the DOJ's most convulsive transition of power since Watergate, aggressively reversing poli...

Spike Lee On Dynamic Duos & Reimagining Kurosawa

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 fr...

Bowen Yang's 'Wicked' White Lie

18 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Thomas Mallon

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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, ...

Best Of: AI's Writing Critique / The Rise And Fall Of Condé Nast

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Pedro Pascal Got Fired A Lot

14 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chilean-born actor Pedro Pascal has faced countless on-screen challenges, including cosmic battles and cartel kingpins. He's nominated for an Emmy for...

Musician Charley Crockett's Road From Busking To The Grammys

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 nomin...

Jeff Hiller's Big Break Came In His 40s

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 Somew...

Daniel Dae Kim Fakes His Own Death In 'Butterfly'

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 try...

Best Of: Making 'Born To Run' / Why We Can't Sleep

09 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This month marks the 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen's album Born to Run. We'll talk with Peter Ames Carlin, author of a Tonight in Jungleland, ...

Remembering Eddie Palmieri / Funk Innovator George Clinton

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We remember Eddie Palmieri, the pianist, bandleader and composer whose contributions to Afro-Caribbean music shaped the genre for decades. He died Wed...

The Making Of Springsteen's 'Born To Run'

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bruce Springsteen's groundbreaking album, Born to Run, came out 50 years ago this month, marking a turning point for rock and roll — and for "The Bo...

The Nihilistic War In Sudan

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Fourteen million people in Sudan have been displaced by war and famine. The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum says the scale of destruction is vast and, as th...

Sarah Silverman Gets the Last Laugh in 'PostMortem'

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Silverman's father and stepmother are buried under one tombstone that reads: "Janice and Donald, who loved to laugh." The loss was a starting point fo...

How The 1979 Revolution Transformed Iran

04 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, Iran has been an adversary of the United States. Scott Anderson examines the Iranian revolution of 1979, the upheaval that deposed the re...

Best Of: Mariska Hargitay / Marc Maron

02 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Emmy-winning Law & Order: SVU actor Mariska Hargitay talks about her new documentary, My Mom Jayne, an intimate portrait of her mother, the late Holly...

Correcting The Record On Elvis's Manager

31 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Terry Gross talks with rock historian Peter Guralnick, author of the definitive two volume biography of Elvis Presley. His new book is about Elvis's l...

Has NASA Ceded Its Mission To Elon Musk?

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Atlantic journalist Franklin Foer explains how SpaceX and the Trump administration are changing the face of NASA, and why Musk's dream of Mars may...

Comic Marc Maron On Grief, Cats, And Being Openhearted

29 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As he winds down his podcast, WTF, after 16 years, Marc Maron reflects on what he'll miss: "These conversations are very real conversations for me ......

Mariska Hargitay On Freeing Herself From Generational Trauma

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Law & Order: SVU actor was just 3 years old in 1967 when her movie star mom, Jayne Mansfield, died in a car crash. Hargitay's new documentary high...

Best Of: Actor Leslie Uggams / Martha's Vineyard's Indigenous Past & Present

26 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Actor and singer Leslie Uggams talks about her remarkable career, which started when she was 6. She was later the first Black woman to host a TV varie...

Remembering Lyricist Alan Bergman / The 'Outrageous' Jessica Mitford

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The lyrics for the songs "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life," "The Way We Were," "Nice 'n' Easy," "You Must Believe in Spring," and "The Windmi...

The Shifting Landscape Of Higher Education

24 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Trump administration has been pressuring elite universities, like Harvard and Columbia, with widespread demands, and threats of federal funding cu...

A Chatbot Reacts To A Book About Tech

23 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 C...

Leslie Uggams Looks Back On Her Decades In Show Business

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Uggams performed in Beulah, Hallelujah Baby, Roots, Empire, American Fiction and the Deadpool films. She was the first Black woman to host a TV variet...

Martha's Vineyard's Indigenous Past & Present

21 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Nothing More of This Land, Aquinnah Wampanoag writer Joseph Lee takes readers past the celebrity summer scene and into the heart of Noepe, the name...

Best Of: Stacey Abrams / Raphael Saadiq

19 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stacey Abrams is known as a voting rights activist, former candidate for Georgia governor, and founder of Fair Fight Action. But she's also a bestsell...

In The Dugout With Baseball All Stars

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As Major League Baseball celebrates a memorable All Star Game, we feature some of our favorite baseball interviews – with crafty veteran pitcher Jam...

Congress has voted to eliminate government funding for public media

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Act now to ensure public media remains free and accessible to all. Your donation will help this essential American service survive and thrive. Visit d...

The Dominance & Decline Of The Condé Nast Magazine Empire

17 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, Condé Nast publications such as Vogue and Vanity Fair were consequential tastemakers. Writer Michael Grynbaum explores the heyday of the...

Rising Floods, Cuts To FEMA And Future Chaos

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

ProPublica Editor-at-Large Abrahm Lustgarten says the deadly flooding in Central Texas — which has killed over 130 people — underscores the danger...

Stacey Abrams On American Autocracy & Her New Chapter

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Abrams isn't running for office — but she's not ruling it out, either. "Politics is a tool ... for getting good done, but it's not the only one." He...

The 'Jailhouse Lawyer' Who Freed Innocent People — Including Himself

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

While serving a life sentence for a murder he didn't commit, Calvin Duncan studied law, hoping to appeal his case. In the process he became a jailhous...

Best Of: A 'Failed' Child Star / A Novel About Pregnancy Post-Roe

12 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tamara Yajia grew up Jewish in Argentina, intent on becoming a child star. But just when her break was coming along, her family emigrated to Californi...

Danzy Senna Writes Herself (& Other Mixed-Race People) Into Existence

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Novelist Danzy Senna spoke with Terry Gross about racial identity, growing up with a Black father and white mother in an era when "mixed-race" wasn't ...

SCOTUS & The Reconception Of American Constitutional Order

10 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

New York Times reporter Adam Liptak discusses the Supreme Court's decisions to limit the power of lower courts while expanding presidential power, and...

Doula & Novelist Leila Mottley On The Nuance Of Young Parenthood

09 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Leila Mottley gained critical acclaim at 19 with her debut novel Nightcrawling, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Now, she returns with her s...

Raphael Saadiq's Secret To Creative Success: 'Dare To Suck'

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Raphael Saadiq talks about his process — from collaborating with Beyoncé and ...

Can't Sleep? You're Not Alone

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jennifer Senior has had insomnia for 25 years. Her new piece in The Atlantic, "Why Can't Americans Sleep?," is about her...

Best Of: 'Hamilton' Producer Jeffrey Seller / Ebon Moss-Bachrach On 'The Bear'

05 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jeffrey Seller has been a key behind-the-scenes figure for some of the Broadway's biggest hits including, Hamilton and RENT, but he got his start on a...

How Louis Armstrong Became The First Black Pop Star

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Author Ricky Riccardi says Armstrong's innovations as a trumpeter and vocalist helped set the entire soundtrack of the 20th century. His book about Ar...