Fresh Air

By NPR

What's Fresh Air about?

Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.Subscribe to Fresh Air Plus! You'll be supporting the unique show you can't get enough of - and you can listen sponsor-free. Learn more at plus.npr.org/freshair

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NYC Drag Queen & Photograph...

03.23.2023

Linda Simpson performed in and chronicled the New York drag scene in the '80s and '90s, taking some 5,000 photos of performers. Her collection is called The Drag Explosion. She says Tennessee's anti-drag legislation is "ridiculous." Also, we remember late ...

Fresh Air episodes:

03.23.2023 NYC Drag Queen & Photographer Linda Simpson Linda Simpson performed in and chronicled the New York drag scene in the '80s and '90s, taking some 5,000 photos of performers. Her collection is called The Drag Explosion. She says Tennessee's anti-drag legislation is "ridiculous." Also, we remember late ...
03.22.2023 Ari Shapiro: On-Air, On-Stage & On-Page Ari Shapiro co-hosts NPR's All Things Considered, co-stars in a cabaret act with Alan Cumming, and sings with the band Pink Martini. Now, he's written a book, a memoir called The Best Strangers in the World.
03.21.2023 How The Affluent Benefit From The Poor Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond says if the top 1% of Americans paid the taxes they owed, it would raise $175 billion each year: "That is just about enough to pull everyone out of poverty." His new book is Poverty, ...
03.20.2023 Billy Crudup Billy Crudup stars as a fast-talking salesman — selling timeshares on the moon to frustrated earthlings — in the Apple TV+ series Hello Tomorrow! We also talk about going to rock star camp for his role in Almost Famous, his ...
03.18.2023 Best Of: Memphis Drag Queen Bella DuBalle / Character Actor Clancy Brown Memphis drag queen Bella DuBalle says the legislators behind a new Tennessee law criminalizing public drag shows don't understand the art. We talk with the native Tennessean about the law, performing for kids, and how her livelihood and safety are ...
03.17.2023 Michelle Yeoh / Adam Sandler Michelle Yeoh made history last week, becoming the first Asian woman to win an Oscar for best actress. We'll hear our interview with Yeoh about Everything Everywhere All At Once. Yeoh has also starred in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, the ...
03.16.2023 Memphis Drag Queen Bella DuBalle Won't Be Silenced By New Law Bella DuBalle says the legislators behind a new Tennessee law criminalizing public drag shows don't understand the art: "They think that every drag performer is doing something hypersexual or obscene." We talk with the native Tennessean about the law, performing ...
03.15.2023 Inside A Safety-Net Hospital That Treats The Poor And Uninsured Many of Ricardo Nuila's patients at Houston's Ben Taub Hospital are dealing with serious illnesses as a result of not being able to access basic preventive care. His new book is The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine.
03.14.2023 Character & Voice Actor Clancy Brown Actor Clancy Brown has been working since the 1980s and has played some memorable villains over the years in movies, including Shawshank Redemption, Highlander and, coming out later this month, John Wick 4. But he may be best known as ...
03.13.2023 A Veterinarian Shares What Animals Have Taught Her Karen Fine talks about practicing Chinese medicine and acupuncture on sick pets, what "ADR" stands for, and the mental health issues many veterinarians face. Her new book is The Other Family Doctor. Also, Ken Tucker reviews Caroline Polachek's new album ...
03.11.2023 Best Of: Thomas Mallon's Diaries / Life & Death In The ER Writer Thomas Mallon talks about his diaries that were recently published in the New Yorker, titled Finding My Way– and Staying Alive — During the Aids Crisis. Mallon's latest novel, Up With the Sun, is based on the life and ...
03.10.2023 Revisiting The Genius Of Buster Keaton 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 and directed his ...
03.09.2023 Writer Thomas Mallon On His AIDS-Era Diaries Mallon talks about his diaries that were recently published in the New Yorker, in a piece titled Finding My Way — and Staying Alive — During the AIDS Crisis: A Diary of 1980s Manhattan. He was in his thirties then. ...
03.08.2023 Harnessing The Electricity In The Human Body Science writer Sally Adee says scientists are experimenting with ways to manipulate the body's natural electrical fields to try and treat wounds, depression, paralysis, and cancer. Her new book is We Are Electric. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead has an appreciation ...
03.07.2023 President Jimmy Carter We look back on the life of Jimmy Carter. He is spending his remaining time at home, under hospice care. Carter was elected president in 1976, and lost his re-election campaign to Ronald Reagan. He was later praised for redefining ...
03.06.2023 How The Police Became Untouchable UCLA law professor Joanna Schwartz talks about the legal protections — including qualified immunity and no-knock warrants — that have protected officers from the repercussions of abuse. Her book is Shielded. Also, David Bianculli reviews Mel Brooks' History of the ...
03.04.2023 Best Of: Cate Blanchett & Todd Field On 'Tár' / Actor Ke Huy Quan In Tár, Cate Blanchett plays a charismatic orchestra conductor who uses her power to take sexual advantage of young women she's mentoring. Tár is nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Director. Maureen Corrigan reviews ...
03.03.2023 A Tribute To Bluegrass Guitarist Doc Watson We pay tribute to Doc Watson on the centennial of his birth. The pioneering bluegrass, country and folk guitarist and singer changed the way people around the world think about mountain music. In his prime, he was considered the greatest ...
03.02.2023 The Rise Of QAnon Journalist Will Sommer went to road shows and spoke to believers and their families while investigating QAnon. His book, Trust the Plan, makes the case that there are more conspiracy theories to come.
03.01.2023 Cate Blanchett & Dir. Todd Field On Tár In Tár, Cate Blanchett plays a charismatic orchestra conductor who uses her power to take sexual advantage of young women she's mentoring. "For me, it was never really about classical music," director Todd Field says. "And it was about ...
02.28.2023 How The Fed Is Growing More Powerful We talk about a small group of unelected officials who make important decisions that affect our lives, all the time. New York Times reporter Jeanna Smialek covers the Federal Reserve, which manages the nation's money supply, and is currently struggling ...
02.27.2023 Ke Huy Quan On 'Everything Everywhere' Quan starred in the '80s films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies as a kid, before quitting acting. Now he's up for an Oscar for the first major acting job he's had in decades for the ...
02.25.2023 Best Of: 'Oscar Wars' / Marc Maron We'll talk with New Yorker staff writer Michael Schulman about his new book, Oscar Wars. It's about the ongoing conflicts surrounding race, gender, and representation in Hollywood, as well as earlier conflicts dating back to the founding of the Academy ...
02.24.2023 Remembering Richard Belzer & Tim McCarver We remember two accomplished performers from different fields: Sharp-witted comedian Richard Belzer, probably best-known for playing the dramatic role of Detective John Munch on Law & Order, and major-league catcher and Hall of Fame broadcaster Tim McCarver. Also, TV critic ...
02.23.2023 How An Ex-Con & Caterer Became Putin's Trusted Warlord Guardian journalist Shaun Walker talks about Yevgeny Prigozhin, the tough-talking convict-turned-businessman who recruits soldiers from Russian prisons to fight in Ukraine. "It's just so out of the realms of fantasy that this former convict is going to fly around prisons ...
02.22.2023 The 'Gold, Sweat, And Tears' Behind The Oscars From relentless campaigning to snubs and speeches, the Academy Awards have often reflected a cultural conflict zone. Michael Schulman sifts through the controversies in his new book, Oscar Wars. Also, Kevin Whitehead shares a remembrance of Burt Bacharach.
02.21.2023 Life, Death & Uncertainty In The ER Dr. Farzon Nahvi spent the early months of the pandemic as an emergency room physician in Manhattan. He talks about trying to improvise treatments during that time. His new book is Code Gray. Also, David Bianculli reflects on 10 years ...
02.20.2023 Robert Caro On LBJ For President's Day, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Robert Caro about the life of Lyndon Johnson. To understand his subject, Caro moved to the Texas Hill country to meet friends and associates of Johnson from his early years. At ...
02.18.2023 Best Of: Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin / Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter What do great conductors listen to when they're not on the podium? Philadelphia Orchestra/Met Opera conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin made a playlist, specifically for Fresh Air, of music that inspires him. It includes a surprising mix of pop, hip-hop and classical ...
02.17.2023 Remembering De La Soul's David Jolicoeur We remember David Jolicoeur, otherwise known as Trugoy the Dove, of the hip-hop group De La Soul. The influential group that emerged in the late 1980s brought a sense of fun and wit to the genre, as well as a ...
02.16.2023 Marc Maron Goes 'From Bleak To Dark' After the sudden death of his girlfriend Lynn Shelton in 2020, comedian and podcaster Marc Maron was forced to grieve in isolation. He talks about finding humor amidst his grief in his new HBO special, From Bleak to Dark. Also, ...
02.15.2023 A Playlist By Yannick Nézet-Séguin What do great conductors listen to when they're not on the podium? Philadelphia Orchestra/Met Opera conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin made a playlist, specifically for Fresh Air, of music that inspires him. It includes a surprising mix of pop, hip-hop and classical ...
02.14.2023 'Black Panther' Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter In the last 30 years, Ruth E. Carter has produced some of the most iconic looks in the Black film canon and beyond. She won an Academy Award for Black Panther and is now nominated for Wakanda Forever. She spoke ...
02.13.2023 Remembering Burt Bacharach We remember composer and arranger Burt Bacharach, who died last week at 94. Bacharach, along with lyricist Hal David, created dozens of pop hits of the '60s and early '70s. He was known for his rhythmically sophisticated and catchy pop ...
02.13.2023 Best Of: Laura Poitras & Nan Goldin / Jazz Pianist Brad Mehldau The new Oscar-nominated documentary, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, focuses on world-famous photographer Nan Goldin, her life, her work, and the protests she led at museums that accepted funding from the Sackler family. Their company, Purdue Pharma, manufactured and ...
02.10.2023 50 Years Of 'Schoolhouse Rock' It's been 50 years since Schoolhouse Rock appeared on Saturday morning TV to teach kids about math, grammar and history. We're listening back to portions of our interviews with some of the people behind those songs: Composer, pianist and singer ...
02.09.2023 Artist/Activist Nan Goldin & Filmmaker Laura Poitras The new Oscar-nominated documentary, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, focuses on world-famous photographer Nan Goldin, her life, her work, and the protests she led at museums that accepted funding from the Sackler family. Their company, Purdue Pharma, manufactured and ...
02.08.2023 1966: The Year Of Black Power Journalist Mark Whitaker says that much of what's happening American race relations today traces back to 1966, the year when the Black Panthers were founded and the Black Power movement took full form. It's also the year when when Stokely ...
02.07.2023 Inside The Criminal Investigation Into Trump's Finances Prosecutor Mark Pomerantz worked on the Manhattan District Attorney's office probe into Donald Trump's finances, then resigned after a new DA decided not to file charges. His book is People vs. Donald Trump. Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Up With ...
02.06.2023 Jazz Pianist Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles One of the most acclaimed jazz pianists of his generation, Mehldau sits down at the piano, for music and conversation. His album, Your Mother Should Know, interprets songs by The Beatles.
02.04.2023 Best Of: When A Doctor Becomes A Patient / Lizzy Caplan After working as a neurosurgeon for over 40 years, Dr. Henry Marsh was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. The cancer led him to reflect on doctor/patient relationships, his own mortality, and why he'd consider the possibility of hastening the end ...
02.03.2023 Author Julie Otsuka / Remembering 'Nation' Editor Victor Navasky After losing much of her memory to dementia, one of the things the main character in the novel The Swimmers remembers is being forced into an incarceration camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. Author Julie Otsuka talks about ...
02.02.2023 Inside The Haqqani Terrorist Network Journalist Jere Van Dyk has spent years in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he got to know leaders of the Haqqani network, responsible for many suicide bombings and kidnappings. His new book is Without Borders. Also, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead a ...
02.01.2023 How 'Modern-Day Slavery' Powers The Rechargeable Battery Economy Phone and electric car batteries are made with cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt Red author Siddharth Kara describes the conditions as a "horror show." Justin Chang reviews the Belgian film Close.
01.31.2023 Actor Lizzy Caplan The series Fleishman Is in Trouble is about marriage, parenthood, and middle age. Lizzy Caplan plays Libby, a mom and journalist who is struggling with identity since moving to the suburbs. Caplan's other films and TV shows include Mean Girls, ...
01.30.2023 When A Doctor Becomes The Patient Neurosurgeon Dr. Henry Marsh describes how his own cancer diagnoses led him to reflect on the doctor-patient relationship, his own mortality and medically-assisted death. He'll talk about his memoir, And Finally, and about his trips to Ukraine performing surgery and ...
01.28.2023 Best Of: Human Trafficking After Katrina / The Waco Siege F. Murray Abraham won the 1985 Best Actor Oscar for Amadeus. Now he co-stars in The White Lotus as Bert, a chauvinistic patriarch on vacation in Italy with his son and grandson. We talk about his career and life, and ...
01.27.2023 Sun Records Founder Sam Phillips / Crosby & Nash This month marks the centennial of the birth of Sam Phillips, the record producer who discovered Elvis and produced his first records. We're listening back to our interview with Phillips, who founded Sun Records in Memphis and also launched the ...
01.26.2023 How Social Media's Role Was Left Out Of The Jan. 6 Report Washington Post technology reporter Drew Harwell says the unpublished report shows that tech companies didn't respond to employees' warnings about violent rhetoric on their platforms.
01.25.2023 Revisiting The Waco Siege, 30 Years Later Author Jeff Guinn has written about cult leaders Charles Manson and Jim Jones. In the book, Waco, he draws on new interviews with federal agents and surviving Branch Davidians to revisit the 1993 confrontation, which left scores of people dead, ...

Older episodes

Fresh Air

What's Fresh Air about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Fresh Air episodes:

NYC Drag Queen & Photographer Linda Simpson

Ari Shapiro: On-Air, On-Stage & On-Page

How The Affluent Benefit From The Poor

Billy Crudup

Best Of: Memphis Drag Queen Bella DuBalle / Character Actor Clancy Brown

Michelle Yeoh / Adam Sandler

Memphis Drag Queen Bella DuBalle Won't Be Silenced By New Law

Inside A Safety-Net Hospital That Treats The Poor And Uninsured

Character & Voice Actor Clancy Brown

A Veterinarian Shares What Animals Have Taught Her

Best Of: Thomas Mallon's Diaries / Life & Death In The ER

Revisiting The Genius Of Buster Keaton

Writer Thomas Mallon On His AIDS-Era Diaries

Harnessing The Electricity In The Human Body

President Jimmy Carter

How The Police Became Untouchable

Best Of: Cate Blanchett & Todd Field On 'Tár' / Actor Ke Huy Quan

A Tribute To Bluegrass Guitarist Doc Watson

The Rise Of QAnon

Cate Blanchett & Dir. Todd Field On Tár

How The Fed Is Growing More Powerful

Ke Huy Quan On 'Everything Everywhere'

Best Of: 'Oscar Wars' / Marc Maron

Remembering Richard Belzer & Tim McCarver

How An Ex-Con & Caterer Became Putin's Trusted Warlord

The 'Gold, Sweat, And Tears' Behind The Oscars

Life, Death & Uncertainty In The ER

Robert Caro On LBJ

Best Of: Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin / Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter

Remembering De La Soul's David Jolicoeur

Marc Maron Goes 'From Bleak To Dark'

A Playlist By Yannick Nézet-Séguin

'Black Panther' Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter

Remembering Burt Bacharach

Best Of: Laura Poitras & Nan Goldin / Jazz Pianist Brad Mehldau

50 Years Of 'Schoolhouse Rock'

Artist/Activist Nan Goldin & Filmmaker Laura Poitras

1966: The Year Of Black Power

Inside The Criminal Investigation Into Trump's Finances

Jazz Pianist Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles

Best Of: When A Doctor Becomes A Patient / Lizzy Caplan

Author Julie Otsuka / Remembering 'Nation' Editor Victor Navasky

Inside The Haqqani Terrorist Network

How 'Modern-Day Slavery' Powers The Rechargeable Battery Economy

Actor Lizzy Caplan

When A Doctor Becomes The Patient

Best Of: Human Trafficking After Katrina / The Waco Siege

Sun Records Founder Sam Phillips / Crosby & Nash

How Social Media's Role Was Left Out Of The Jan. 6 Report

Revisiting The Waco Siege, 30 Years Later

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