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.

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'The Human Factor' & Middle...

01.26.2021

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 changed everything. We talk with filmmaker Dror Moreh about his ...

Fresh Air episodes:

01.27.2021 Surveillance & Local Police: How Technology Is Evolving Faster Than Regulation 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, facial recognition software and more. "The question is: Is it worth the cost ...
01.26.2021 'The Human Factor' & Middle East Peace Negotiations 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 changed everything. We talk with filmmaker Dror Moreh about his ...
01.25.2021 Exploring The Human Voice 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 parents' languages so quickly, and what makes ...
01.23.2021 Best Of: 'News Of The World' Director / Busting Myths About Exercise 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 aloud from newspapers ...
01.22.2021 How Tragedy & Resilience Made Joe Biden 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 Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters ...
01.21.2021 Busting Myths About Exercise 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. We'll also talk about how sitting and slouching affect ...
01.20.2021 Biden's Plan To Enact A Climate Agenda 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. John Powers reviews the Polish thriller film 'Spoor.'
01.19.2021 The Story Of The Blackwell Sisters, Pioneers Of Women In Medicine 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, prickly" 19th century trailblazers in her book 'The ...
01.18.2021 The FBI's Effort To Take Down MLK 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 talks about how the agency bugged his phones, surveilled hotel rooms, ...
01.16.2021 Best Of: Fran Lebowitz / The Legacy Of William Monroe Trotter 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 '70s, and her friendship with Toni Morrison. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead ...
01.15.2021 Remembering Michael Apted, William Link And Neil Sheehan 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 British citizens. He updated their stories with ...
01.14.2021 Dir. Paul Greengrass On 'News Of The World' 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 aloud from newspapers ...
01.13.2021 The Story Of 'Black Radical' William Monroe Trotter 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 in his time as a fierce advocate for ...
01.12.2021 The Racist History Of The Senate Filibuster 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 'Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate ...
01.11.2021 Humorist Fran Lebowitz 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 car, I'd leave it there," she says. Lebowitz also ...
01.09.2021 Best Of: Dr. Sanjay Gupta / Philippine Journalist Maria Ressa 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 'Outlawed,' a novel by Anna North, which she describes as 'Handmaid's Tale' ...
01.08.2021 Remembering Nature Writer Barry Lopez 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 lived among the Arctic's Inuit people for ...
01.07.2021 America's Pandemic Failures 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 mishandling of the outbreak and his novel ...
01.06.2021 Journalist Maria Ressa On Standing Up To Philippine President 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 on drugs," his expanding grip on all parts of the government and his ...
01.05.2021 Life In China's Surveillance State 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 recognition, a citizen point system, and the widespread ...
01.04.2021 Neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta On How To 'Keep Sharp' 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 talk about the importance of learning new ...
01.02.2021 Best Of: NPR's Nina Totenberg / 'Watchmen' Writer Cord Jefferson 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 Hill story, her friendship with the late Justice ...
01.01.2021 Francis Ford Coppola On Making 'The Godfather' 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 the making ...
12.31.2020 Loudon Wainwright III & Vince Giordano In Concert 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 Empire' and the film 'The Aviator.' Now they've gotten together ...
12.30.2020 Remembering Broadway Star Rebecca Luker 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 Poppins.' She also starred in a revival of ...
12.29.2020 Stephen King / Sir. Patrick Stewart 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 feels like something out of his ...
12.28.2020 'Queen's Gambit' Co-Creator Scott Frank 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 chess prodigy, then a chess ...
12.26.2020 Best Of: 2020 In Film, TV & Music 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 this year, and many people had more time ...
12.25.2020 Christmas Concert: Rosemary Clooney & Rebecca Kilgore 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 over the years. We'll ...
12.24.2020 2020 In TV, Film & Podcasts 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.
12.23.2020 How The Pandemic Made The Ultra-Rich Even Richer "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 have profited from the pandemic, and his ...
12.22.2020 Angela Bassett Bassett is one of the stars of the new Pixar animated film 'Soul.' She was in the Marvel blockbuster 'Black Panther' and has portrayed iconic people like Tina Turner in 'What's Love Got to Do With It,' and Betty Shabazz, ...
12.21.2020 Michael J. Fox The 'Family Ties' star was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease in 1991. He says that if he doesn't know if he can do something, he fakes it — a strategy that works 80 percent of the time. His memoir ...
12.19.2020 Best Of: Riz Ahmed / Rock Photographer Bob Gruen 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 communication and listening. Maureen Corrigan ...
12.18.2020 Elton John On Music, Addiction & Family Sir Elton John spoke with Terry Gross in 2019 after the publication of his memoir, 'Me.' The book was pretty forthcoming about family, addiction and sexuality, and so was the conversation. A new CD box set collects rarities, demos, B-sides ...
12.17.2020 COVID Vaccine Rollout & Where Research Fell Short 'Atlantic' science writer Ed Yong says the COVID vaccination program will be the most complicated the U.S. has ever attempted: "It's going to be a slow process, and there are a lot of possible roadblocks." We talk with Yong about ...
12.16.2020 American Folk Music Curators / Comedian Amber Ruffin Music producers Lance and April Ledbetter talk about curating their new anthology, which collects the flip sides of the 78s Harry Smith chose for his 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music. They spoke with producer Sam Briger. Also, we talk ...
12.15.2020 MC & Actor Riz Ahmed 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 communication and listening. We talk about ...
12.14.2020 Remembering Novelist (And Former Spy) John Le Carré Best-selling novelist John Le Carré, who died Dec. 12, worked for MI5 and MI6 early in his career and later drew on that experience in thrillers like 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' and 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.' ...
12.12.2020 Best Of: Kate Winslet / Loudon Wainwright III & Vince Giordano Kate Winslet co-stars in the new film 'Ammonite' as Mary Anning, a 19th-century paleontologist who has an intense love affair with the wife of a geologist. We talk about her new film and how things have changed for women in ...
12.11.2020 Rachel Maddow On Spiro Agnew's Bribery Scandal Richard Nixon's first vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned in 1973 amidst charges of bribery and tax evasion. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and producer Mike Yarvitz investigated the Agnew scandal in the podcast 'Bag Man.' Now their work on the podcast ...
12.10.2020 NYT Reporter Maggie Haberman Unpacks The Trump Years White House correspondent Maggie Haberman sheds light on Trump's refusal to concede."[He] can't handle the concept of the label 'loser,' " she says. "He has never before encountered a problem that he couldn't sue away through the court system or ...
12.09.2020 A Lawyer Combats The Mass Incarceration Crisis Lawyer Brittany Barnett works on behalf of people sentenced to harsh sentences as a result of the war on drugs. Nine of her clients have been granted clemency. Barnett's new memoir is 'A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, ...
12.08.2020 Rock & Roll Photographer Bob Gruen Gruen has photographed countless rock stars, including John Lennon, the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry and Tina Turner. We talk about his friendship with John Lennon, why Bob Dylan doesn't like him, and surviving the party lifestyle of the '70s. His ...
12.07.2020 Kate Winslet Winslet co-stars in the new film 'Ammonite' as Mary Anning, a 19th-century paleontologist who has an intense love affair with the wife of a geologist, played by Saorise Ronan. We talk about why the role scared her, how playing an ...
12.05.2020 Best Of: Hugh Grant / The Sanitation Crisis In Rural Alabama Hugh Grant co-stars in the HBO miniseries 'The Undoing' as a charming doctor suspected of brutally murdering his lover. We talk with Grant about the "blessed relief" of taking on darker roles. Film critic Justin Chang reviews 'Ammonite,' starring Kate ...
12.04.2020 Celebrating Jazz Great Dave Brubeck / Best Books Of 2020 We celebrate the life and music of influential jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, who was born 100 years ago. Brubeck's album 'Time Out,' released in 1959, was the first jazz album to sell a million copies. He spoke with ...
12.03.2020 National Security & The Final Weeks Of The Trump Administration President Trump has ousted his secretary of defense and the head of the Pentagon's Defeat Isis Task Force. Trump has also considered striking Iran, and is expected to pull troops from Afghanistan. We talk with 'New York Times' reporter Eric ...
12.02.2020 Loudon Wainwright III & Vince Giordano Play From The Great American Songbook Singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III and Nighthawks bandleader Vince Giordano collaborated on the 1920s and '30s style music for the series 'Boardwalk Empire' and the film 'The Aviator.' Now they've gotten together again on the new album, 'I'd Rather Lead a ...
12.01.2020 Hugh Grant Grant co-stars in the HBO miniseries 'The Undoing' as a charming doctor suspected of brutally murdering his lover. We talk with Grant about the "blessed relief" of taking a break from playing nice guys, his activism about tabloid privacy, and ...

Older episodes

Fresh Air

What's Fresh Air about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Fresh Air episodes:

Surveillance & Local Police: How Technology Is Evolving Faster Than Regulation

'The Human Factor' & Middle East Peace Negotiations

Exploring The Human Voice

Best Of: 'News Of The World' Director / Busting Myths About Exercise

How Tragedy & Resilience Made Joe Biden

Busting Myths About Exercise

Biden's Plan To Enact A Climate Agenda

The Story Of The Blackwell Sisters, Pioneers Of Women In Medicine

The FBI's Effort To Take Down MLK

Best Of: Fran Lebowitz / The Legacy Of William Monroe Trotter

Remembering Michael Apted, William Link And Neil Sheehan

Dir. Paul Greengrass On 'News Of The World'

The Story Of 'Black Radical' William Monroe Trotter

The Racist History Of The Senate Filibuster

Humorist Fran Lebowitz

Best Of: Dr. Sanjay Gupta / Philippine Journalist Maria Ressa

Remembering Nature Writer Barry Lopez

America's Pandemic Failures

Journalist Maria Ressa On Standing Up To Philippine President

Life In China's Surveillance State

Neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta On How To 'Keep Sharp'

Best Of: NPR's Nina Totenberg / 'Watchmen' Writer Cord Jefferson

Francis Ford Coppola On Making 'The Godfather'

Loudon Wainwright III & Vince Giordano In Concert

Remembering Broadway Star Rebecca Luker

Stephen King / Sir. Patrick Stewart

'Queen's Gambit' Co-Creator Scott Frank

Best Of: 2020 In Film, TV & Music

Christmas Concert: Rosemary Clooney & Rebecca Kilgore

2020 In TV, Film & Podcasts

How The Pandemic Made The Ultra-Rich Even Richer

Angela Bassett

Michael J. Fox

Best Of: Riz Ahmed / Rock Photographer Bob Gruen

Elton John On Music, Addiction & Family

COVID Vaccine Rollout & Where Research Fell Short

American Folk Music Curators / Comedian Amber Ruffin

MC & Actor Riz Ahmed

Remembering Novelist (And Former Spy) John Le Carré

Best Of: Kate Winslet / Loudon Wainwright III & Vince Giordano

Rachel Maddow On Spiro Agnew's Bribery Scandal

NYT Reporter Maggie Haberman Unpacks The Trump Years

A Lawyer Combats The Mass Incarceration Crisis

Rock & Roll Photographer Bob Gruen

Kate Winslet

Best Of: Hugh Grant / The Sanitation Crisis In Rural Alabama

Celebrating Jazz Great Dave Brubeck / Best Books Of 2020

National Security & The Final Weeks Of The Trump Administration

Loudon Wainwright III & Vince Giordano Play From The Great American Songbook

Hugh Grant

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