Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries. Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including weekly bonus episodes and curated playlists of archive interviews from Fresh Air. And subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Fresh Air Weekly, to get interview highlights, staff recommendations, gems from the archive, and the week's interviews and reviews all in one place. Sign up at www.whyy.org/freshair
The Supreme Court is systematically reshaping American elections by weakening the Voting Rights Act and deregulating campaign finance, effectively consolidating power among wealthy donors and partisan interests. Recent rulings have struck down protections against racial gerrymandering and removed limits on coordinated ...
Peter Asher, a pivotal figure in 1960s music history, reflects on his transition from the British Invasion duo Peter and Gordon to a prolific career as a record producer. He details his early proximity to the Beatles, including Paul McCartney living with his family and the collaborative writing of "I Want to Hold Your ...
You Won't Get Free of It: Stories of Mothers and Daughters by New Yorker staff writer Rachel Aviv examines the intricate, often painful realities of the maternal bond. Aviv’s transition into motherhood fundamentally altered her interpretation of her own journalistic work, revealing previously overlooked dimensions of m...
Tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova reflect on their storied rivalry and enduring friendship, detailing how they supported each other through simultaneous cancer diagnoses. Their shared experience highlights the evolution of their relationship from fierce competitors to mutual confidantes. The program al...
Steven Spielberg’s filmmaking is deeply rooted in his childhood anxieties and personal history, where the camera served as a defensive tool to master fear. By recreating traumatic experiences—such as train wrecks or the horrors of war—he transformed helplessness into creative control. His war films, particularly Saving...
Romance novels serve as a powerful "Trojan horse" for social discourse, smuggling critical conversations about mental health, disability, and systemic inequality into the world's best-selling fiction genre. Despite historical condescension rooted in patriarchal bias, the genre provides a vital space for women to center...
The lone star tick, once confined to the southeastern United States, has expanded its range significantly, bringing with it the threat of alpha-gal syndrome. This condition triggers a severe, potentially lethal allergy to red meat and animal-derived products, including gelatin and dairy, due to an immune reaction to th...
The American culture wars originated in the 1974 Kanawha County textbook controversy, which established a template for using manufactured parental grievance to capture local school boards and regulatory bodies. Cultural historian Isaac Butler traces how figures like Donald Wildman and the American Family Association we...
The enduring bond between tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova transcends their fierce professional rivalry and shared health challenges. Their relationship evolved from intense, often cold competition in the 1970s and 80s to a profound, supportive friendship, anchored by their mutual reliance during simu...
Resilience and the reclamation of personal narrative define the experiences of transgender activist Laverne Cox and comedian Ali Siddiq. Cox details her memoir, Transcendent, recounting the systemic bullying she endured in Mobile, Alabama, and her reliance on dance and mental dissociation to navigate a hostile environm...
Legendary television director James Burrows, who died at 85, transformed the sitcom landscape through his mastery of the multi-camera format and his unique ability to shape character-driven comedy. By adding a fourth camera to the traditional setup, he captured intimate close-ups that heightened emotional connection an...
Anna Deavere Smith, a pioneer of documentary or verbatim theater, examines the intersection of personal identity and American history. Her latest work, Basil Biggs, chronicles the life of her great-great-grandfather, a free Black man who managed the reburial of Union soldiers at Gettysburg. This project marks a departu...
Masculinism has emerged as a potent political ideology uniting diverse factions of the American Right, centered on the belief that traditional patriarchal structures are essential for societal order. Helen Lewis, a staff writer at The Atlantic, explains that this movement views feminism as an emasculating force respons...
Actor Wendell Pierce navigates the complexities of portraying Shakespeare’s Othello, emphasizing the necessity of uncovering the character’s profound love for Iago and Desdemona amidst the play’s inherent tragedy. His process relies on a deep integration of personal history, particularly the legacy of his father, a Wor...
Laverne Cox discusses her memoir, Transcendent, detailing her childhood in Mobile, Alabama, where she faced persistent bullying and institutionalized transphobia. She recounts the trauma of being subjected to conversion therapy at age eight and the coping mechanism of dissociation through dance and imagination. The con...
Personal identity, family secrets, and the American racial narrative define this exploration of how history shapes contemporary society. Journalist Susan Saulny details her family’s history of "passing" in the Jim Crow era, revealing how her great-uncle’s migration from New Orleans to Chicago created a lasting divide b...
The Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, established in 1865 to support newly emancipated Black Americans, collapsed in 1874 after white trustees diverted millions into speculative loans for white financiers. This betrayal, which Frederick Douglass unsuccessfully attempted to rectify as the bank's final president, str...
Ali Siddiq, a comedian known for his narrative-driven stand-up, reflects on his life, his complex relationship with his late father, and his transition from drug trafficking to professional comedy. His latest special, My Father, serves as a memoir that explores the contradictions of a man who was charismatic but deeply...
Donald Trump’s persistent, often clandestine, ambition to acquire Greenland from Denmark has evolved from a casual suggestion into a serious geopolitical strain. Driven by a desire for territorial ownership and perceived strategic advantages, the administration established a secret National Security Council task force ...
James Wilson, a brilliant yet often overlooked figure of the American founding, served as a primary architect of the U.S. Constitution and a staunch advocate for popular sovereignty. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Wilson championed direct rule by the people, arguing that government legitimacy rests solely on the co...
Follow this podcast in Podwise
Sign in to get AI summaries, transcripts and mind maps for any episode, including new ones.
