Podcasts by 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, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.
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Cord Jefferson Finds Catharsis With 'American Fiction' from 2023-12-12T21:51:41
The movie American Fiction is a satire about a Black writer who can't get his latest book published because it's not "Black" enough. He decides to write a book with every offensive Black s...
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Actor Colman Domingo from 2023-12-11T19:23:35
Colman Domingo stars in two big films this year, in very different roles. In "Rustin," he plays the civil rights leader Bayard Rustin. In the new musical adaptation of "The Color Purple" he plays M...
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Best Of: Liz Cheney / Dave Davies from 2023-12-09T08:00
Former congresswoman Liz Cheney says a second Trump presidency would be an "existential threat" to democracy: "There's simply no defense, no excuse for putting that power back in the hands of Donal...
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Barry Manilow from 2023-12-08T08:00
Barry Manilow recently broke Elvis' record for performances in Las Vegas, and he has a new Broadway musical called Harmony. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2002 about his hits of the '70s and...
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SNL's Kenan Thompson from 2023-12-07T21:08:46
In his new book, Kenan Thompson shares stories from his life and career, like his early days at SNL, his estrangement from his longtime co-star Kel Mitchell, and how he was conned by an ac...
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Breaking The Menstruation Taboo from 2023-12-06T20:28:07
More than half of the population menstruates, and yet there is still so much shame and stigma surrounding what is a normal part of life. We talk with filmmaker Lina Lyte Plioplyte about her new do...
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Liz Cheney's Mission To Stop Trump from 2023-12-05T19:59:12
The former representative says a second Trump presidency would be an "existential threat" to democracy: "There's simply no defense, no excuse for putting that power back in the hands of Donald Trump."
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Dave Davies Reflects On His Career In Radio&Reporting from 2023-12-04T20:00:10
Dave Davies, Fresh Air's longtime fill-in host, is cutting back workload on the show. Today we're paying tribute to him — by listening to clips of some of his memorable interviews. And we'...
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Best Of: AI's Prejudices / UFOs&Gov't Conspiracies from 2023-12-02T08:00
Computer scientist Joy Buolamwini coined the term the "coded gaze" while in grad school at MIT. As a brown-skinned woman, the facial recognition software program she was working on couldn't detect ...
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America's WWII-Era Fight Against Fascism from 2023-12-01T19:12:46
Maddow's new book, Prequel, chronicles the the ultra right-wing groups that sided with Hitler's Germany and plotted to overthrow the U.S. government before World War II. The plot led to th...
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The Gutting Of The Voting Rights Act from 2023-11-30T21:00
Journalist Ari Berman says both the Supreme Court and the lower courts are working to dismantle the 1965 law that's considered one of the most effective pieces of civil rights legislation ever enac...
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How Trump Is Dividing The Evangelical Church from 2023-11-29T19:16:21
Journalist Tim Alberta grew up in a conservative, republican, evangelical church, where his father was the pastor. He wanted to know why so many evangelical Christians had become extremists, and ar...
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Unmasking AI's Racism And Sexism from 2023-11-28T20:12:32
Computer scientist and AI expert Joy Buolamwini warns that facial recognition technology is riddled with the biases of its creators. She is the author of Unmasking AI and founder of the Al...
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UFOs: Conspiracy Theories, Secrets&Mysteries from 2023-11-27T19:46:32
We talk with journalist Garrett Graff about his new book, UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government's Search of Alien Life Here – and Out There. It's about reported sightings, how they'...
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Best Of: The EarRegulars / Playwright Larissa FastHorse from 2023-11-25T08:00
We hear some live music and conversation from two of the best traditional jazz musicians around, trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and guitarist Matt Munisteri. In 2007, they founded the band The EarRegula...
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Comic Leslie Jones from 2023-11-24T11:20:52
Leslie Jones says performing stand-up for the first time as a freshman in college felt like putting on a shirt that fit perfectly: "It was just so natural." She spoke with Tonya Mosley about the be...
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Revisiting The Music Of The Harlem Hellfighters' Regimental Band from 2023-11-23T08:00
Pianist Jason Moran talks jazz and plays selections from his latest recording, which borrows from the music of James Reese Europe, the composer and musician who led the all-Black Harlem Hellfighter...
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Traditional Jazz With The EarRegulars from 2023-11-22T19:50:13
In 2007, trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and guitarist Matt Munisteri founded the band The EarRegulars, who play Sunday nights at a very old bar in Greenwich Village called the Ear Inn. But don't let th...
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Lakota Playwright Larissa FastHorse from 2023-11-21T19:08:08
Larissa FastHorse's satire, The Thanksgiving Play, focuses on four well-meaning white people trying to put on a politically correct school production for Native American history m...
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'Maid' Author Stephanie Land On 'Class' from 2023-11-20T20:11:40
Stephanie Land's 2019 memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother's Will to Survive was a visceral portrait of living in poverty as a single mom, cleaning houses. It was a bestseller and ...
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Best Of: What's Next For Fox News? / Sofia Coppola from 2023-11-18T08:00
This week, Rupert Murdoch stepped down from his position as chair and CEO of Fox, and his son Lachlan replaced him. How might Fox change under Lachlan's leadership? And how has it already changed s...
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Filmmaker Albert Brooks from 2023-11-17T18:03:49
Comic, actor, screenwriter and director Albert Brooks is the subject of a new HBO documentary called Defending My Life. It examines his career from his standup in the late '60s to his film...
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What Does China's Inner Turmoil Mean For The World? from 2023-11-16T22:51:54
New Yorker writer Evan Osnos explains the contentious relationship between China and the U.S. and discusses the significance and possible results of Wednesday's meeting between Biden and P...
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The Mental Health Crisis Affecting Black Men&Boys from 2023-11-15T20:48:25
In The Invisible Ache, actor Courtney B. Vance and psychologist Dr. Robin L. Smith examine the mental health crisis affecting Black men and boys. According to the CDC, the rate of suicide ...
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What's Changing At Fox News? from 2023-11-14T19:21:15
This week, Rupert Murdoch steps down from his position as chair and CEO of Fox, and his son Lachlan replaces him. How might Fox change under Lachlan's leadership? And how has it already changed sin...
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Life&Death In A Ukrainian War Zone from 2023-11-13T19:24:19
We go inside the first days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine with journalist Mstyslav Chernov. He and his team were the only international journalists to spend the first 20 days covering the siege o...
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Best Of: Barbra Streisand / Tariq Trotter (Black Thought) from 2023-11-11T15:33:48
Throughout her career, Barbra Streisand's mother would send her bad reviews of her performances. The intention was to prevent her daughter from getting a "swelled head," but they also served as fue...
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A Marine Reflects On War&Finding Purpose / The Black Experience Of WWII from 2023-11-10T18:47:09
For Veterans Day we're revisiting two interviews about war. Elliot Ackerman served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, during which time, he says, he witnessed the absolute worst — as well as the a...
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Examining The Divisions Within Israel from 2023-11-09T20:21:13
Before the war between Israel and Hamas, it sometimes looked as if Israel might be headed toward a civil war. At least that's what New York Times correspondent Isabel Kershner th...
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Barbra Streisand from 2023-11-08T20:18:58
Throughout her career, Barbra Streisand's mother would send her bad reviews of her performances. The intention was to prevent her daughter from getting a "swelled head," but they also served as fue...
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Tariq Trotter (Black Thought), Co-Founder Of The Roots from 2023-11-07T19:40:18
Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought, reflects on his difficult childhood in Philly, his decades-long friendship with Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, and 50 years of hip-hop. Trotter's new memoir is Th...
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Sofia Coppola On 'Priscilla' from 2023-11-06T19:20:43
Sofia Coppola's new movie is about the relationship between Priscilla and Elvis Presley -- from Priscilla's point of view. The two met when she was 14 and he was 24. Coppola makes films a...
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Best Of: David Byrne / Inside The AI Company That Knows Your Face from 2023-11-04T07:00
David Byrne talks about his life and music. The Talking Heads movie Stop Making Sense – which many people consider the best concert film ever made – has been restored and remastered for it...
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Matthew Perry / Lisa Kudrow from 2023-11-03T16:35:47
We remember actor Matthew Perry, who died last week at age 54. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2007 about auditioning to play Chandler Bing on Friends, and how overnight fame changed his lif...
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How Did Israel Fail To Detect Hamas' Invasion? from 2023-11-02T19:38:28
New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti says prior to Oct. 7, Israel's leadership was focused on an attack by Iran and its proxies —not Hamas. "They were ... myopic about what the true threa...
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David Byrne On 'Stop Making Sense' from 2023-11-01T19:03:15
It's the 40th anniversary of Talking Heads' masterpiece concert film, Stop Making Sense. A24 remastered and rereleased the movie, bringing it to new audiences and longtime fans. Talking He...
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Rep. Adam Kinzinger On The GOP&The Jan. 6th Committee from 2023-10-31T18:49:03
The former Illinois congressman reflects on confronting the "fanaticism of the hardcore" of the GOP. Kinzinger served on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol. His bo...
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How A Black Socialite Raised Millions For Civil Rights from 2023-10-30T18:39:27
Historian Tanisha Ford tells Tonya Mosley the story of Harlem activist Mollie Moon, credited with raising millions to build economic and racial equality in the U.S. Ford's new book is Our Secre...
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Best Of: Werner Herzog / Greta Lee from 2023-10-28T07:00
Werner Herzog talks with Terry Gross about the curiosity that's fueled his career. The filmmaker and writer is drawn to extremes: extreme characters, extreme settings, extreme scenarios. H...
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Spy Novelist (And Former Spy) John Le Carré from 2023-10-27T15:43:07
The author of such spy novels as The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Night Manager is the subject of a new documentary by Errol Morris...
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What Do We Know About House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson? from 2023-10-26T19:22:09
New Yorker writer Jonathan Blitzer gives a deeper lens into Johnson, a conservative who refused to certify the 2020 election results. Blitzer also talks about the influence of Rep. Jim Jor...
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Werner Herzog from 2023-10-25T18:40:26
Herzog reflects on the curiosity that's fueled his career in the new memoir, Every Man for Himself and God Against All. The filmmaker and writer is drawn to extremes: extreme characters, e...
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The Accusations That Sent Charlie Chaplin Into Exile from 2023-10-24T18:29:57
Author Scott Eyman explains how silent film actor Charlie Chaplin was smeared in the press, scandalized for his affairs with young women, condemned for his alleged communist ties and banned from re...
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Mitt Romney's Reckoning from 2023-10-23T18:08:23
Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins shares a moderate Republican's startling account of dysfunction in the Senate, and the dangerous drift toward extremism in the GOP voting base. Coppins ...
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Best Of: Jada Pinkett Smith / Keegan-Michael Key from 2023-10-21T13:21:48
Jada Pinkett Smith spoke with Tonya Mosley about growing up in Baltimore, her career in Hollywood, and her friendship with Tupac.
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Justin Torres' long aw...
'Killers Of The Flower Moon' Author David Grann from 2023-10-20T18:59:11
Martin Scorsese's film, based on David Grann's 2017 book, tells the true story of white men in the 1920s who married into and systematically murdered Osage families to gain claims to their oil-rich...
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Greta Lee On 'Past Lives' from 2023-10-19T19:05:49
In Past Lives, Greta Lee stars as a playwright caught between two men she loves. Lee says the film allowed her to explore the immigrant experience in a way that felt vulnerable — and perso...
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What's Next For The Group That Overturned 'Roe'? from 2023-10-18T18:42:45
The Alliance Defending Freedom is a Christian conservative legal group that has won 15 Supreme Court cases, including overturning Roe v. Wade. We talk with David Kirkpatrick, who wrote about the gr...
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Jada Pinkett Smith from 2023-10-17T18:28:02
Jada Pinkett Smith dominated headlines with the news that she and her husband, famed actor Will Smith, have been separated for 7 years. It was one of several explosive revelations in her new memoir...
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Lawrence Wright On 'Mr. Texas' from 2023-10-16T18:35:35
Lawrence Wright, who is known for best selling books about Al Qaeda and Scientology, has a new novel about the colorful world of Texas politics. In Mr. Texas, a naive rancher lucks into a ...
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Best Of: Filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz / TOKiMONSTA from 2023-10-14T12:31:14
Iranian American filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz was banned from returning to Iran after the release of her first feature, Circumstance, about Iran's youth underground culture, and two young wo...
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Actor Patrick Stewart from 2023-10-13T17:12:31
Patrick Stewart is best known for starring as Jean-Luc Picard in two Star Trek series, 30 years apart. In his new memoir, Making It So, he shares details of his life growing up in...
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Marty Baron, Former 'Post' Exec. Editor from 2023-10-12T19:17:16
Baron joined The Washington Post in 2013 – just months before the paper was acquired by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He led coverage of major news events including Donald Trump's election an...
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How Was Hamas Able To Launch Such A Devastating Attack On Israel? from 2023-10-11T17:57:35
We'll talk with terrorism expert Daniel Byman about the deadly foundations of the war between Israel and Hamas, and where the war may lead. Byman has written extensively about the Middle East. His ...
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Keegan-Michael Key On The History Of Sketch Comedy from 2023-10-10T20:16:57
The Key & Peele and Schmigadoon! star explains why he loves sketch comedy — watching it, performing it and writing about it. His book, with writing partner Elle Key, is The Hi...
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Iranian American Filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz from 2023-10-09T19:13:07
Loosely based on Maryam Keshavarz's own life, The Persian Version centers on an Iranian American woman who identifies as bisexual and whose mother entered into an arranged marriage as a te...
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Best Of: Allison Russell / The Evolution Of Female Bodies from 2023-10-07T12:21:55
Musician Allison Russell talks and sings about the physical and sexual abuse she endured from her racist adoptive father — and about how she learned she was worthy of being loved. Her new album is ...
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Cold Case Investigator Paul Holes from 2023-10-06T16:35:07
Holes spent more than 20 years investigating crimes in California and played a critical role in identifying the so-called Golden State Killer. His memoir Unmasked is out in paperback.
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The Big Shift To Clean Energy from 2023-10-05T19:32:55
Huge swaths of the country are pivoting from fossil fuels, toward wind, solar and other renewables. New York Times climate reporter Brad Plumer discusses this progress and the roadblocks t...
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Poet Safiya Sinclair On Her Rastafari Roots from 2023-10-04T18:44:26
Poet and writer Safiya Sinclair grew up in a devout Rastafari family in Jamaica where women were subservient. When she cut her dreadlocks at age 19, she became "a ghost" to her father. Her new memo...
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Putting Female Bodies At The Center Of Evolution from 2023-10-03T19:33:40
When it comes to biological and medical research, female bodies have historically been under-studied. Author Cat Bohannon traces the female body through evolutionary history in her new book, Ev...
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Producer/DJ TOKiMONSTA from 2023-10-02T18:01:31
Music producer and DJ Jennifer Lee — aka TOKiMONSTA — underwent two brain surgeries in 2016 that temporarily stripped her of her ability to understand words or music. She spoke with Tonya Mosley ab...
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Best Of: Leslie Jones / Kerry Washington from 2023-09-30T04:10
In her new memoir, comedian Leslie Jones writes about being on Saturday Night Live – and the years she spent working odd jobs to get by before she was famous.
Ken Tucker reviews Al...
Remembering Actor David McCallum / Allen Ginsberg from 2023-09-29T20:18:57
Scottish actor David McCallum played an eccentric medical examiner on the CBS crime series NCIS, but he found fame nearly 60 years ago in his role as Russian agent Illya Kuryakin on the TV...
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Inside The Secretive AI Company That Knows Your Face from 2023-09-28T18:53:32
The secretive company Clearview AI scans unidentified faces, and finds a match in their database of billions of photos. The pics are scraped from websites and apps, including Google, Facebook, and ...
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Musician Allison Russell from 2023-09-27T20:20:52
Russell talks and sings about the physical and sexual abuse she endured from her racist adoptive father — and about how she learned she was worthy of being loved. Her new album is The Returner....
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How Roads&Highways Affect Wildlife from 2023-09-26T18:45:23
Environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb says cars are killing animals, while highways cut off them off from their food sources and migration paths. His new book about road ecology is Crossings Listen
Kerry Washington's Self-Discovery from 2023-09-25T18:33:05
Award-winning actor and producer Kerry Washington was an adult when she learned that she had been conceived via artificial insemination and the man she considered her father was not her biological ...
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Best Of: Casting Dir. Allison Jones / The Nazi's Jazz Propaganda from 2023-09-23T12:00
Casting director Allison Jones is considered one of the greatest comedy casting directors of our time. Her credits include films and TV shows like Freaks and Geeks, The Office,
Actor Billy Crudup from 2023-09-22T20:54:16
Billy Crudup stars in The Morning Show, now back for its third season. We also talk about going to rock star camp for his role in Almost Famous and his iconic Mastercard commercia...
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Leslie Jones from 2023-09-21T18:18:42
Leslie Jones says performing stand-up for the first time as a freshman in college felt like putting on a shirt that fit perfectly: "It was just so natural." She talks with Tonya Mosley about the be...
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How The Nazis Used Jazz As A Propaganda Tool from 2023-09-20T18:38:50
Hitler's Germany banned jazz because it was deemed degenerate music made by Jews and Black people. But NPR host Scott Simon says the Nazis used it abroad to weaken British and American resolve. His...
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Comic Aparna Nancherla from 2023-09-19T20:23:44
Comedian, writer, and actor Aparna Nancherla has starred in the TV shows BoJack Horseman, Master of None, and Corporate. She's written for Totally Biased with W. Kama...
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How Saudi Arabian Oil Money Is Influencing Men's Pro Golf from 2023-09-18T19:04:41
New York Times reporter Alan Blinder says the kingdom poured millions into a pro golf circuit to rival the PGA. The two sides recently announced a joint venture, raising anti-trust issues....
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Best Of: 'Barbie' Music Producer Mark Ronson / Model Bethann Hardison from 2023-09-16T04:10
Grammy and Oscar-winning music producer Mark Ronson is known for his party hits, pop songs, soulful arrangements, and producing for stars like Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga, and Adele. His latest projec...
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Fairport Convention Band Co-Founder Richard Thompson from 2022-04-20T17:42:24
The British singer, songwriter and guitarist talks about his formative years, and about pioneering a new musical genre that blended rock with traditional music of the British isles. Thompson's new ...
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Tim McGraw from 2022-04-19T14:28:02
Country music singers McGraw and Faith Hill are starring in the Paramount+ series 1883. The show tells the story of a group of Eastern European immigrants trying to make their way in cover...
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Comic Jerrod Carmichael Reveals His Secrets from 2022-04-18T17:36:17
In his new HBO comedy special, Rothaniel, Carmichael opens up about his real name, his family tree, and his sexual orientation. We'll go deeper into these issues — and talk about how being...
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Best Of: Molly Shannon / Delia Ephron from 2022-04-16T00:10:26
In addition to SNL, Molly Shannon has co-starred in the comedy series The Other Two and The White Lotus, and will soon appear in the Showtime comedy series I Love Tha...
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Remembering Jazz Pianist&Composer Jessica Williams from 2022-04-15T14:18:28
Williams was a dazzling player and a favorite at Fresh Air. She died March 10 at 73. We'll listen back to her 1997 performance and interview.
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Trump, The GOP Kingmaker / Remembering Gilbert Gottfried from 2022-04-14T14:43:04
NYT correspondent Shane Goldmacher says Trump doles out endorsements to Republican candidates to elevate allies, punish enemies, and make the "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was stolen in...
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Writer Delia Ephron's Real-Life Rom-Com from 2022-04-13T15:48:31
Delia Ephron, who co-wrote the '90s film You've Got Mail with her sister Nora, found herself in the plotline of a romantic comedy. In her new memoir Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at L...
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The Pandemic Profiteers from 2022-04-12T15:04:44
ProPublica reporter David McSwane tells the story of people and businesses that profited from the COVID-19 pandemic. He found the government awarded lucrative contracts to many people with a histor...
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Actor&Comedian Molly Shannon from 2022-04-11T15:35:20
When Molly Shannon started finding success on Saturday Night Live, she remembers feeling depressed. "I realized that really the only person I wanted to say, 'Oh my gosh, I'm so, so proud o...
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Best Of: Groundbreaking Conductor Marin Alsop / Poet Ocean Vuong from 2022-04-09T00:15:57
In 2007, Alsop became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony. But on the way to great success, she faced plenty of rejection. "Girls can't do that," Alsop recall...
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Acclaimed Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro from 2022-04-08T15:00:46
The Nobel Prize-winning novelist's latest book, Klara and the Sun, is set in the future and has an artificially intelligent narrator. "I wanted some of that childlike freshness and opennes...
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The Abortion Underground from 2022-04-07T17:30:19
Activists are mobilizing in preparation for the weakening or end of Roe v. Wade. That's the subject of Jessica Bruder's new cover story for The Atlantic. "There are lots of people who want...
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Actor Adam Scott On 'Severance' from 2022-04-06T16:42:25
Scott is known for TV comedies like Parks and Recreation and Party Down, the drama series Big Little Lies, and the film Step Brothers. Now Scott stars in the App...
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Poet&Author Ocean Vuong from 2022-04-05T14:18:20
Vuong is author of the acclaimed novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. It was published in 2019, the same year he won a MacArthur "genius" grant. It was also the same year his mother died...
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Groundbreaking Conductor Marin Alsop from 2022-04-04T14:20:47
In 2007, Alsop became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony. But on the way to great success, she faced plenty of rejection. "Girls can't do that," Alsop recall...
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Best Of: Sam Waterston / A Civil Rights Leader Who Investigated Lynchings from 2022-04-02T00:15:43
Waterston joined the cast of Law & Order in 1994 on a one-year contract. He wound up staying 16 years, until the series wrapped in 2010. Now the show's back — and so is he. We talk about w...
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The Extraordinary Lives Of Migratory Birds from 2022-04-01T11:49:35
Author Scott Weidensaul talks about the millions of birds flying unseen over our heads in the night sky, how the bar-tailed godwit can fly more than a week over water without stopping, and how new ...
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How Ukraine Is Fighting On The Digital Battlefield from 2022-03-31T15:04:44
Time's Vera Bergengruen says Ukraine's citizen IT force, led by a 31-year-old minister of digital transformation, is blunting Russian disinformation and galvanizing international support. ...
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How A Civil Rights Leader Risked His Life to Investigate Lynchings from 2022-03-30T15:38:18
White Lies author A.J. Baime tells the story of Walter White, a light-skinned Black man whose ancestors had been enslaved. For years White risked his life investigating racial violence in ...
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The History Of Surgery from 2022-03-29T14:47:06
Medical historian and surgeon Ira Rutkow points to physical evidence that suggests Stone Age people conducted — and survived — brain surgery. We talk about the evolution of surgery from ancient soc...
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Sam Waterston On Returning To 'Law&Order' from 2022-03-28T15:48:34
Waterston joined the cast of the original NBC series in 1994 on a one-year contract. He wound up staying 16 years, until the series wrapped in 2010. Now the show's back — and so is he. We talk abou...
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Best Of: Pianist Jeremy Denk / Columnist Frank Bruni from 2022-03-26T00:15:42
MacArthur "genius" grant winner Jeremy Denk talks about what he learned from his piano teachers, his pivotal artistic moments and his failures and frustrations. Denk's new memoir is Every Good ...
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Remembering Secretary Of State Madeleine Albright from 2022-03-25T14:30:50
Appointed by President Clinton in 1997, Albright advocated for the expansion of NATO into the former Soviet bloc countries of Eastern Europe. She died March 23. Originally broadcast in 2003 and...
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The Massive Aid Flowing Into Ukraine from 2022-03-24T15:20:01
Time reporter Simon Shuster recently returned from the Ukrainian-Polish border. Watching as U.S. planes brought in loads of weapons, he felt like he was standing on the brink of something ...
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Healing&Heartbreak In A Chicago ER from 2022-03-23T16:55:46
Veteran ER doctor Thomas Fisher's new book describes his experiences in the first year of the Covid pandemic treating patients on Chicago's South Side. He never had enough time or resources for his...
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Columnist Frank Bruni On Vision Lost&Found from 2022-03-22T15:45:54
After experiencing a rare kind of stroke, NYT writer Frank Bruni suddenly became blind in his right eye. Doctors told him there was a decent chance the same could happen to his other eye. ...
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Classical Pianist Jeremy Denk from 2022-03-21T16:16:24
The MacArthur "genius" grant winner talks about what he learned from his piano teachers, his pivotal artistic moments and his failures and frustrations. Denk's new memoir is Every Good Boy Does...
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Best Of: Seth Meyers / A Tour Of The Human Body from 2022-03-19T00:15:05
As the host of NBC's Late Night, it's Seth Meyers' job to be funny, even when the news is catastrophic. He's satirized issues in the news, including in times of tragedy and war ever since ...
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Remembering Actor William Hurt from 2022-03-18T16:07:58
Hurt died March 13 at the age of 71. He was a leading man in the 1980s in the films Body Heat, Broadcast News, and The Big Chill. But he thought of himself as a character...
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A Crash Course On NATO History from 2022-03-17T17:09:23
Historian Mary Elise Sarotte tells how NATO expanded into Eastern Europe after the fall of the U.S.S.R, and is now obligated to defend nations near Russia's war in Ukraine. Her book is Not One ...
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A Doctor's Guided Tour Inside Your Body from 2022-03-16T15:35:14
We talk with Dr. Jonathan Reisman, author of The Unseen Body, about how our organs function, the messages contained in our body fluids, and his experiences treating patients with diseased ...
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Former U.S. Ambassador To Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch from 2022-03-15T14:33:51
Yovanovitch was relieved of her post following a smear campaign orchestrated by Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. She also testified at Trump's first impeachment. Her new memoir is 'Lessons from the Edg...
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Seth Meyers On Fear, Fatherhood&Friendship from 2022-03-14T16:09:31
We talk with the Late Night host about his second son's dramatic birth story, John Mulaney's intervention, and his new children's book, I'm Not Scared, YOU'RE Scared. Meyers says the book is about ...
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Best Of: Amy Bloom On Alzheimer's And Assisted Suicide / Cartoonist David Sipress from 2022-03-12T00:15:11
Shortly after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2019, architect Brian Ameche, then in his mid-60s, told his wife, novelist Amy Bloom, that he wanted to end life on his own terms, before ...
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Patrick Stewart On 'Star Trek: Picard' from 2022-03-11T13:43:20
Patrick Stewart is back as Jean-Luc Picard in season 2 of the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Picard. "I am not averse to risk-taking and I don't judge myself," he says. Stewart spoke wit...
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Why Russians Are Fleeing Their Country from 2022-03-10T14:35:22
New Yorker staff writer Masha Gessen says there's been an exodus from Russia in the last week and a half: "It's a sudden and drastic descent into a sense of having no country." Gessen rep...
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How Sandy Hook Ushered In A New Era Of Conspiracies from 2022-03-09T15:03:35
In the years since the Sandy Hook shooting, the victims' families have endured relentless online abuse, stalking and personal threats. New York Times journalist Elizabeth Williamson examin...
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Writer Amy Bloom Reflects On Her Husband's Assisted Suicide from 2022-03-08T17:29:36
Shortly after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2019, architect Brian Ameche, then in his mid-60s, told his wife, novelist Amy Bloom, that he wanted to end life on his own terms, before ...
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New Yorker Cartoonist David Sipress from 2022-03-07T15:40:23
Sipress endured years of rejection before finally landing a gig with The New Yorker in '98. "I wasn't about to let all that rejection get in the way," he says. His new memoir is What's...
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Best Of: China's Influence On Hollywood / Living With Chronic Illness from 2022-03-05T00:15:08
Wall Street Journal reporter Erich Schwartzel says that Hollywood film studios increasingly rely upon Chinese audiences to break even — which can result in self-censorship. His new book is Red ...
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Benedict Cumberbatch / Film Composer Jonny Greenwood from 2022-03-04T11:37:03
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in Jane Campion's Western The Power of the Dog as Phil Burbank, a hyper-masculine cattle rancher living on the plains of Montana in the 1920s. We talk about how ...
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How The War Between Russia&Ukraine Might End from 2022-03-03T16:11:34
Historian and former State Department official Michael Kimmage says the war in Ukraine is going "surprisingly badly" for the Kremlin: "It didn't get the politics of Ukraine right. It didn't expect ...
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'Raised By Wolves' Series Creator from 2022-03-02T14:54:31
In the HBO Max series Raised By Wolves, humanity is near extinction after a global religious war. Two androids are sent to another planet to raise human children and keep the species alive...
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How Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine Changes The World As We Know It from 2022-03-01T15:37:26
Journalist Anne Applebaum has been covering the war in Ukraine for The Atlantic. "I don't think that we will ever again smugly assume that borders in Europe can't be changed by force," she...
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Long COVID, Chronic Illness&Searching For Answers from 2022-02-28T14:57:48
Meghan O'Rourke says long COVID and other chronic illnesses put an unwieldy burden on patients, who have to testify to the reality of their own illness. Her new book, The Invisible Kingdom...
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Best Of: 'Abbott Elementary' Creator Quinta Brunson / Novelist Julie Otsuka from 2022-02-26T00:15:01
Quinta Brunson stars as a rookie second grade teacher in an under-resourced public elementary school in the mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary. Brunson says she conceived of the show wi...
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The Remarkable Life Of Frederick Douglass from 2022-02-25T11:47:16
Historian David Blight's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography traced Frederick Douglass' path from slavery to abolitionist and inspired HBO's documentary, Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches....
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What The Insect Crisis Means For Humans from 2022-02-24T14:17:47
Environmental writer Oliver Milman says habitat loss, pesticides and climate change are killing off insects worldwide, which, in turn, threatens humans. We talk about the critical role insects play...
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'Abbott Elementary' Creator/Star Quinta Brunson from 2022-02-23T14:49:45
Quinta Brunson stars as a rookie second grade teacher in an under-resourced public elementary school in the mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary. Brunson says she conceived of the show wi...
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Novelist Julie Otsuka On 'The Swimmers' from 2022-02-22T15:10:15
Though the main character in Julie Otsuka's new novel has lost much of her memory to dementia, she still remembers being sent to an incarceration camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. We...
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Does China Have Hollywood In An Economic Muzzle? from 2022-02-21T09:00:54
Wall Street Journal reporter Erich Schwartzel says that film studios increasingly rely upon Chinese audiences to break even — which can result in self-censorship. His new book is Red C...
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Best Of: Bill Cosby's Legacy / Matthew Macfadyen from 2022-02-19T00:10:10
Comic and producer W. Kamau Bell talks about directing the Showtime series We Need to Talk About Cosby, which explores how Bill Cosby became "America's dad," and a hero in Black culture — ...
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Penélope Cruz / Javier Bardem from 2022-02-18T13:22:31
Penélope Cruz is nominated for Best Actress for her role in Parallel Mothers, the latest movie written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. And her husband, Javier Bardem, is nominated for h...
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The Battle For Voting Rights from 2022-02-17T15:30:52
Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, says lawmakers in 27 states are considering hundreds of bills designed to limit voting or undermine the integrity of the election proce...
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The Untold Story Of 'Civil Rights Queen' Constance Baker Motley from 2022-02-16T15:13:09
Though she litigated Brown v. The Board of Education, was the first Black woman to argue before the Supreme Court, and represented MLK, few people know her name: Constance Baker Motley. Guest inte...
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An Underground Journey With Afghan Refugees from 2022-02-15T16:08:53
Journalist Matthieu Aikins accompanied his Afghan interpreter when he decided to flee Afghanistan in 2016, using smugglers' routes to make his way to Europe and start a new life. For Aikins, it mea...
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W. Kamau Bell On Bill Cosby's Legacy from 2022-02-14T15:13:01
About 60 women have come forward accusing Cosby of drugging and raping them. In 2018, Cosby was convicted of three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault, though that conviction was overturne...
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Best Of: Jonny Greenwood / How The Method Changed Acting from 2022-02-12T00:15:33
Jonny Greenwood plays guitar and keyboard in Radiohead, but in 2007 director Paul Thomas Anderson enlisted him to score his film There Will Be Blood. Since then, Greenwood has scored such ...
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Remembering Antiwar Activist Todd Gitlin / 'Maus' Author Art Spiegelman from 2022-02-11T14:13:45
We remember activist, scholar and social critic Todd Gitlin, who died Feb. 5 at the age of 79. He was president of SDS, the Students for a Democratic Society and helped organize the first national ...
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What We Know Now About Jan. 6 from 2022-02-10T15:12
NYT congressional reporter Luke Broadwater was in the Capitol when the mob started breaking down barricades. We talk about the House committee's investigation into the attack and new revel...
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How The Method Changed Acting from 2022-02-09T16:19:47
Method acting is more than mining personal experiences to play a character — or physically transforming for a role. Author and cultural critic Isaac Butler traces the history of the technique in
How The GOP Became The Party Of Trump from 2022-02-08T16:40:05
New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters says the religious right and social conservatives "got basically everything that they wanted" from Trump's presidency. We also talk about how Sarah Pa...
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Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood On Scoring Films from 2022-02-07T15:15:28
Greenwood plays guitar and keyboard in Radiohead, but in 2007 auteur director Paul Thomas Anderson enlisted him to score his film There Will Be Blood. Since then, Greenwood has scored such...
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Best Of: Guillermo del Toro / The Science Of Heartbreak from 2022-02-05T00:15:59
Guillermo del Toro's new movie, Nightmare Alley, is a film noir starring Bradley Cooper as a murderer who joins a traveling carnival, first as part of the crew, and then as part of a clair...
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Christine Baranski / Remembering Actor Howard Hesseman from 2022-02-04T12:29:28
Actor and singer Christine Baranski is now one of the stars of the new HBO series The Gilded Age. She spoke with Terry Gross in 2020.
Also, we listen back to our 1988 interview w...
Teachers Could Face Penalties For Lessons On Race, Gender, Politics from 2022-02-03T14:14:23
Across the U.S., educators are being censored for broaching controversial topics. Since January 2021, researcher Jeffrey Sachs says that 35 different states have introduced 137 bills limiting what ...
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A Family's Secret Mob Operation from 2022-02-02T15:22:34
Russell Shorto's grandfather was a mob leader in the industrial town of Johnstown, Pa. Shorto writes about the havoc that resulted from his grandfather's operation in the memoir, Smalltime...
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The Science Of Heartbreak from 2022-02-01T16:39:41
Science writer Florence Williams experienced what felt like a brain injury when her husband left her after more than 25 years together. So she decided to explore the connection between heartache an...
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Dir. Guillermo del Toro from 2022-01-31T15:25:15
Del Toro's new movie, Nightmare Alley, is a film noir starring Bradley Cooper as a murderer who joins a traveling carnival, first as part of the crew, and then as part of a clairvoyant act...
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Best Of: A Journey Through The South / The Genius Of Buster Keaton from 2022-01-29T00:15:53
Princeton African American Studies professor Imani Perry says the South can be seen as an "origin point" for the way the nation operates. Her book, South to America, reflects on the region...
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Remembering Comic Louie Anderson from 2022-01-28T13:43:59
Anderson grew up poor in Minnesota, in a family with 11 children. His Emmy-winning performance in the FX series Baskets was based upon his own mother. Anderson died Jan. 21. He spoke with ...
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Is Ginni Thomas A Threat To SCOTUS? from 2022-01-27T14:51:54
New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer discusses the conservative beliefs and influence of Ginni Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas. She's a right-wing activist and has been associated wi...
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'Succession' Actor Matthew Macfadyen from 2022-01-26T17:14:06
In 2005, the British actor played brooding aristocrat Mr. Darcy in the film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. Now, he's a scheming Midwesterner on Succession: "Tom Wambsgans is a l...
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A Journey Through The American South from 2022-01-25T15:40:20
Princeton African American Studies professor Imani Perry says the South can be seen as an "origin point" for the way the nation operates. Her book, South to America, reflects on the region...
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The Genius Of Buster Keaton from 2022-01-24T14:46:15
We explore the subtle genius of a man often remembered for pratfalls and sight gags. Buster Keaton was a silent film star in the 1920s, but he was far more than an actor and stuntman. He conceived ...
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Best Of: Benedict Cumberbatch / Brian Cox from 2022-01-22T00:10:08
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in Jane Campion's Western The Power of the Dog as Phil Burbank, a hyper-masculine cattle rancher living on the plains of Montana in the 1920s. We talk about how ...
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Remembering André Leon Talley / Ronnie Spector from 2022-01-21T12:42:50
André Leon Talley, titan of the fashion world, died this week at 73. He was Vogue editor-at-large from 1998 until 2013. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2018 about his journey from the Jim Cr...
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A Marine-Turned-Journalist Returns To Afghanistan from 2022-01-20T16:07:31
Thomas Gibbons-Neff served two tours in Afghanistan in the Marines, and is now a New York Times reporter and Kabul bureau chief. He recently interviewed a high-level Taliban commander abou...
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Benedict Cumberbatch from 2022-01-19T15:34:42
Cumberbatch stars in Jane Campion's Western The Power of the Dog as Phil Burbank, a hyper-masculine cattle rancher living on the plains of Montana in the 1920s. We talk about how body odor...
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'Succession' Star Brian Cox from 2022-01-18T15:05:01
Cox says ruthless business tycoon Logan Roy is one of the most extraordinary roles he's ever played: "He is a misanthrope [who] is very disappointed with the human experiment." We talk with the Sco...
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Attorney Laura Coates On The Fight For Voting Rights from 2022-01-17T00:10:30
While working for the Department of Justice, attorney Laura Coates says she saw voter rolls being purged and instances where polling places were moved to known Klan locations. She also worked as a ...
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Best Of: Sidney Poitier / Nicole Kidman from 2022-01-15T00:10:05
Sidney Poitier, who paved the way for Black actors in film, died last week at 94. He was the first Black man to win an Oscar. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2000 about growing up in the Bahamas and b...
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Remembering Lyricist Marilyn Bergman&Dir. Peter Bogdanovich from 2022-01-14T13:35:23
We remember lyricist Marilyn Bergman, half of a songwriting duo with her husband Alan. The songs she and her husband co-wrote won Oscars, Golden Globes and Grammys, and were popularized by Frank Si...
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The Unreported Civilian Deaths In The U.S. Air War Against ISIS from 2022-01-13T15:48:44
New York Times reporter Dave Philipps says a top-secret special ops unit disregarded official protocols to pick targets for airstrikes, resulting in the death of thousands of farmers and f...
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Nicole Kidman from 2022-01-12T15:55:58
While her friends and family went to the Australian beaches, Kidman stayed indoors reading — and imaged herself as a character in the books. She says reading is what led her to acting. We talk with...
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Remembering Sidney Poitier from 2022-01-11T15:40:48
The legendary actor, who paved the way for Black actors in film, died last week at 94. Poitier was the first Black performer to win the best actor Academy Award. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2000 a...
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Actor Kal Penn from 2022-01-10T15:19:04
The actor spoke with contributor Ann Marie Baldonado about navigating Hollywood as a young actor of color at a time when there were only stereotypical roles available — and why he took a break from...
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Best Of: Kirsten Dunst / The Global Supply Chain from 2022-01-10T09:12:31
Kirsten Dunst co-stars in the new film The Power of the Dog, along with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons, who plays her husband in the film, and is her husband in real life. We talk ...
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Remembering Joan Didion&Betty White from 2022-01-07T14:30:21
We remember writer Joan Didion, known for her cool, unsentimental observations and distinctive writing. After the sudden death of her husband in 2003, she turned her gaze on her own grief in the me...
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Why Dan Bongino Is Building A Right-Wing Media Infrastructure from 2022-01-06T15:54:12
New Yorker writer Evan Osnos says no one in the media has profited more from the Trump era than Dan Bongino, who hosts the country's fourth most listened to radio show and has 8.5 million ...
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Inside The Global Supply Chain from 2022-01-05T14:56:35
In a new book, Wall Street Journal columnist Christopher Mims looks at how goods make their way from factories in Asia, across the Pacific in container ships and then are moved, sorted and...
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Rep. Raskin Reckons With His Son's Suicide And The Jan. 6 Attack from 2022-01-04T14:37:27
A year ago, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., experienced two unimaginable traumas in the span of a single week: On New Year's Eve 2020, his son Tommy died by suicide after succumbing to mental illness. Th...
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Kirsten Dunst from 2022-01-03T15:46:23
Dunst stars opposite her husband, Jesse Plemons, in Jane Campion's Western, 'The Power of the Dog.' She calls it a "cinematic love letter" to their children. Dunst spoke with Terry Gross about how ...
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Best Of: The World Of Film Noir / Colson Whitehead from 2022-01-01T00:15:48
We talk about classic film noir — movies from the '40s and '50s with doomed characters, sexual heat and double crosses — with Eddie Muller, host of the Turner Classic Movies show Noir Alley Listen
Dave Grohl from 2021-12-31T00:15:57
The Foo Fighters frontman (and Nirvana drummer) talks about his journey from playing small punk clubs to giant stadiums in his memoir, The Storyteller. He reflects on how he taught himself...
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A 'Schmigadoon!' Show from 2021-12-30T15:17:21
SNL's Cecily Strong co-stars in the Apple TV+ satire series Schmigadoon!. It centers on a couple who gets trapped in a town where people burst into song. We talk with Strong as we...
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Remembering Desmond Tutu from 2021-12-29T15:48:53
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a legendary leader in the fight to end apartheid in South Africa, died Sunday at age 90. After Nelson Mandela was elected president in the country's first democratic electi...
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Fran Lebowitz from 2021-12-28T17:03:52
To close out the year, we're listening back to some of our favorite interviews. New York iconoclast and humorist Fran Lebowitz was the subject of Martin Scorsese's Netflix series 'Pretend It's A Ci...
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'Succession' Star Kieran Culkin from 2021-12-27T14:37:34
On the HBO show 'Succession,' Culkin plays one of three siblings vying for control of a media empire. The character, he says, "doesn't really know what [it] means to suffer consequences." Culkin al...
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Best Of: Penélope Cruz / Alan Cumming from 2021-12-25T00:10:41
Penélope Cruz stars in Pedro Almodóvar's new film 'Parallel Mothers.' She plays Janis, a single woman around the age of 40, who unintentionally became pregnant. Cruz spoke with Terry Gross about ho...
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A John Waters Christmas / Susannah McCorkle from 2021-12-24T00:10:36
Terry Gross spoke to John Waters in 2004 upon the release of his album 'A John Waters Christmas,' collecting some entertaining and ridiculous Christmas records. Waters is famous for his films 'Pink...
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The Sprawling Capitol Riot Investigation from 2021-12-23T16:04:20
HuffPost senior justice reporter Ryan J. Reilly says "sedition hunters" have used videos, social media posts and facial recognition software to identify individuals who participated in the...
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Penélope Cruz from 2021-12-22T16:11:48
Cruz stars in Pedro Almodóvar's new film 'Parallel Mothers.' She plays Janis, a single woman around the age of 40, who unintentionally became pregnant. Janis is thrilled to be pregnant, but in the ...
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Life In A Sex Cult from 2021-12-21T15:01:41
Faith Jones' grandfather founded the Children of God, also known as The Family. She was taught sex was a service to God and that women and girls should freely "share" their bodies, regardless of wh...
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Alan Cumming Unpacks His 'Baggage' from 2021-12-20T14:58:55
The Tony Award-winning actor (Cabaret) previously wrote about his childhood in Scotland and his abusive father. Cumming's new memoir centers on love, sexuality, career and mental health. <...
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Best Of: Rethinking How We Work / Memoirist Grace M. Cho from 2021-12-18T00:10:17
Journalist Anne Helen Petersen, co-author of 'Out of Office,' talks about how the pandemic has changed the way many of us work, and the opportunity we have to create a more sustainable work model. ...
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J.R. Moehringer / Remembering Anne Rice & Greg Tate from 2021-12-17T14:05:25
J.R. Moehringer grew up with an absent dad and found a home, of sorts, in the bar where his uncle worked. His memoir, 'The Tender Bar,' has been adapted into a film directed by George Clooney.
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Why Child Care Is The Most Broken Business In The U.S. from 2021-12-16T15:54:03
Bloomberg Businessweek journalist Claire Suddath explains why child care is so unaffordable in the U.S. and why attempts to provide federal funding for care keep failing in Congress.
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Life On The International Space Station from 2021-12-15T15:12:06
The six-part Disney+ documentary series 'Among the Stars' gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at NASA as it prepares missions on the ground and executes them aboard the International Space Stati...
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A Daughter's Search To Understand Her Mother's Schizophrenia from 2021-12-14T15:01:14
Writer Grace M. Cho tells the story of her mother's descent into mental illness, and her own quest to understand her family's past. Cho emigrated to the U.S. as a baby with her Korean mother and Am...
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Rethinking The Way We Work from 2021-12-13T15:27:16
The pandemic forced offices and businesses to shutter abruptly, fundamentally transforming the way people work. Essential workers remained on the front lines, but millions of others lost their jobs...
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Best Of: Mel Brooks / Kieran Culkin from 2021-12-11T00:10:46
Filmmaker and comedy legend Mel Brooks sits down with Terry Gross to talk about Jewish humor and the meaning of life. He's got a new memoir called All About Me! Film critic Justin Chang re...
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Celebrating 'West Side Story' from 2021-12-10T13:07:54
Film critic Justin Chang reviews Steven Spielberg's new film adaptation of West Side Story, and, from our archive, interviews with two actors who won Oscars for their performances in the 1...
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The Possible End Of American Democracy As We Know It from 2021-12-09T15:52:29
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barton Gellman says the Republican party is increasingly unwilling to accept defeat and, in fact, is "prepared to win by sacrificing the essential elements of demo...
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Halle Berry from 2021-12-08T15:02:52
Berry makes her directorial debut with Bruised on Netflix. She stars in the film as disgraced mixed martial arts fighter named Jackie Justice, who takes on MMA's newest star. Berry talks w...
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Mel Brooks from 2021-12-07T15:19:05
Brooks sits down with Terry Gross to talk about Jewish humor, therapy, and the meaning of life. He's got a new memoir called 'All About Me!'
Also, Justin Chang reviews 'Drive My Car,' by ...
Kieran Culkin On 'Succession' & Child Stardom from 2021-12-06T12:19:56
Culkin co-stars in HBO's Succession, as Roman, the youngest of the Roy siblings competing for control of the family media conglomerate. We talk about how he got the role, learning from the...
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Remembering Sondheim (Part III) from 2021-12-03T11:41:24
On the final day of our tribute to Stephen Sondheim, we'll hear from people who worked with him, including James Lapine, who wrote the books for three Sondheim musicals: 'Sunday in the Park with Ge...
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Remembering Sondheim (Part II) from 2021-12-02T15:59:15
Stephen Sondheim fans, like Terry Gross, always wonder: How did he write those brilliant lyrics? His 2010 book, Finishing the Hat, provided a lot of answers. It collected his lyrics from 1...
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Remembering Stephen Sondheim (Part I) from 2021-12-01T16:07:36
The legendary lyricist and composer who gave us 'Sweeney Todd,' 'Into the Woods,' 'Company,' 'Sunday in the Park with George' and other shows died last Friday at 91. We are doing a three-part remem...
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Rebecca Hall On 'Passing' from 2021-11-30T15:38:08
Hall's new Netflix film centers on two light-skinned Black women — one of whom passes for white. The story is a personal one for Hall: Her grandfather and mother were Black and passed as white. Hal...
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The Story Of The Boeing 737 MAX from 2021-11-29T14:15:02
Investigative reporter Peter Robison chronicles the tragic story of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in his new book, 'Flying Blind.' He says Boeing failed to warn pilots that new software in the plane ...
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Best Of: Dave Grohl / Will Smith from 2021-11-27T00:10:28
Grohl talks about his journey from playing small punk clubs to giant stadiums in his new memoir, 'The Storyteller.' He reflects on how he taught himself drums, his friendship with Kurt Cobain, and ...
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Stanley Tucci / Julia Child from 2021-11-26T00:15:58
With Thanksgiving, the season of cooking, eating, and getting together has begun.
Tucci has published two cookbooks and hosted a CNN series about regional cuisine in Italy. Now he has a n...
Sir Paul McCartney from 2021-11-25T00:10:32
Paul McCartney talks about his life through some of his songs. His new two-volume book collects his lyrics and the stories behind them. We'll also talk about the new documentary, 'Get Back,' which ...
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Dave Grohl On Nirvana & Foo Fighters from 2021-11-24T15:53:02
Grohl talks about his journey from playing small punk clubs to giant stadiums in his new memoir, 'The Storyteller.' He reflects on how he taught himself drums, his friendship with Kurt Cobain, and ...
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Remembering 'Schoolhouse Rock!' Songwriter Dave Frishberg from 2021-11-23T16:17:21
Frishberg was a prolific jazz composer, lyricist, and vocalist, best known for his songs on the series 'Schoolhouse Rock!,' such as "I'm Just a Bill." He died Nov. 17 at age 88. Many of his songs w...
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Former Gun Industry Insider On His Battle Against The NRA from 2021-11-22T14:40:53
'Gunfight' author Ryan Busse was once a rising star in the gun industry. But he became disillusioned after Columbine when, he says, the NRA began to use "fear and conspiracy and hatred" to bolster ...
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Best Of: Dogsledder Blair Braverman / '1619 Project' Creator Nikole Hannah-Jones from 2021-11-20T00:10:03
Writer Blair Braverman takes us inside the world of dog mushing. Braverman and her racing partner / husband Quince Mountain have a book, 'Dogs on the Trail,' that profiles their team of Alaskan hus...
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Choreographer Twyla Tharp / Photographer Gordon Parks from 2021-11-19T13:29:01
Twyla Tharp is one of the most celebrated and innovative dancers and choreographers of our time. Her work combines ballet, modern dance, jazz, tap, and other dance forms in a way that was initially...
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Why The Autocrats Are Winning from 2021-11-18T16:09:32
Historian and 'Atlantic' journalist Anne Applebaum talks about how authoritarian rulers have joined together, creating a network of economic and political support that counteracts the impact of san...
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Nikole Hannah-Jones On 'The 1619 Project' from 2021-11-17T16:00:34
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones says the contributions of Black people are often left out of the American story. Her mission, with 'The 1619 Project,' is to reframe U.S. histo...
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Dogsledder Blair Braverman from 2021-11-16T15:21:18
Braverman says you never ask a musher how many dogs they have, because between puppies, fosters and retirees, you'll never get a straight answer. "The secret" she says, "is to ask, 'How many dogs a...
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Dawn Turner On Race, Fate & Sisterhood from 2021-11-15T15:59:53
How do two sisters, just 3 years apart, take extremely divergent paths in life? That's the story Dawn Turner tells in her new memoir, 'Three Girls of Bronzeville.' Turner grew up to be an author a...
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Best Of: Andie MacDowell / Gary Shteyngart from 2021-11-13T00:10:50
Actor Andie MacDowell co-stars opposite her daughter Margaret Qualley in the Netflix series 'Maid.' We talk about how her own mother's struggle with alcohol addiction and mental illness helped her ...
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Remembering Vietnam Veteran & Former Senator Max Cleland from 2021-11-12T11:48:55
We remember former Georgia senator Max Cleland, the Vietnam War vet and triple amputee who rebuilt his life after the war, but later lost his Senate seat when Republicans, led by Karl Rove, questio...
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A Marine Reflects On War, Love & Finding Purpose from 2021-11-11T14:41:38
Elliot Ackerman served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, during which time, he says, he witnessed the absolute worst — as well as the absolute best — that human beings are capable of. Ackerman is...
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Will Smith from 2021-11-10T15:27:32
The blockbuster movie star, comedian and musician spoke with guest interviewer Tonya Mosley about how he crafted a joyful image to cover up for a trauma that happened when he was 9. He saw his fath...
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The Impact Of Trump's 3 Supreme Court Picks from 2021-11-09T15:29:18
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Linda Greenhouse says the new Court has given conservatives less than they'd hoped for, though critical cases on abortion and other issues are still pending. Her b...
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Andie MacDowell from 2021-11-08T14:50:15
MacDowell co-stars opposite her daughter Margaret Qualley in the Netflix series 'Maid.' We talk about how her own mother's struggle with alcohol addiction and mental illness helped her understand h...
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Best Of: Paul McCartney / Filmmaker Edgar Wright from 2021-11-06T00:10:32
Paul McCartney talks about his life through some of his songs. His new two-volume book collects his lyrics and the stories behind them. We'll also talk about the new documentary, 'Get Back,' which ...
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British Actor Terence Stamp from 2021-11-05T14:52:19
Terence Stamp, who became an icon in London in the 1960s, is now in the film 'Last Night in Soho,' a ghost story that takes place, in part, in '60s swinging London. Stamp grew up in poverty in Lond...
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Before, During & After The Jan. 6 Attack On The Capitol from 2021-11-04T14:44:15
Why did our intelligence agencies — the FBI, the Capitol Police, the Secret Service — all fail to protect the Capitol from being attacked on January 6th? We talk with Carol Leonnig, a 'Washington ...
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Paul McCartney from 2021-11-03T15:33:52
The 1969 film 'Let It Be' created the impression that McCartney was responsible for The Beatles' disbanding. Now, the forthcoming Disney+ documentary 'Get Back' revisits the same time — and tells a...
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Gary Shteyngart On His Pandemic Novel from 2021-11-02T15:26:38
There's the saying "write what you know," and Gary Shteyngart did just that. His new novel, 'Our Country Friends' is about a group of eight friends who hole up in the country home of a Russian-born...
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Filmmaker Edgar Wright On 'Last Night in Soho' from 2021-11-01T15:54:29
Wright's new movie, 'Last Night in Soho,' centers on a young woman who is transported in her dreams into the swinging '60s of London: "The film is sort of about having nostalgia for a decade that y...
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Best Of: Oscar Isaac / Katie Couric from 2021-10-30T00:10
Oscar Isaac stars in the latest Paul Schrader movie, 'The Card Counter,' co-starred with Jessica Chastain in HBO's limited series 'Scenes from a Marriage,' and now is one of the stars of 'Dune.' We...
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Ricky Jay / Remembering Peter Scolari from 2021-10-29T13:50:48
This week Sotheby's auctioned off The Ricky Jay collection — a portion of the rare books, posters, and objects chronicling the world of magic, carnivals and eccentric characters — which the master ...
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The Capitol Insurrection & Why Our Democracy Is In Peril from 2021-10-28T15:25
Robert Costa's book 'Peril,' which he co-wrote with Bob Woodward, goes inside Trump's "war room" on the eve of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Costa reports on Trump's calls to his team, the tension betwe...
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Inside The Attica Prison Uprising from 2021-10-27T15:46:40
A new documentary goes behind the walls of the deadly 1971 uprising. More than a thousand prisoners organized to overtake the notorious prison, hold guards hostage, and use them as a bargaining chi...
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Katie Couric from 2021-10-26T15:58
The former 'Today Show' anchor spoke with Terry Gross about her early career in news, the allegations against her former co-anchor Matt Lauer, and why she's done trying to appeal to everyone. "My g...
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Actor Jonathan Majors from 2021-10-25T15:44:40
Majors was nominated for an Emmy this year for his role in the HBO series, 'Lovecraft Country.' He co-starred in 'The Last Black Man in San Francisco,' the Spike Lee film 'Da 5 Bloods,' and the Mar...
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Best Of: Billy Porter / Cynthia Erivo from 2021-10-23T00:10:44
Billy Porter has an Emmy for his starring role on 'Pose,' and a Tony for his lead role in the Broadway musical 'Kinky Boots.' Fourteen years after his initial diagnosis, Porter announced publicly t...
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Lenny Kravitz On His Early Years from 2021-10-22T11:22:22
Kravitz talks about growing up the son of a Jewish father and Black mother, finding his musical style, and how Lisa Bonet changed him as a songwriter. His memoir about his life up until his breakou...
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Oscar Isaac from 2021-10-21T16:22:40
The actor is now starring in 'Dune,' 'The Card Counter' and 'Scenes from a Marriage.' We talk about his latest projects, grief and fatherhood, and his evangelical Christian upbringing. "We grew up ...
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Remembering YA Author Gary Paulsen from 2021-10-20T14:44:49
The Newbery Award-winning author, who died Oct. 13, wrote over 200 books, many of which were tales of adventure aimed at young adults. In 1994, Paulsen talked about Alaska's Iditarod dog sled race....
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Billy Porter On His New Memoir 'Unprotected' from 2021-10-19T15:41:10
Porter has an Emmy for his starring role on 'Pose,' and a Tony for his lead role in the Broadway musical 'Kinky Boots.' Fourteen years after his initial diagnosis, Porter announced publicly that he...
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Actress And Singer Cynthia Erivo / Remembering Colin Powell from 2021-10-18T15:48:31
Erivo was nominated for an Oscar for playing Harriet Tubman in the film 'Harriet.' She played Aretha Franklin in the series 'Genius: Aretha.' She won a Tony for her performance in 'The Color Purple...
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Best Of: Questlove / Tuba Player Richard Antoine White from 2021-10-16T00:10:34
In his new book, 'Music is History,' Roots co-founder Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson moves year-by-year through his life, writing about memories and turning points, and the songs he was listening to at...
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'Maid' Author Stephanie Land from 2021-10-15T13:02:07
Stephanie Land's memoir, 'Maid,' is about her struggle to make ends meet as a single mom while cleaning houses and relying on government assistance. Land, who left an abusive relationship and was h...
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Pandora Papers, Explained from 2021-10-14T14:24:09
Dictators, oligarchs, drug traffickers, crooks, and others with ill-gotten fortunes can hide their money from public scrutiny, creditors, and from the law — while at the same time avoid paying taxe...
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Tubist Richard Antoine White's Unlikely Path To The Stage from 2021-10-13T15:40:36
Richard Antoine White spent his early childhood in poverty in Baltimore, at times sleeping in abandoned houses. He's now principal tubist in the Santa Fe Symphony and the New Mexico Philharmonic. H...
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Questlove On The Soundtrack Of His Life from 2021-10-12T15:50:07
In his new book, 'Music is History,' Roots co-founder Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson moves year-by-year through his life, writing about memories and turning points, and the songs he was listening to at...
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Inside The Thailand Cave Rescue from 2021-10-11T16:05:25
In June 2018, the world held its breath for 18 days as a group of elite cave divers risked everything to rescue 12 boys and their coach from an underwater cave in Thailand. The Oscar-winning filmma...
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Best Of: The World Of Film Noir / Stanley Tucci from 2021-10-09T00:10:30
Eddie Muller hosts the TCM series 'Noir Alley.' A new expanded edition of his book, 'Dark City,' chronicles film noir from the '40s and '50s. We talk about the sexiness of the genre and why film no...
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Nick Lowe In Concert from 2021-10-08T12:53:33
Lowe's 2001 album 'The Convincer,' considered by many fans and critics to be his best, has now been remastered and reissued. We listen back to his performances and interviews in our studio from 200...
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Life In Afghanistan Now from 2021-10-07T15:21:24
Award-winning Afghan British journalist Najibullah Quraishi is on the ground in Kabul where he has been interviewing Taliban leaders and fighters, women who have lost their rights, and citizens try...
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Fiona Hill, Former White House Russia Expert & Key Witness from 2021-10-06T15:05:58
Hill was a key witness at President Trump's first impeachment hearing. Now she's warning about the threat to American democracy that comes from within. We talk about her testimony, advising Trump o...
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Stanley Tucci from 2021-10-05T14:53:47
Tucci's entire world, since childhood, has revolved around food. The actor was devastated when treatment for cancer put him on a feeding tube for six months. Now cancer free, his sense of small and...
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The Lost World Of Film Noir from 2021-10-04T15:24:18
Eddie Muller hosts the TCM series 'Noir Alley.' A new expanded edition of his book, 'Dark City,' chronicles film noir from the '40s and '50s. We talk about the femme fatale, the sexiness of the gen...
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Best Of: Anita Hill / Ben Platt from 2021-10-02T00:10:25
It's been 30 years since the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, where Anita HIll testified he'd sexually harassed her. We'll talk about the hearings, and how they changed her life.Her memoir is...
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Remembering Melvin Van Peebles, Godfather of Black Film from 2021-10-01T15:41:33
Melvin Van Peebles, considered the Godfather of Black cinema, died last week. He's best known for his 1971 film, 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.' We listen back to archival interviews with Peeb...
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What's Happening At The U.S.-Mexico Border? from 2021-09-30T15:20:27
'Atlantic' immigration reporter Caitlin Dickerson talks about Haitian immigrants at the border, and explains how both Trump and Biden immigration policies are based on a racist system created by th...
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'Me Too' Founder Tarana Burke from 2021-09-29T15:37:03
Burke says society often ignores Black girls' sexual trauma — and that the R. Kelly trial, coming after 25 years of allegations, highlights the "stark difference" in response to victims of color. "...
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Anita Hill from 2021-09-28T16:03:57
In 1991, Anita Hill testified that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her. Thomas was confirmed regardless. Since then, another Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh, has ...
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Best Of: B.J. Novak / Colson Whitehead from 2021-09-25T00:10:23
B.J. Novak played Ryan on 'The Office' and served as a writer and an executive producer of the series. His new FX/Hulu anthology show, 'The Premise,' deals with important cultural issues, like soci...
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Ray Charles On Country Music from 2021-09-24T16:59:30
Last month, Ray Charles was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. That may sound odd to you since he's such a pivotal figure in soul music and rhythm & blues. But his 1962 album, 'Modern Sound...
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The Facebook Files: What Leaked Documents Tell Us from 2021-09-23T15:00
'Wall Street Journal' reporter Jeff Horwitz says Facebook executives often choose to boost engagement at the expense of tackling problems like misinformation and mental health issues in teens that ...
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B.J. Novak from 2021-09-22T15:25:57
B.J. Novak played Ryan on 'The Office' and served as a writer and an executive producer of the series. His new FX/Hulu anthology show, 'The Premise,' deals with important cultural issues, like soc...
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Who Is Tech Billionaire & 'Contrarian' Peter Thiel? from 2021-09-21T15:55:45
Peter Thiel co-founded PayPal, invested early in Facebook, secretly funded the Hulk Hogan lawsuit that put the website Gawker out of business, and put more than a million dollars into Trump's campa...
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Evan Osnos On The 'Making Of America's Fury' from 2021-09-20T15:50:06
How did Americans become so divided? And how did we come so close to overturning the results of a presidential election? These are some of the questions at the heart of the new book 'Wildland,' by ...
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Best Of: Banjo Star Béla Fleck / When Animals Break The Law from 2021-09-18T00:10:33
Béla Fleck is one of the most famous banjo players in the world. He's taken that instrument out of its folk and bluegrass traditions to play pretty much any kind of music, including jazz and pop to...
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Jean Smart / Remembering Newport Jazz & Folk Festival Founder George Wein from 2021-09-17T12:59:16
Jean Smart is nominated for two Emmys — one for her lead role in 'Hacks' and one for her supporting role in 'Mare of Easttown.' We're revisiting her May 2021 interview.
Pioneering music i...
The Battle To Keep Local Journalism Alive from 2021-09-16T17:12:02
In the past 15 years, one in four newspapers has shuttered in the U.S. We talk with Art Cullen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, editor, and co-owner of 'The Storm Lake Times' in the meatpack...
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Colson Whitehead On His Crime Novel 'Harlem Shuffle' from 2021-09-15T15:00:20
Whitehead's new novel 'Harlem Shuffle,' is about a furniture store owner in Harlem whose sideline is fencing stolen goods. Whitehead won a Pulitzer Prize for his novel 'The Underground Railroad,' a...
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The Weird World Of Animal Crimes from 2021-09-14T16:47:09
Science writer Mary Roach ('Stiff', 'Gulp') explores scenarios where animals are the ones committing "crimes" — and how society deals with it. We talk about bear attacks, drunk elephants, and monke...
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Banjo Player Béla Fleck from 2021-09-13T15:50:37
Béla Fleck is perhaps the most famous banjo player in the world. He's taken that instrument out of its folk and bluegrass traditions to play pretty much any kind of music: from jazz and pop to clas...
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Best Of: Michael K. Williams / Poet Laureate Joy Harjo from 2021-09-11T00:15:52
Michael K. Williams was best known for playing Omar on 'The Wire' and Chalky White on 'Boardwalk Empire.' He died Sept. 6 of a suspected drug overdose. In 2008, Williams told Terry Gross the story ...
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The Rise And Fall Of Osama Bin Laden from 2021-09-10T15:10:28
As the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks approaches, a new biography traces Osama bin Laden's path from a shy, religious teenager to the leader of a global jihadist group dedicated to mass m...
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SCOTUS & The Future Of Roe V. Wade from 2021-09-09T17:47:25
Ian Millhiser covers the Supreme Court for Vox. He says the Court's decision to uphold the recent Texas abortion law was a generational victory for abortion opponents: "They've spent many decades w...
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Remembering Michael K. Williams from 2021-09-08T14:48:47
Williams was best known for playing Omar on 'The Wire' and Chalky White on 'Boardwalk Empire.' In 2008, Williams told Terry Gross the story behind the scar on his face and his background in dance. ...
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Poet Laureate Joy Harjo / Historian Tiya Miles from 2021-09-07T16:29:42
The nation's first Native American poet laureate has a new memoir in which she tells her own story — as well as the story of her sixth-generation grandfather, who was forced from his land in the Tr...
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Mavis Staples / Gladys Knight from 2021-09-06T00:10:41
We conclude our Summer of Soul series with Mavis Staples and Gladys Knight, two performers featured in Questlove's documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. As a teenager, Mavis Staples ...
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Best Of: Sandra Oh / Aretha Franklin from 2021-09-04T00:10:38
Sandra Oh stars in the new comedy series 'The Chair,' as the newly appointed chair of the English department at a prestigious college-- the first woman and first person of color to hold the positio...
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Abbey Lincoln / Max Roach from 2021-09-03T14:57:11
We're continuing our "Summer of Soul" series with archival interviews with singer Abbey Lincoln and drummer Max Roach. Both were featured in the Questlove documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultura...
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B.B. King / Hugh Masekela from 2021-09-02T20:07:56
We're revisiting archival interviews with some of the musicians featured in the documentary 'Summer of Soul.' The film is about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of free concerts which r...
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Questlove Revives "Black Woodstock" With 'Summer Of Soul' from 2021-09-01T14:58:53
Today we begin our series Summer of Soul, featuring interviews from our archive with some of the performers showcased in the documentary 'Summer of Soul,' about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. ...
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Celebrating Aretha Franklin, Queen Of Soul from 2021-08-31T15:02:10
To mark the debut of the biopic 'RESPECT,' we listen back to archival interviews with Aretha, as well as with Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler, and songwriter Dan Penn, who co-wrote "Do Right...
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Best Of: 'Schmigadoon!' Co-Creator / How Dopamine Works from 2021-08-28T00:15:25
Cinco Paul loves musicals — unlike his long-time writing partner, Ken Daurio, with whom he created the new Apple TV+ satire, 'Schmigadoon!' Their series centers on a couple who become trapped in a ...
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Remembering Chuck Close, Joe Galloway, Charlie Watts from 2021-08-27T14:24:49
We remember an artist, a journalist and a musician, each of whom made significant contributions to their respective fields: Known for his giant hyper-realist paintings of faces, Chuck Close was one...
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CNN's Clarissa Ward On The Taliban & Afghan Women from 2021-08-26T15:43:54
Clarissa Ward, CNN's chief international correspondent, spent 3 weeks in Afghanistan, first with the Afghan military in Kandahar, just before it fell; then in Ghazni province, in territory that wa...
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The Neuroscience Of Pleasure, Pain And Addiction from 2021-08-25T16:24:23
Psychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke's new book, 'Dopamine Nation,' explores the brain's connection between pleasure and pain. It also helps explain addictions — not just to drugs and alcohol, but also to ...
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The Story Of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher from 2021-08-24T15:54:19
In 2018, a decorated U.S. Navy SEAL was arrested and accused of some shocking crimes. Investigators said, while Eddie Gallagher was leading a platoon of these elite commandos in the battle to retak...
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'Schmigadoon!' Songwriter & Co-Creator Cinco Paul from 2021-08-23T14:25:05
Cinco Paul loves musicals — unlike his long-time writing partner, Ken Daurio, with whom he created the new Apple TV+ satire, 'Schmigadoon!' Their series centers on a couple who become trapped in a ...
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Best Of: Billie Jean King / Kenan Thompson from 2021-08-21T00:15:19
Tennis legend Billie Jean King is known for winning a record 20 Wimbledon titles and defeating Bobby Riggs in the 1973 "Battle of the Sexes." But she's also remembered for taking on the tennis esta...
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Tony Bennett from 2021-08-20T13:17:01
Tony Bennett, the singer Frank Sinatra called "the best in the business," is retiring from performing at the age of 95, after eight decades on stage and in clubs. Earlier this year it was announced...
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America's Failed Mission In Afghanistan: Intentions & Mistakes from 2021-08-19T17:03:36
The stunning collapse of the government of Afghanistan following President Biden's decision to remove U.S. troops from the country has led to chaotic scenes throughout Afghanistan, including at the...
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Who Is Doing Your Dirty Work? from 2021-08-18T15:23:11
Author Eyal Press calls them "jobs of last resort" — slaughtering animals, working in prisons, engaging in remote drone combat — society needs them, but doesn't want to talk about them.
M...
Tennis Legend Billie Jean King from 2021-08-17T15:18:42
King is known for winning a record 20 Wimbledon titles and defeating Bobby Riggs in the 1973 "Battle of the Sexes." But she's also remembered for taking on the tennis establishment and fighting for...
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Why America's Colleges Have Always Been Unequal from 2021-08-16T16:37:32
In his new book, 'The State Must Provide,' Adam Harris explains how slavery, segregation and continuing racism prevented or stymied Black education. He examines some of the turning points when hig...
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Best Of: Sondheim Collaborator James Lapine / SNL's Cecily Strong from 2021-08-14T00:15:54
Lapine collaborated with Stephen Sondheim to create three musicals — 'Sunday in the Park with George,' 'Into the Woods' and 'Passion.' Lapine's new book is about the making-of 'Sunday in the Park' ...
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Remembering Longtime NPR Host Neal Conan from 2021-08-13T14:45:35
Conan, who died Aug. 10, worked at NPR for 36 years, as a reporter, executive producer of 'All Things Considered' and host of 'Talk of the Nation.' He spoke with Terry Gross in 2002.
...
Investigating Trump's Efforts To Subvert The Election Results from 2021-08-12T16:59:47
'New York Times' reporter Katie Benner discusses the latest revelations about how former President Donald Trump pressured the Justice Department to undermine the results of the 2020 election.
...
Kenan Thompson On 'SNL' And 'Kenan' from 2021-08-11T15:39:33
Thompson is currently nominated for two Emmys — one for starring in his sitcom 'Kenan,' and another for 'Saturday Night Live.' He's been a cast member on 'SNL' since 2003, which makes him ...
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Trump Impeachment Key Witness Alexander Vindman from 2021-08-10T15:40:39
The retired Army officer who testified about President Trump's call to the president of Ukraine, talks about the experience and the price he paid. Vindman's new memoir is 'Here, Right Matters: An A...
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Cecily Strong On 'SNL,' 'Schmigadoon,' And Her New Memoir from 2021-08-09T15:04:08
Strong is nominated for an Emmy for 'Saturday Night Live.' She also stars in the new show 'Schmigadoon,' about a couple that ends up trapped in a town where life is a musical and the townspeople fr...
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Best Of: Writer Tarell Alvin McCraney / Osama Bin Laden Biographer from 2021-08-07T00:10:48
After winning an Oscar for co-writing the film 'Moonlight,' McCraney says he received a lot of opportunities, many of which he turned down. "Some of it had to do with waiting for the other shoe to ...
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'The Hiroshima Cover-Up' from 2021-08-06T13:34:59
76 years ago, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Historian Lesley M.M. Blume's book, 'Fallout,' tells the story of John Hersey, the young journalist whose on-the-ground repor...
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The 'Dark Money' Effort To Win Elections 'At All Costs' from 2021-08-05T17:19:51
Jane Mayer's latest investigation for 'The New Yorker' is about rich and powerful conservative groups that are exploiting Trump's false claims of widespread election fraud in order to promote alter...
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Inside Osama Bin Laden's Final Hideout from 2021-08-04T16:07:07
As the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks approaches, a new biography traces Osama bin Laden's path from a shy, religious teenager to the leader of a global jihadist group dedicated to...
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Behind-The-Scenes Stories Of Working With Sondheim from 2021-08-03T15:50:06
James Lapine collaborated with Stephen Sondheim to create three musicals — 'Sunday in the Park with George,' 'Into the Woods,' and 'Passion.' "We're very, very different," Lapine says. "I tend to j...
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Pulitzer Prize-Winner Katori Hall from 2021-08-02T15:19:15
Hall is the writer and a producer of 'Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.' She won a Pulitzer Prize for her play 'The Hot Wing King.' She's also the creator of 'P-Valley,' a breakout show on Starz about...
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Best Of: Jad Abumrad / Public Health Expert Dr. Leana Wen from 2021-07-31T00:15:35
Abumrad is the creator of the hit public radio series 'RadioLab.' The new 'RadioLab' miniseries, 'The Vanishing of Harry Pace,' is about the man who co-founded a publication with WEB DuBois, founde...
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Actor Courtney B. Vance / Remembering Bob Moses from 2021-07-30T14:02:55
Vance is nominated for an Emmy for his guest appearance in the HBO series 'Lovecraft Country.' He played the charismatic and show-stopping attorney Johnnie Cochran in 'The People v. O.J. Simpson.' ...
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Leaks Reveal Spyware Meant To Track Criminals Targeted Activists Instead from 2021-07-29T16:59:20
'Washington Post' reporter Craig Timberg explains how military-grade spyware licensed to governments and police departments has infiltrated the iPhones of journalists, activists and others. "It tak...
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'Moonlight' Writer Tarell Alvin McCraney from 2021-07-28T16:09:37
After winning an Oscar for co-writing the film 'Moonlight,' McCraney says he received a lot of opportunities, many of which he turned down. "Some of it had to do with waiting for the other shoe to ...
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Public Health Expert Dr. Leana Wen On COVID & Mandates from 2021-07-27T15:27:04
Dr. Wen is an emergency physician, CNN Health Analyst and former Baltimore Health Commissioner. We talk about mask and vaccine mandates, the return to school and work, and the Delta variant. "Unfor...
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Jad Abumrad from 2021-07-26T16:06:29
Abumrad is the creator of the hit public radio series RadioLab. The show started off as a series about science-related mysteries, but now it investigates all kinds of stories. The new RadioLab mini...
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Best Of: Questlove / Growing Up In A Utopian Community from 2021-07-24T00:16:53
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson talks about directing the new film 'Summer of Soul,' documenting the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. It features performances by Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jacks...
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Hugh Grant On 'The Undoing' from 2021-07-23T13:51:05
Hugh Grant has been nominated for an Emmy for his role in the HBO miniseries 'The Undoing,' in which he played an adulterous doctor suspected of murder. Grant got his start in romcoms, but lately h...
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How GOP State Legislatures Are Remaking The U.S. from 2021-07-22T15:27:29
Journalist Ron Brownstein says Republican-controlled state legislatures are taking a sharp right turn, in a conscious backlash against unified Democratic control of Congress. These states are not ...
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Questlove On 'Summer of Soul' from 2021-07-21T15:39:59
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is coming out of the pandemic a changed man. The co-founder of the Roots and the music director for 'The Tonight Show' did something he never thought he'd do — he bought ...
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Reopening The Jeffrey Epstein Investigation from 2021-07-20T17:05:45
Long after Jeffrey Epstein got a lenient sentence for sexual abuse of minors, 'Miami Herald' reporter Julie K. Brown identified 80 women who said they survived his abuse. "There is nothing that was...
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Growing Up In A Utopian Community from 2021-07-19T15:26:06
Memoirist Akash Kapur was raised in an intentional community in India, then moved to the U.S. at age 16. He's seen the idealism of people trying to remake human society and renounce materialism. H...
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Best Of: 'Startup Wife' Author Tahmima Anam / MLB Pitcher C.C. Sabathia from 2021-07-17T00:15:06
Tahmima Anam's new novel is about a married couple, Cyrus and Asha, who found a social media platform that customizes ceremonies and rituals for people who aren't religious. The platform's success ...
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Anthony Bourdain, 'Roadrunner' from 2021-07-16T13:53:41
We revisit our 2016 interview with culinary icon Anthony Bourdain. He hosted the CNN series 'Parts Unknown' which took audiences to countries all over the world. He spoke with 'Fresh Air' about his...
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Our Renewable Energy Future from 2021-07-15T15:34:21
'New York Times' reporter Ivan Penn unpacks the debate over infrastructure: Do we go big and fund huge wind and solar farms with new transmission lines, or go local, with rooftop solar panels, batt...
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MLB Pitcher C.C. Sabathia from 2021-07-14T16:37:54
The six-time All Star pitched for the Yankees and the Indians over the course of his 19-year career. He also struggled with alcoholism. Sabathia reflects on baseball and sobriety in the memoir, 'Ti...
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The 'Ugly Truth' About Facebook from 2021-07-13T17:52:02
In their new book, 'New York Times' reporters Cecilia Kang and Sheera Frenkel examine the problems Facebook created and the problems it's facing. We talk about disinformation, hate speech, and how ...
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'Startup Wife' Author Satirizes Tech Culture & Sexism from 2021-07-12T16:48:34
Tahmima Anam's new novel is about a married couple, Cyrus and Asha, who found a tech startup. It's a social media platform that customizes ceremonies and rituals for people who aren't religious. Th...
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Best Of: Writer Ashley C. Ford / Flight Attendant-Turned-Author T.J. Newman from 2021-07-10T00:10:38
Ashley C. Ford's father was incarcerated when she was too young to remember, and she was 30 when he got out. For many of those years, no one told her what his crime was. When she was in her teens, ...
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Mindy Kaling On 'Never Have I Ever' from 2021-07-09T17:16:20
Kaling's Netflix show, 'Never Have I Ever,' is based on her own experiences as a nerdy, confident teen who pined for a boyfriend. The second season drops next week. She spoke with Terry Gross in 20...
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Freeing An Innocent Man From Prison from 2021-07-08T17:11:48
When Yutico Briley was 19 years old, he was sentenced to 60 years in prison for an armed robbery he said he didn't commit. After serving 7 years of his sentence, Briley heard criminal justice repor...
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Sex & Censorship In The Gilded Age from 2021-07-07T15:49:14
The Comstock Act, which passed in 1873, virtually outlawed contraception. In 'The Man Who Hated Women,' author Amy Sohn writes about the man behind the law — and the women prosecuted under it.
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Former Flight Attendant Shares Stories From The Sky from 2021-07-06T15:48:16
T.J. Newman's new book, 'Falling,' is a thriller about a hijacking on a commercial flight. The pilot is told he must crash the plane or his family on the ground will be killed. We talk with Newman ...
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Bandleader Jon Batiste from 2021-07-05T00:10:37
Batiste is the bandleader of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.' He joins us from his home piano where he plays music he wrote for the Pixar movie 'Soul' and songs from his album 'We Are.' We'll ...
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Best Of: Uzo Aduba / Desus & Mero from 2021-07-03T00:10:23
Uzo Aduba's breakout role was as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren in the Netflix series about a women's prison, 'Orange is the New Black.' Now she stars in the HBO reboot of 'In Treatment,' as therapist...
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Bruce Springsteen Returns To Broadway from 2021-07-02T14:35:27
"The Boss" spoke with Terry Gross at his New Jersey home studio in 2016 about masculinity, depression, and wishing he was his stage persona. His one-man show, 'Springsteen on Broadway,' returned to...
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How A Former Spy Trained Conservatives To Infiltrate Progressive Groups from 2021-07-01T15:25:04
'NYT' reporter Adam Goldman describes an undercover effort, led by an avid Trump supporter, that trained conservatives in espionage techniques and sent them to dig up dirt on progressives. Some ope...
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Global Sanitation & Transforming The Toilet from 2021-06-30T15:09:50
The United Nations estimates that 4.2 billion people — more than half of the world's population — live without any access to safely managed sanitation. No septic systems. No waste treatment plants....
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Watergate, The Tapes & The Fall Of The Nixon White House from 2021-06-29T18:23:02
Historian and author Michael Dobbs reconstructs how the scandal gradually engulfed more administration officials, with operatives turning on each other — and eventually the president. We'll talk ab...
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Best Of: Anthony Ramos / Renée Elise Goldsberry from 2021-06-26T00:07:29
Anthony Ramos says Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical 'In the Heights' filled him with hope about a life on the stage: "I felt like I'm watching my cousins and my aunts and uncles on the stage ....
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The Early Years Of The CIA from 2021-06-25T16:37:43
In his book, 'The Quiet Americans,' author Scott Anderson profiles four daring and resourceful soldiers who became intelligence agents after World War II, when America was strong and respected afte...
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The Battle Over Teaching Critical Race Theory from 2021-06-24T16:30:17
An NBC News analysis finds at least 165 local and national groups are trying to disrupt or block lessons on critical race theory. NBC reporter Tyler Kingkade explores who is waging this fight, and...
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Megan Rapinoe from 2021-06-23T16:30:39
The USWNT soccer star and activist spoke with Terry Gross last year about her World Cup wins, being one of the first openly gay players on the national team, and taking a knee in solidarity with Bl...
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Renée Elise Goldsberry On 'Girls5Eva' & 'Hamilton' from 2021-06-22T16:30:43
The comedy series 'Girls5Eva,' which was just renewed for a second season, follows a 1990s band that reunites after a long stretch of obscurity. Goldsberry was once in a girl group herself. She spo...
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Desus & Mero from 2021-06-21T16:30:09
Desus Nice and The Kid Mero started out doing comedy together on Twitter, then created the 'Bodega Boys' podcast. Their comedy series on Showtime is now in its third season. We talk about growing u...
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Best Of: Julie Lythcott-Haims / How Junk Food Companies Get Us 'Hooked' from 2021-06-19T00:30:59
Former Stanford University undergraduate dean Julie Lythcott-Haims' memoir, 'Real American,' is the story of her coming to terms with her racial identity. Her father was a successful Black physicia...
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The 50th Anniversary Of The Pentagon Papers from 2021-06-18T12:20:51
Fifty years ago this week, 'The New York Times' published the first in a series of articles based on a classified Defense Department study that was leaked to the paper by Daniel Ellsberg. This stud...
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Questions Surrounding The COVID-19 Lab-Leak Theory from 2021-06-17T16:40:16
What are the credible questions related to the theory that COVID-19 leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China? President Biden has asked the intelligence community to investigate, but 'Vanity Fair' reporte...
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Challenging The Myths Of The Alamo from 2021-06-16T16:30:14
Remember the Alamo? According to Texas lore, it's the site in San Antonio where, in 1836, about 180 Texan rebels died defending the state during Texas' war for independence from Mexico. But in a ne...
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Writer Ashley C. Ford On Her Memoir 'Somebody's Daughter' from 2021-06-15T16:30:01
For most of Ashley C. Ford's life, her father was incarcerated for rape. This was especially traumatizing for Ford, as she herself is a survivor of sexual assault. Her new bestselling memoir 'Someb...
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Anthony Ramos On 'In The Heights' & 'Hamilton' from 2021-06-14T16:30:48
Anthony Ramos says Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical 'In the Heights' filled him with hope about a life on the stage: "I felt like I'm watching my cousins and my aunts and uncles on the stage ....
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Best Of: Rita Moreno / Daisy Hernández from 2021-06-12T00:01:57
Rita Moreno moved to the U.S. mainland from Puerto Rico as a child. She says her 'West Side Story' role is "the only part I ever remember where I represented Hispanics in a dignified and positive w...
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Catching Up With Stephen Colbert / Remembering Clarence Williams III from 2021-06-11T16:30:29
We remember actor Clarence Williams III, best known for playing Linc Hayes, one of three hippie undercover cops on the TV series 'The Mod Squad' from 1968 to 1973.
Also, Stephen Colbert b...
Inside The Ransomware Industry from 2021-06-10T16:30:49
New York Times investigative reporter Michael Schwirtz gained access to the dashboard of DarkSide, a ransomware operation that's pulled in more than $90 million since it began last August....
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The Space Race & The Dangerous Early Days Of NASA from 2021-06-09T16:30:11
On the morning of Feb. 20, 1962, about 100,000 spectators gathered in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to witness the launch of the Friendship 7, the United States' first mission to put an astronaut in orbit ...
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Race, Sexuality & The Deadly 'Kissing Bug' from 2021-06-08T16:30:38
When Daisy Hernández was 5, her aunt in Colombia came down with a mysterious illness that caused her large intestine to swell. Hernandez details her aunt's story — and her own — in a new memoir.
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Rita Moreno from 2021-06-07T16:26:49
Moreno moved to the U.S. mainland from Puerto Rico as a child. She says her 'West Side Story' role is "the only part I ever remember where I represented Hispanics in a dignified and positive way." ...
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Best Of: Exonerated 5 Member / Reckoning With The Legacy Of Slavery from 2021-06-05T00:01:37
In 1990, Yusef Salaam was one of the five boys wrongly convicted in the so-called Central Park jogger case. Salaam spent nearly seven years behind bars and wasn't exonerated until 2002, when a seri...
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Producing The Philly Sound from 2021-06-04T16:30:37
We hear from songwriter, arranger and producer Thom Bell. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Philadelphia International Records. Among the songs he arranged were Joe Simon's "Drowning in the ...
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How Russia Used An Overt Agent To Attack Biden In The 2020 Election from 2021-06-03T16:30:56
'Time' investigative correspondent Simon Shuster says that Andriy Derkach, a seven-term member of the Ukrainian parliament, and widely believed to be a Russian agent, gave misleading information to...
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The Racist Roots Of The 2nd Amendment from 2021-06-02T16:30:44
Carol Anderson says the Second Amendment was designed to ensure slave owners could quickly crush any rebellion or resistance from those they'd enslaved. "One of the things that I argue throughout t...
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Reckoning With The History Of Slavery from 2021-06-01T16:30:15
In 'How the Word is Passed,' writer and poet Clint Smith visits eight places central to the history of slavery in America, including Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation and Louisiana's Angola ...
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50 Years Of Philadelphia International Records from 2021-05-31T16:30:50
TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) was the theme from 'Soul Train,' and was one of the many hits written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff for Philadelphia International Records, the label t...
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Best Of: 'Opal & Nev' Author / The History Of Juneteenth from 2021-05-29T00:01:19
Dawnie Walton's novel, 'The Final Revival of Opal & Nev,' is a faux oral history about a '70s interracial rock duo. Opal is a Black proto Afro-punk singer from Detroit, and Nev is a goofy white Bri...
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2 Concerts: Rachael & Vilray / Loudon Wainwright III & Vince Giordano from 2021-05-28T16:30:44
The music duo Rachael & Vilray perform songs from their debut album — new songs written by Vilray that could have been on the radio in the '30s and '40s, and songs from the '20s and '30s.
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How States Are Making It Harder To Vote from 2021-05-27T16:30:28
'New York Times' reporter Nick Corasaniti says Republican-led state legislatures are restricting voting and seizing more power over how elections are run — making previously non-partisan jobs polit...
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'Exonerated Five' Member Yusef Salaam from 2021-05-26T16:30:29
In 1990, Yusef Salaam was one of the five boys wrongly convicted in the so-called Central Park jogger case. Salaam spent nearly 7 years behind bars and wasn't exonerated until 2002, when a serial ...
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The History Of Juneteenth from 2021-05-25T16:30:15
Juneteenth, formerly Emancipation Day or Jubilee, celebrates the day slavery ended in Texas, June 19, 1865. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed studies the early American republic ...
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'Opal & Nev' Author Dawnie Walton from 2021-05-24T16:30:28
Dawnie Walton's novel, 'The Final Revival of Opal & Nev,' is a faux oral history about a '70s interracial rock duo. Opal is a Black proto Afro-punk singer from Detroit, and Nev is a goofy white Bri...
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Best Of: Seth Rogen / Jean Smart from 2021-05-22T00:01:27
Seth Rogen returns to talk about his new memoir, 'Yearbook,' which is filled with funny and surprising stories — starting with the first time he did stand-up when he was 12 and continuing through h...
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Remembering Actor Charles Grodin / Delmark Records' Bob Koester from 2021-05-21T16:30:55
Actor Charles Grodin, of 'Midnight Run' and 'Heartbreak Kid' fame, died May 18. He was known for his deadpan humor and his ability to make even the most unpleasant characters likable and funny. He ...
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Inside The COVID Crisis In India from 2021-05-20T16:30:50
Jeffrey Gettleman of the 'New York Times,' based in New Delhi, says the air has been filled with smoke from crematories. Meanwhile, the health care system is collapsing and the black market for oxy...
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Actor John Boyega On 'Star Wars' & 'Small Axe' from 2021-05-19T16:30:22
Boyega played Finn in the 'Star Wars' sequel trilogy and he won a Golden Globe for his leading role in the anthology series 'Small Axe,' as a Black British police officer who joined the force in th...
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Seth Rogen from 2021-05-18T16:30:01
Rogen returns to talk about his new memoir, 'Yearbook,' which is filled with funny and surprising stories — starting with the first time he did stand-up when he was 12 and continuing through his l...
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Failure & Dysfunction In The Secret Service from 2021-05-17T16:30:42
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Carol Leonnig's new book, 'Zero Fail,' examines how the Secret Service is underfunded, overworked, and increasingly relying on luck. "They strongly believed that it ...
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Best Of: Filmmaker Barry Jenkins / Writer Francisco Goldman from 2021-05-15T00:01:15
We talk with 'Moonlight' filmmaker Barry Jenkins about his new series, 'The Underground Railroad.' Adapted from Colson Whitehead's novel, the series follows Cora, an enslaved young woman who has es...
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Unlocking The Mysteries Of Endometriosis from 2021-05-13T16:30:47
It's estimated that one in 10 women experience endometriosis during their reproductive years, a condition where cells from the uterine lining go rogue, move to other organs and grow there, leading ...
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Actor Jean Smart from 2021-05-12T16:30:05
Smart's breakout role was on the '80s sitcom 'Designing Women.' She's had recent great roles as the head of a crime family on 'Fargo' and as an FBI agent on 'Watchmen.' Now she co-stars in the HBO ...
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Writer Francisco Goldman Revisits His Childhood With 'Monkey Boy' from 2021-05-11T16:30:46
The son of a Jewish father and a Guatemalan mother, Goldman grew up mostly in working class suburbs of Boston. His new novel, 'Monkey Boy,' draws on his own experiences, including being physically ...
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Filmmaker Barry Jenkins On 'The Underground Railroad' from 2021-05-10T16:30:40
Barry Jenkins says filming his new series about an enslaved girl who escapes from a plantation was the most difficult project of his career — and one that made him feel closer to his own ancestors....
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Best Of: Advocate For Teen Moms, Nicole Lynn Lewis / Cartoonist Alison Bechdel from 2021-05-08T00:01:41
As a pregnant teenager, Nicole Lynn Lewis felt ashamed. Now she knows many pregnant teens share the problems she had — including an abusive boyfriend, and being temporarily homeless. She says the o...
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Celebrating Mothers: Feat. Trevor Noah, Scorsese & More from 2021-05-07T16:30:52
We celebrate Mother's Day with stories of mom from past interviews with 'Daily Show' host Trevor Noah, Martin Scorsese and filmmaker Albert Brooks. And Lorna Luft remembers her mother, Judy Garland...
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How Systemic Racism Determines Black Health & Wealth In Chicago from 2021-05-06T16:30:33
There is a 30-year gap in the life expectancy of some Black and white Chicagoans. Journalist Linda Villarosa talks about the link between racism and health outcomes, and tells her own family's stor...
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Alison Bechdel On 'The Secret To Superhuman Strength' from 2021-05-05T16:30:35
Bechdel's new graphic memoir is about her lifelong obsession with exercise. She says she has a "predisposition of being extremely self-conscious and very caught up in my head" — and exercise helps....
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The Social Lives Of Trees from 2021-05-04T16:30:32
Ecologist Suzanne Simard says trees are "social creatures" that communicate with each other in remarkable ways — including warning each other of danger and sharing nutrients at critical times. Her ...
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Former 'Pregnant Girl' Now Helps Other Teen Moms Succeed from 2021-05-03T16:30:32
In her new memoir, 'Pregnant Girl,' Nicole Lynn Lewis recalls feeling overwhelmed and isolated as a young mom in college. Now she runs an organization that is designed to support young parents with...
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Best Of: Stephen Colbert / NPR's 50th Anniversary from 2021-05-01T00:01:25
Stephen Colbert has been taping 'The Late Show' without a studio audience during the pandemic — but he's not always alone. Sometimes his wife Evie is in the room. If she laughs, he knows he's on th...
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Remembering Astronaut Michael Collins from 2021-04-30T16:30:16
While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made their historic walk on the moon, Lt. Col. Michael Collins orbited above in the Apollo 11 command capsule, waiting to rendezvous with them. For a time, on t...
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Novelist Imbolo Mbue from 2021-04-29T16:30:30
Set in a fictional African village in the 1980s, Mbue's latest novel, 'How Beautiful We Were,' is a David and Goliath tale about a group of villagers who take on an American oil company. Guest host...
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50 Years Of NPR: Radio Legends Susan Stamberg & Bill Siemering from 2021-04-28T16:30:37
NPR's program, 'All Things Considered' debuted on May 3, 1971. 'ATC' creator Bill Siemering and former co-host Susan Stamberg look back on the early years of the network, NPR's mission, and Stamber...
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Catching Up with Stephen Colbert from 2021-04-27T16:30:54
Stephen Colbert has been taping 'The Late Show' without a studio audience during the pandemic — but he's not always alone. Sometimes his wife Evie is in the room. If she laughs, he knows he's on th...
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How Processed Food Companies Get Us 'Hooked' On Junk from 2021-04-26T16:30:23
Journalist Michael Moss says processed foods can be as addictive as cocaine, heroin and cigarettes. In his new book, 'Hooked,' Moss explores how these companies appeal to our senses, nostalgia and ...
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Best Of: 'Resistance' Podcast Host Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr. / Courtney B. Vance from 2021-04-24T00:01:29
Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr. lost a close friend from college to police violence. His Spotify podcast, 'Resistance,' explores different aspects of the movement for Black lives — including Tejan-Thomas Jr...
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Pixar 'Soul' Creators Pete Docter & Kemp Powers from 2021-04-23T16:30:32
The Oscar-nominated animated film imagines a place where souls are matched with unique passions. It follows Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher and aspiring jazz musician, who nearly dies rig...
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The Social Psychologist Who Works To Reduce Harm In Policing from 2021-04-22T16:30:42
Yale professor Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff co-founded the Center for Policing Equity, which collects data on police behavior from 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. He says most people ...
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Courtney B. Vance On Playing Rev. C.L. Franklin & Johnnie Cochran from 2021-04-21T16:30:35
Courtney B. Vance got his start in the theater, with a breakout role in the August Wilson play 'Fences' on Broadway. We talk about his origin story and his recent roles as Aretha Franklin's father,...
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Growing Up In A Cult, Lauren Hough Freed Herself By Writing from 2021-04-20T16:30:46
Hough was 15 when her family left the Children of God cult. Afterward, she struggled to face the trauma of her past. At 18 she joined the Air Force during "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and was discharge...
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'How To Be An Adult' & 'Real American' Author Julie Lythcott-Haims from 2021-04-19T16:30:25
Former Stanford University undergraduate dean Julie Lythcott-Haims' new book, 'Your Turn: How to Be an Adult,' is a handbook on adulthood, offering insights and strategies on education and career c...
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Best Of: Choreographer Twyla Tharp / Henry Louis Gates On 'The Black Church' from 2021-04-17T00:01:51
'Twyla Moves,' a new documentary by PBS American Masters, tells the story of the legendary choreographer and dancer, who got her start performing on subway platforms and rooftops in the 1960s. "If ...
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Native Peoples' 'Long, Brutal Fight For Survival' from 2021-04-16T16:30:31
Louise Erdrich's novel, 'The Night Watchman,' was inspired by her grandfather, a chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa who fought a Congressional initiative to move indigenous peoples of...
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'Resistance' Podcast Host On The Fight For Black Lives from 2021-04-15T16:33
Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr. lost a close friend from college to police violence. His Spotify podcast, 'Resistance,' explores different aspects of the movement for Black lives — including Tejan-Thomas Jr...
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The 'Secret History' Of The Sackler Family & The Opioid Crisis from 2021-04-14T16:30:06
The Sackler family owns Purdue Pharma, which made billions of dollars selling OxyContin, an opiate painkiller stronger than morphine. Introduced in 1996, OxyContin has been largely blamed for the o...
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Henry Louis Gates Jr. On The Black Church from 2021-04-13T16:30:19
The 'Finding Your Roots' host has a new book and PBS series called 'The Black Church.' Gates describes the Black church as "the cultural cauldron Black people created to combat a system designed in...
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Leslie Odom Jr. / 'Promising Young Woman' Filmmaker Emerald Fennell from 2021-04-12T16:30:17
Tony and Grammy-winning actor Leslie Odom Jr. is best-known for his role as Aaron Burr in 'Hamilton.' Now he stars as Sam Cooke in Regina King's film 'One Night in Miami,' which imagines a night wh...
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Best Of: Brandi Carlile / Palestinian Cookbook Author Reem Kassis from 2021-04-10T00:01:22
Six-time Grammy winner Brandi Carlile got her start onstage as a kid, singing backup for an Elvis impersonator. Her new memoir, 'Broken Horses,' is about her early life and the family of misfits sh...
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Prolific Background Singer Merry Clayton from 2021-04-09T16:30:19
Singer Merry Clayton did the iconic background vocals of the 1969 Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter." But despite the fame and success of the record, Clayton remained largely anonymous. Until, tha...
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Choreographer Twyla Tharp from 2021-04-08T16:30:45
'Twyla Moves,' a new documentary by PBS American Masters, tells the story of the legendary choreographer and dancer, who got her start performing on subway platforms and rooftops in the 1960s. "If ...
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Palestinian Cookbook Author Reem Kassis from 2021-04-07T16:25:40
Reem Kassis began gathering family recipes after the birth of her first child. The recipes, she says, "could be the story of any and every Palestinian family." We talk about her favorite fried egg ...
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The Intersection Of Black Performance, Joy & Pain from 2021-04-06T16:30:05
What do 'Soul Train' and Whitney Houston tell us about race in the U.S? Poet and culture critic Hanif Abdurraqib's book, 'A Little Devil in America,' traces the history of Black performance through...
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Brandi Carlile from 2021-04-05T16:36:40
The six-time Grammy winner got her start onstage as a kid, singing backup for an Elvis impersonator. Her new memoir, 'Broken Horses,' is about her early life and the family of misfits she's built. ...
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Best Of: The Amazing Lives Of Migratory Birds / 'Lovecraft Country' Creator from 2021-04-03T00:01:07
Author and bird researcher Scott Weidensaul shares amazing stories of the billions of migratory birds that journey over our heads every year, how they manage their feats physically, and how they're...
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Christopher Meloni / Remembering Larry McMurtry & G. Gordon Liddy from 2021-04-02T16:30:58
We remember novelist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry who died last week at the age of 84. Raised on a Texas ranch, McMurtry wrote about the American West in the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel 'Lone...
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Tackling Child Poverty Through COVID Relief from 2021-04-01T16:30:30
'New York Times' reporter Jason DeParle says a provision in the new COVID relief package has the makings of a policy revolution — and "would roughly cut child poverty in half." Qualifying families ...
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The High Stakes Of Amazon's 'One-Click America' from 2021-03-31T16:30
ProPublica journalist Alec MacGillis says a union vote by Amazon workers in Alabama could determine "what life is going to look like for the working class in America in years to come." We talk with...
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'Lovecraft Country' Creator Misha Green from 2021-03-30T16:30:29
The HBO series 'Lovecraft Country' takes the real horrors of the Black experience in the 1950s and adds to it the supernatural terrors of the horror genre. We talk to series creator Misha Green abo...
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The Amazing Lives Of Migratory Birds from 2021-03-29T16:30:51
Author Scott Weidensaul talks about the millions of birds flying unseen over our heads in the night sky, how the bar-tailed godwit can fly more than a week over water without stopping, and how new ...
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Best Of: The Making Of 'Soul' / The Afterlife Of Mass Incarceration from 2021-03-27T00:01:19
The Oscar-nominated animated film 'Soul' imagines a place where souls are matched with unique passions. It follows Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher and aspiring jazz musician, who nearly d...
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Actors Riz Ahmed / Kathryn Hahn from 2021-03-26T16:30:20
Riz Ahmed plays a drummer who loses his hearing in 'Sound of Metal.' To prepare for the role, he immersed himself in deaf culture — an experience that changed the way he thought about communicatio...
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The Threat Of Domestic Terrorism from 2021-03-25T16:24:15
Elizabeth Neumann resigned from the Department of Homeland Security in April of 2020. She says the Trump administration ignored the threat — and fanned the flames — of violent domestic extremism. S...
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The Afterlife Of Mass Incarceration from 2021-03-24T16:30:32
There are 45,000 laws, policies and administrative sanctions in the U.S. that target people with criminal records. University of Chicago sociologist Reuben Jonathan Miller researches how they affec...
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The Making Of Pixar's 'Soul' from 2021-03-23T16:51:17
The Oscar-nominated animated film imagines a place where souls are matched with unique passions. It follows Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher and aspiring jazz musician, who nearly dies rig...
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Correcting The Record On Lady Bird Johnson from 2021-03-22T16:30:16
The former first lady is often remembered as a genteel Southerner who promoted highway beautification, but author Julia Sweig says archival records show Lady Bird was a savvy political strategist a...
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Best Of: The Story Behind 'Unorthodox' / Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro from 2021-03-20T00:01:07
Deborah Feldman's memoir, 'Unorthodox,' about leaving the Satmar Hasidic community in Brooklyn, inspired the Netflix series of the same name. Growing up, she wasn't supposed to pursue an education ...
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Country Icon Loretta Lynn from 2021-03-19T16:30:51
The country music star's 50th studio album, 'Still Woman Enough,' is out now. Lynn spoke with Terry Gross in 2010 about her memoir, 'Coal Miner's Daughter.'
Also, Justin Chang reviews 'The...
Could Trump Be Convicted Of Criminal Charges? from 2021-03-18T16:35:14
'New Yorker' writer Jane Mayer talks about the criminal investigation into whether Donald Trump engaged in tax, banking and/or insurance fraud. If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison. "The t...
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Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro from 2021-03-17T16:30:52
The Nobel Prize-winning novelist's new book, 'Klara and the Sun,' is set in the future and has an artificially intelligent narrator. "I wanted some of that childlike freshness and openness and naiv...
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How to 'Futureproof' Yourself In An Automated World from 2021-03-16T17:30:11
'New York Times' tech columnist Kevin Roose says we've been approaching automation all wrong. "What we should be teaching people is to be more like humans, to do the things that machines can't do,"...
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'Unorthodox' Author On Her 'Scandalous Rejection' Of Hasidic Life from 2021-03-15T17:30:27
Deborah Feldman's memoir, 'Unorthodox,' about leaving the Satmar Hasidic community in Brooklyn inspired the Netflix series of the same name. Growing up, Feldman spoke Yiddish and was discouraged fr...
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Best Of: Musician Jon Batiste / Magician Derek DelGaudio from 2021-03-13T01:01:15
The bandleader of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' joins us from his home piano where he plays music he wrote for the Pixar movie 'Soul' and songs from his new album 'We Are.' Batiste has been ...
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The Rise Of White Supremacy In Wilmington, N.C. from 2021-03-12T17:30:14
Journalist David Zucchino tells the forgotten story of a murderous coup that led to a white supremacist takeover of a Southern city. In the 1890s, Wilmington, N.C., was a mixed-race community with ...
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Musician Jon Batiste On Sharing Joy In A Painful Year from 2021-03-11T17:30:04
The bandleader of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' joins us from his home piano where he plays music he wrote for the Pixar movie 'Soul' and a stirring rendition of the national anthem. Batiste...
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Sherry Turkle On The Burden Of Family Secrets from 2021-03-10T17:30:46
MIT professor and social scientist Sherry Turkle was 27 when she learned that her estranged father had conducted psychological experiments on her when she was a child. She looks back on her childho...
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Inside The Right-To-Die Movement from 2021-03-09T17:30:10
Journalist Katie Engelhart's new book, 'The Inevitable,' follows people who are planning to end their lives due to terminal illness or unbearable disability — either legally with physician-assisted...
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Author Walter Isaacson On The Gene Editing Revolution from 2021-03-08T17:29:49
Biochemist Jennifer Doudna, the subject of Walter Isaacson's new biography 'The Code Breaker,' shared a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2020 for the part she played in developing the CRISPR gene editin...
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Best Of: Writer Tim O'Brien / Inside The Capitol Insurrection from 2021-03-06T01:01:28
Known for his novel 'The Things They Carried,' Tim O'Brien is now the subject of a new documentary, 'The War and Peace of Tim O'Brien.' When he became a father in his late 50s, he initially feared ...
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Novelist James McBride from 2021-03-05T17:30:41
James McBride's novel 'Deacon King Kong' takes place in 1969, in a Brooklyn housing project similar to the one he grew up in. "In this book and in this community, people generally love each other,"...
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What's Next For The War In Afghanistan? from 2021-03-04T17:30:23
America's 19-year war in Afghanistan may soon be coming to an end. The Trump administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban, in which the U.S. agreed to withdraw all its troops by May 1. But the...
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'Minari' Director Lee Isaac Chung from 2021-03-03T17:30:56
Based on Chung's own childhood, 'Minari' is about a Korean American family that moves to rural Arkansas to start a farm. The director spoke with contributor Arun Venugopal about the memories that i...
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How Bellingcat's Web Sleuths Solve Global Crimes from 2021-03-02T17:30:41
Eliot Higgins is the founder of an online collective that picks apart conspiracy theories and investigates war crimes and hate crimes using clues from the Internet — like social media posts, leaked...
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From Card Cheat To Illusionist: Magician Derek DelGaudio from 2021-03-01T17:30:02
The sleight-of-hand master explores themes of identity, honesty and the emotional cost of keeping secrets in the memoir, 'AMORALMAN.' DelGaudio's one-man show 'In & Of Itself' is now available on H...
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Best Of: Sacha Baron Cohen / Changing Policing From The Inside from 2021-02-27T01:01:30
British actor Sacha Baron Cohen is known for taking his absurd characters like Borat, Brüno and Ali G into the world and interacting with unwitting real people. Baron Cohen has been chased, sued an...
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The Legacies Of Sam Cooke, Muhammad Ali & Malcolm X from 2021-02-26T17:30:03
The movie 'One Night in Miami,' directed by Regina King, imagines the conversations between four Black icons in 1964: Cassius Clay, Sam Cooke, Jim Brown and Malcolm X, on the night of Clay's surpri...
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Behind-The-Scenes Of The Capitol Insurrection Video from 2021-02-25T17:30:47
George Polk Award-winning journalist Luke Mogelson followed a mob of MAGA supporters into the Capitol on Jan. 6 and filmed what he saw. His video footage from inside the Senate Chamber was used as ...
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Writer Tim O'Brien On Fatherhood & The Burden Of Vietnam from 2021-02-24T17:30:27
Known for his novel 'The Things They Carried,' O'Brien is now the subject of a new documentary, 'The War and Peace of Tim O'Brien.' When he became a father in his late 50s, he initially feared pare...
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Inside The 'Ten Year War' Over Obamacare from 2021-02-23T17:30:29
In his new book, 'The Ten Year War,' Jonathan Cohn looks at the intense debate surrounding the Affordable Care Act, the compromises of the law itself, and how it has been functioning durin...
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Sacha Baron Cohen from 2021-02-22T17:30:10
The British actor is known for taking his absurd characters like Borat, Brüno and Ali G into the world and interacting with unwitting real people. Baron Cohen has been chased, sued and nearly arres...
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Best Of: Rashida Jones / The Cyber Weapons Arms Race from 2021-02-20T01:01:05
Rashida Jones filmed 'On the Rocks' shortly after her son's birth and her mother's death. She nearly turned down the role, and is glad she didn't. "This movie was kind of a salvation for me," she s...
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How The Pandemic Hurts Working Moms from 2021-02-18T17:30:21
Women are bearing the brunt of kids' virtual schooling and the increased household work associated with the pandemic. 'NYT' reporter Claire Cain Miller says many working mothers have scaled back on...
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What Racism Costs Everyone from 2021-02-17T17:30:01
In her book, 'The Sum of Us,' Heather McGhee examines the cost of racial discrimination in the U.S., and draws on a wealth of economic data to make the case that discriminatory laws and practices t...
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Tackling Police Reform From The Inside from 2021-02-16T17:30:14
For four years, Georgetown Law professor and human rights activist Rosa Brooks carried a badge and a gun and worked a minimum of 24 hours a month for the DC police department — all on a voluntary b...
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Spike Lee / Remembering Cloris Leachman from 2021-02-15T17:30:56
Guest host Sam Sanders talks with Spike Lee about 'Da 5 Bloods,' about four Black Vietnam War vets who return together to Vietnam. Lee also talks about working with late actor Chadwick Boseman.
Best Of: Dr. Fauci / How Women Police Differently from 2021-02-13T01:01
Only a few weeks into the new Biden administration, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is encouraged by the president's approach to the pandemic. We'll talk about an early chapter of his c...
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Remembering Supremes Singer Mary Wilson / Actor Christopher Plummer from 2021-02-12T17:30:35
We remember Mary Wilson, one of the founding members of The Supremes. She died Monday at the age of 76. We'll listen back to our 1986 interview with her about the early days of the Supremes, when t...
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Rashida Jones from 2021-02-11T17:30:12
Jones filmed 'On the Rocks' shortly after her son's birth and her mother's death. She nearly turned down the role, and is glad she didn't. "This movie was kind of a salvation for me," she says. We ...
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Inside The Cyber Weapons Arms Race from 2021-02-10T17:30:06
The world is on the precipice of cyber catastrophe, and everything is vulnerable, including our government, nuclear weapons, elections, power grid, hospitals, and cell phones. 'New York Times' cybe...
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How Humans Try (And Fail) To Master Nature from 2021-02-09T17:30:02
'New Yorker' writer Elizabeth Kolbert talks about efforts to reverse some of the harm humans have done to the natural world. Her new book, 'Under a White Sky,' details visionary ideas, like scatter...
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'Women In Blue' Doc. Explores How Women Police Differently from 2021-02-08T17:30:26
The new documentary 'Women in Blue' follows four women who worked for the Minneapolis Police Department. We talk with the director, Deirdre Fishel, as well as Sergeant Alice White, one of the women...
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Best Of: Ben & Ellen Harper / The Mob On Main Street from 2021-02-06T01:01:32
Ellen Harper, and her Grammy award-winning son, musician Ben Harper, both grew up in the Folk Music Center in Claremont, Calif. Ellen's parents founded the center in 1958, and Ellen runs it today. ...
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Dusty Springfield's Manager & Biographer Vicki Wickham from 2021-02-05T17:30:44
The late British singer Dusty Springfield was best-known for her seemingly effortless singing and distinctive voice. She had many hits in the 1960s in England and the U.S. We listen back to a 2002 ...
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Dr. Anthony Fauci from 2021-02-04T17:30:25
Less than three weeks into the new Biden administration, the infectious disease expert is encouraged by the president's approach to the pandemic. "Science [is] going to rule," Fauci says. He talks ...
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Biden's Economic Plan & The Decline Of The Middle Class from 2021-02-03T17:30:03
'New York Times' reporter Jim Tankersley talks about Biden's $1.9 trillion rescue plan for the economy amid the pandemic. For much of his reporting career, Tankersley has focused on the declining m...
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Writer Russell Shorto On His Family's Secret Mob Operation from 2021-02-02T17:30:49
Russell Shorto's grandfather was a mob leader in the industrial town of Johnstown, Pa. He writes about the family havoc that resulted from his grandfather's operation in the new memoir, 'Smalltime.'
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Ben Harper & Ellen Harper On The Folk Music Revival from 2021-02-01T17:30:08
Ellen Harper runs the Folk Music Center in Claremont, Calif., and her son Ben Harper is a Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter. Ellen Harper's new memoir 'Always a Song' tells her story of th...
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Gillian Anderson On 'The Crown' & 'The X-Files' from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Anderson talks about playing Margaret Thatcher in the new season of 'The Crown,' and then coaches Terry Gross on how to do the former prime minster's voice. We'll also talk about Anderson's role as...
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Best Of: Megan Rapinoe / The Science Of Smell from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
USWNT soccer star Megan Rapinoe speaks with Terry Gross about her World Cup wins, the ongoing fight for pay equality in women's sports, and being an LGBTQ activist. Her new memoir about her life on...
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Jazz Pianist Keith Jarrett from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Jarrett is one of the most celebrated pianists in jazz — a musician acclaimed for his emotionally intense and physically energetic improvised performances. He was a prodigy who started playing pian...
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What Trump Might Do With His Remaining Weeks In Office from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
'Politico' journalist Garrett Graff says presidents typically reserve their most controversial decisions for their last weeks in office. In a new article, Graff lays out some of the norm-busting ac...
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A 'Nose Dive' Into The Science Of Smell from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Harold McGee is best-known for his books about food science. In his new book, 'Nose Dive,' he writes about why things smell the way they do — and the ways different chemicals combine to create surp...
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Embracing Life With A Heart Condition from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Writer Katherine Standefer tells us about long QT syndrome — and the implanted cardiac defibrillator that helps regulate her heart. In her new memoir, 'Lightning Flowers,' she writes about how the ...
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Megan Rapinoe / Remembering Alex Trebek from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
The USWNT soccer star and activist spoke with Terry Gross about her World Cup wins, the ongoing fight for pay equality in women's sports, and taking a knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. He...
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Best Of: Writer Jerald Walker / The Enduring Impact Of COVID-19 from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Author Jerald Walker talks about growing up on Chicago's South Side, raising his two sons in a predominantly white suburb and preventing his essays from turning into clichés about the Black experie...
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Jazz Singer Cécile McLorin Salvant from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
McLorin Salvant's repertoire includes jazz standards and forgotten early songs, show tunes, and originals. She's one of this year's MacArthur fellows. We'll also listen back to our 2001 intervie...
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Reconstructing The Presidency 'After Trump' from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Jack Goldsmith, former legal counsel to George W. Bush's White House, says no matter when Trump leaves office, his successor will face tough questions about how to reconstruct the battered presiden...
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How The 2020 Election Is A 'Stress Test' Of American Democracy from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
'Atlantic' writer Barton Gellman returns to discuss what this election has revealed about our system's strengths and weaknesses, and what he's learned about the legal strategies the Trump and Biden...
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Writer Jerald Walker On 'How To Make A Slave' from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Walker talks about growing up on Chicago's South Side, raising his two sons in a predominantly white suburb and preventing his essays from turning into clichés about the Black experience. His new c...
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Aaron Sorkin On 'The Trial Of The Chicago 7' from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In 1968, several prominent anti-war activists were accused of conspiring to start a riot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Aaron Sorkin, writer of 'The West Wing,' and 'The Social N...
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Best Of: Inside A Pro-Trump Militia / Chef Marcus Samuelsson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
'Atlantic' writer Mike Giglio profiles the Oath Keepers, a pro-Trump militia group, in a new article. They have recruited thousands of police, soldiers and veterans. We talk about what they might d...
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Remembering Country Songwriter Billy Joe Shaver from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We remember the songwriter that Johnny Cash described as his favorite writer: Billy Joe Shaver. His songs have been performed by Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan ...
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The Enduring Impact Of COVID-19 from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Nicholas Christakis is a doctor and a sociologist who has studied the science of infectious diseases and how plagues of the past have altered societies. "Everywhere you see the spread of germs, for...
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Pro-Trump Militias: Election Day & Beyond from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
'Atlantic' writer Mike Giglio profiles the Oath Keepers, a pro-Trump militia group, in a new article. They have recruited thousands of police, soldiers and veterans. We talk about what they might d...
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The Personal Scars & Political Mistakes That Shaped Joe Biden from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We talk with journalist Evan Osnos about the former vice president's long career in the Senate, how personal tragedy changed him, and some of the political missteps he made along the way. Osnos' ne...
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Chef Marcus Samuelsson Writes Black People Into U.S. Food History from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Samuelsson's new book, 'The Rise,' is a celebration of Black excellence in the culinary world — and the many Black cooks who have influenced American food, often without credit. He also talks about...
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Father Of The Psychedelic Movement, Timothy Leary from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Psychologist Timothy Leary, who died in 1996, was the father of the psychedelic movement of the 1960s and its experiments with mind-altering drugs. In 1960, Leary joined the faculty of Harvard at t...
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Best Of: Novelist Rumaan Alam / 'My Octopus Teacher' Filmmaker from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Rumaan Alam's novel, 'Leave the World Behind,' centers on two families — one Black and one white — who are sharing a vacation home during a mysterious disaster. It explores issues of race and class...
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SCOTUS Correspondent Nina Totenberg from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Nina Totenberg is widely regarded as the dean of legal journalists. She started covering the Supreme court in 1971 and became NPR's legal correspondent in 1975. We talk about breaking the Anita Hil...
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Novelist Sigrid Nunez from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Nunez's new novel, 'What Are You Going Through,' is about facing mortality and the relationship between a writer dying of cancer and the friend she asks to stay with her.
Lloyd Schwartz r...
Free Speech In The Age Of Disinformation from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
'New York Times Magazine' writer Emily Bazelon talks about how the lies and conspiracy theories sweeping through American media are leading some scholars to question our faith in free speech and in...
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John Brown, Abraham Lincoln & The Fight To End Slavery from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Historian H.W. Brands' new book, 'The Zealot and the Emancipator' looks at two very different 19th century leaders, John Brown and Abraham Lincoln. Brown was a militant abolitionist who embraced vi...
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Best Of: Broadway Stars Danny Burstein & Rebecca Luker / 'Nice White Parents' Creator from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Married Broadway stars Danny Burstein and Rebecca Luker both contracted COVID in the spring, just as theaters went dark. Burstein was starring in 'Moulin Rouge' at the time. Burstein's case was sev...
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How Women Have Been Left Out Of The Constitution / Remembering MLB's Joe Morgan from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
As a teen, Heidi Schreck debated the Constitution in competitions. Later she realized it had failed to protect four generations of women in her family. "I believed it was perfect. I believed it was...
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'My Octopus Teacher' Filmmaker from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Craig Foster spent a year diving — without oxygen or a wetsuit — into the frigid sea near Cape Town, South Africa. One octopus began coming out of her den to hunt or explore while Foster watched. H...
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2 Broadway Stars Grapple With Illness And Uncertainty from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Married Broadway stars Danny Burstein and Rebecca Luker both contracted COVID in the spring, just as theaters went dark. Burstein was starring in 'Moulin Rouge' at the time. Burstein's case was sev...
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Lessons For A Post-Pandemic World from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
CNN host and 'Washington Post' columnist Fareed Zakaria says COVID-19 presents a chance to make positive changes: "We could well look back on these times 10 or 20 years from now and say, 'This was ...
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How 'Nice White Parents' Can Undermine School Integration from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
'This American Life' producer Chana Joffe-Walt says progressive white parents may say they want their kids to go to diverse schools — but the reality tells a different story. "I think white parents...
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Best Of: Ethan Hawke / Lenny Kravitz from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Ethan Hawke plays 19th-century abolitionist John Brown in the seven-part Showtime series, 'The Good Lord Bird.' He says Brown's story feels particularly relevant today, as America confronts systemi...
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Remembering MLB Pitcher Bob Gibson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We remember Bob Gibson, one of baseball's most intimidating pitchers. He dominated hitters from the mound for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1960s and '70s and he holds the record for most strikeou...
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The State Of The Affordable Care Act from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
As President Trump recovers from COVID-19 and candidates debate the issue of insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, we take stock of the nation's health care system. We talk with the 'N...
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Novelist Rumaan Alam from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Alam's novel, 'Leave the World Behind,' centers on two families — one Black and one white — who are sharing a vacation home during a mysterious disaster. It explores issues of race and class, fear,...
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Lenny Kravitz from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Kravitz talks about growing up the son of a Jewish father and Black mother, finding his musical style, and how Lisa Bonet changed him as a songwriter. His new memoir about his life up until his bre...
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Ethan Hawke from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Hawke plays 19th-century abolitionist John Brown in the seven-part Showtime series, 'The Good Lord Bird.' He says Brown's story feels particularly relevant today, as America confronts systemic raci...
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Best Of: What If Trump Contests The Election? / Filmmaker Kirsten Johnson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
'Atlantic' staff writer Barton Gellman says if President Trump claims mail-in votes are fraudulent and contests the results, Republican legislatures might then try to ignore their states' popular v...
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A Cave Diver On The Thrill & Terror Of Going 'Into The Planet' from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Diver and photographer Jill Heinerth shares some of her most dangerous and exhilarating experiences underwater — like getting trapped inside an iceberg in Antarctica. Heinerth also explains how she...
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What Happens If Trump Contests the Election? from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
'Atlantic' writer Barton Gellman says the 2020 election could trigger a constitutional crisis, and if the election is close, it could take weeks to determine the results in key battleground states ...
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Filmmaker Faces Her Dad's Mortality In 'Dick Johnson Is Dead' from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
After Kirsten Johnson's dad started showing signs of dementia, she had a hard time accepting that his death was getting closer. Her new Netflix documentary, 'Dick Johnson is Dead,' enacts his death...
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Inside The Mueller Investigation from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Andrew Weissmann, a lead prosecutor in the Mueller investigation, shares his experience with the probe and its report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Weissmann says the constant threa...
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The 'Secret History' Of Nuclear War from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In his new book, 'The Bomb,' journalist Fred Kaplan pulls back the curtain on how U.S. presidents, their advisers and generals have thought about, planned for — and sometimes narrowly avoided — nuc...
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Best Of: Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin / Inside Trump's Businesses from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and Philadelphia Orchestra, talks about Verdi's "Requiem." He'll talk about how Verdi communicates suffering and hope through music, and ho...
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Feminist Activist Gloria Steinem from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
The new drama 'The Glorias' is based on the feminist activist's memoir 'My Life on the Road,' and follows Steinem from ages 20 to 40. Steinem spoke with Terry Gross in 2015 about her unique childho...
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Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin On Hope & Suffering from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the young, charismatic conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and Philadelphia Orchestra, talks about Verdi's "Requiem." He chose the piece for his inaugural performance as music...
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Political Meddling In The Fight Against COVID-19 from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
'Politico' reporter Dan Diamond describes efforts by Trump loyalist and HHS spokesperson (currently on leave) Michael Caputo to alter weekly CDC reports and have scientists change their findings on...
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How Donald Trump Turned The Presidency Into A Business from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
'Forbes' senior editor Dan Alexander examines President Trump's sprawling business interests in his new book, 'White House, Inc.' Alexander says the president has broken a number of pledges he made...
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Remembering RBG / Neurologist Oliver Sacks from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Legal analyst and 'New Yorker' staff writer Jeffrey Toobin spoke with Terry Gross in 2013 about his profile of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, written as she marked her 20th anniversary on the Supreme...
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Best Of: The Origin Of Data Science & Elections / Novelist Ayad Akhtar from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Harvard historian and 'New Yorker' writer Jill Lepore tells the story of the Simulmatics Corporation. Founded in 1959, it used a so-called "people machine," a computer program it claimed could pred...
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Best Of: China's Surveillance State / Understanding The Human Voice from 2021-01-30T01:01:43
German journalist Kai Strittmatter says the Chinese state has amassed an astonishing amount of data about its citizens, which it uses to punish people for even minor offenses. We talk about facial ...
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Hank Azaria On 'The Simpsons' & 'Brockmire' from 2021-01-29T17:30:27
Azaria plays a colorful baseball announcer in the IFC comedy series 'Brockmire.' All 4 seasons are now available for streaming. Azaria spoke with 'Fresh Air' about sobriety, his flamboyant characte...
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With Trump Gone, What's Next For QAnon? from 2021-01-28T17:30:48
'Washington Post' reporter Craig Timberg suggests some in the QAnon movement will become even more extreme now that Trump, their "messiah," has left office. "There is a real danger that what we'll ...
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Surveillance & Local Police: How Technology Is Evolving Faster Than Regulation from 2021-01-27T17:30:32
Journalist Jon Fasman says local police departments are able to use very powerful surveillance tools, often with little oversight. Fasman talks about license plate readers, predictive policing, fac...
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'The Human Factor' & Middle East Peace Negotiations from 2021-01-26T17:30:31
We get an inside look at the negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders during the Clinton administration that held real promise for a peace agreement — before an assassin's bullet change...
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Exploring The Human Voice from 2021-01-25T17:30:11
We talk with 'New Yorker' writer John Colapinto, author of 'This Is the Voice,' about how voices work, how they evolved in our prehistoric ancestors, how babies learn to vocalize words of their par...
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Best Of: 'News Of The World' Director / Busting Myths About Exercise from 2021-01-23T01:01:24
News of the World' is a Western set five years after the end of the Civil War. It stars Tom Hanks as a former Confederate captain who travels from one small poor Texas town to another, reading alou...
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How Tragedy & Resilience Made Joe Biden from 2021-01-22T17:30:14
Journalist Evan Osnos talks about President Biden's long career in the Senate, how personal tragedy changed him, and some of the political missteps he made along the way. Osnos' biography is 'Joe B...
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Busting Myths About Exercise from 2021-01-21T17:30:46
Paleoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman says the concept of "exercise" is a relatively new thing. His new book, 'Exercised,' examines why we run, lift and walk for a workout, when our ancestors didn't...
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Biden's Plan To Enact A Climate Agenda from 2021-01-20T17:30:44
Trump called climate change a hoax. Biden calls it an existential threat. 'Washington Post' journalist Juliet Eilperin talks about how Biden might reverse his predecessor's environmental policies.<...
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The Story Of The Blackwell Sisters, Pioneers Of Women In Medicine from 2021-01-19T17:30:29
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to earn her medical degree? in the United States?. Her sister Emily? soon after? followed in her footsteps. Janice Nimura tells the story of the "complicated...
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The FBI's Effort To Take Down MLK from 2021-01-18T17:30:39
Filmmaker Sam Pollard talks about his new documentary 'MLK/FBI,' based on newly declassified documents, which exposes the ways that the FBI attempted to discredit Martin Luther King Jr. Pollard tal...
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Best Of: Fran Lebowitz / The Legacy Of William Monroe Trotter from 2021-01-16T01:01:32
The Netflix docuseries 'Pretend It's a City' features iconoclastic humorist Fran Lebowitz's conversations with Martin Scorsese. Lebowitz talks about why she loves living alone, driving a cab in the...
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Remembering Michael Apted, William Link And Neil Sheehan from 2021-01-15T17:30:32
We look back on the lives and careers of three people who have recently died. First, filmmaker Michael Apted, best-known for his documentary series, 'Up,' which followed the lives of a group of Bri...
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Dir. Paul Greengrass On 'News Of The World' from 2021-01-14T17:30:31
News of the World' is a Western set five years after the end of the Civil War. It stars Tom Hanks as a former Confederate captain who travels from one small poor Texas town to another, reading alou...
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The Story Of 'Black Radical' William Monroe Trotter from 2021-01-13T17:30:58
Historian Kerri Greenidge tells the story of William Monroe Trotter, a Black newspaper editor who was a forceful crusader for civil rights in the early 20th century. He built a national following i...
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The Racist History Of The Senate Filibuster from 2021-01-12T17:30:01
Adam Jentleson traces the history of the filibuster, which started as a tool of Southern senators upholding slavery and then later became a mechanism to block civil rights legislation. His book is ...
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Humorist Fran Lebowitz from 2021-01-11T17:30:53
The Netflix docuseries 'Pretend It's a City' features Lebowitz's conversations with Martin Scorsese on many topics, Manhattan in particular. "If I dropped the Hope Diamond on the floor of a subway ...
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Best Of: Dr. Sanjay Gupta / Philippine Journalist Maria Ressa from 2021-01-09T01:01:16
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks about how learning new skills can optimize brain health. His new book is 'Keep Sharp.'
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews 'Outlawe...
Remembering Nature Writer Barry Lopez from 2021-01-08T17:30:35
We remember the award-winning writer Barry Lopez, who wrote evocatively about nature, and in turn shed light on truths about the human experience. He died Christmas day at the age of 75. Lopez liv...
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America's Pandemic Failures from 2021-01-07T17:30:05
The U.S. has only 4% of the world's population — and yet it accounts for 20% of all COVID deaths. 'New Yorker' writer Lawrence Wright discusses America's "plague year." We'll talk about the mishand...
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Journalist Maria Ressa On Standing Up To Philippine President from 2021-01-06T17:30:20
Journalist Maria Ressa has faced criminal charges and death threats because of her coverage of the populist, authoritarian Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. She's covered Duterte's bloody "war ...
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Life In China's Surveillance State from 2021-01-05T17:30:17
German journalist Kai Strittmatter says the Chinese state has amassed an astonishing amount of data about its citizens, which it uses to punish people for even minor offenses. We talk about facial ...
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Neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta On How To 'Keep Sharp' from 2021-01-04T17:30:18
CNN's chief medical correspondent says it's never too late to develop new brain pathways. Even small changes, like switching up the hand you hold your fork with, can help optimize brain health. We ...
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Best Of: NPR's Nina Totenberg / 'Watchmen' Writer Cord Jefferson from 2021-01-02T01:01:26
Nina Totenberg is widely regarded as the dean of legal journalists. She started covering the Supreme Court in 1971 and became NPR's legal correspondent in 1975. We talk about breaking the Anita Hil...
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Francis Ford Coppola On Making 'The Godfather' from 2021-01-01T17:30:25
Coppola was 29 years old when he signed on to direct a film. "I was young and had no power," he said. "So [the studio] figured they could just boss me around." But Coppola fought back. He recalled ...
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Loudon Wainwright III & Vince Giordano In Concert from 2020-12-31T17:30:57
We close out the year with music from singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III and Nighthawks bandleader Vince Giordano. They collaborated on the 1920s and '30s style music for the series 'Boardwalk...
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Remembering Broadway Star Rebecca Luker from 2020-12-30T17:30:53
Luker died last Wednesday of ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. She was 59. She had a beautiful singing voice, and received Tony nominations for her performances in 'Showboat,' 'The Music Man,' and 'Mary P...
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Stephen King / Sir. Patrick Stewart from 2020-12-29T17:30:09
Even Stephen King is feeling like he's living in a Stephen King novel these days. The author of the 1978 pandemic novel 'The Stand' says he understands why fans have said the COVID-19 pandemic feel...
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'Queen's Gambit' Co-Creator Scott Frank from 2020-12-28T17:30:02
One of the most popular shows of the year is the Netflix limited series 'The Queen's Gambit,' which has been streamed by more than 62 million households. It's about an orphaned girl who becomes a c...
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Best Of: 2020 In Film, TV & Music from 2020-12-25T21:00:32
COVID upended the movie, TV and music industries. Concerts were canceled and movie theaters were mostly closed. Still, our critics say there was some really good stuff to watch and listen to thi...
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Christmas Concert: Rosemary Clooney & Rebecca Kilgore from 2020-12-25T14:00:47
On a Christmas that has many of us wishing for the familiar comforts and pleasures of a holiday with family and friends, we turn to two singers whose performances have been a pleasure to return to ...
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2020 In TV, Film & Podcasts from 2020-12-24T17:05:47
Our TV critic David Bianculli and film critic Justin Chang sit down with Terry Gross to share their favorites of the year. Also, Vulture writer Nick Quah shares some of his favorite podcasts of 2020.
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How The Pandemic Made The Ultra-Rich Even Richer from 2020-12-23T17:05:02
"You have a group of 650 people whose wealth has gone up a trillion dollars since mid-March," says Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies. Collins talks about how the richest Americans h...
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