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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Tracing The Course Of The O...

08.22.2019

'Washington Post' investigative journalist Scott Higham says recently released evidence shows the drug industry purposely shipped large quantities of pills to certain communities in pursuit of greater profits. "Small cities and counties in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania have just ...

Fresh Air episodes:

08.22.2019 Tracing The Course Of The Opioid Epidemic 'Washington Post' investigative journalist Scott Higham says recently released evidence shows the drug industry purposely shipped large quantities of pills to certain communities in pursuit of greater profits. "Small cities and counties in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania have just ...
08.21.2019 Character Actor Stephen Root After appearing in nearly 800 TV episodes and 100 films, Root received his first Emmy nomination for his role as a handler to a hitman in the HBO series 'Barry.' He also talks about his iconic roles in 'O Brother, ...
08.20.2019 The Renegade Anthropologists Who Reinvented How We Think About Race & Gender In his new book, 'Gods of the Upper Air,' Charles King tells the story of Franz Boas, Margaret Mead and the other 20th century anthropologists who challenged outdated notions of race, class and gender. Also, linguist Geoff Nunberg discusses the ...
08.19.2019 Exploring Underwater Caves Diver and photographer Jill Heinerth talks about some of her most dangerous and exhilarating experiences underwater — like getting trapped inside an iceberg in Antarctica. Heinerth also shares how she stays calm when things go wrong: "I take a really ...
08.17.2019 Best Of: Colson Whitehead / A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle With Opioids Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead's new book, 'The Nickel Boys,' is based on the true story of a notorious Florida reform school where many boys were beaten and sexually abused. Dozens of unmarked graves were discovered on the school grounds, ...
08.16.2019 Actor Jonathan Groff Groff stars in the crime-thriller series 'Mindhunter,' now in its second season on Netflix. He also talks about his roles on HBO's 'Looking,' and as King George III in 'Hamilton' on Broadway. (Originally broadcast October 2017) Also, film critic Justin ...
08.15.2019 Kitten Lady Hannah Shaw's job title is "professional kitten rescuer." Known on YouTube and Instagram as Kitten Lady, she has rescued hundreds of neonatal kittens, often orphaned and unweaned, who require a level of care that most shelters cannot provide. That's where ...
08.14.2019 Janet Mock On 'Pose' Mock made history as the first trans woman of color to write and direct an episode of TV for her work on Ryan Murphy's FX series 'Pose.' The show centers on the trans and queer ball culture in New York ...
08.13.2019 The 'Secret History' Of Koch Industries In his new book, 'Kochland,' journalist Christopher Leonard chronicles how Koch Industries and Charles and David Koch acquired huge businesses, limited their liability and created a political influence network to remake the Republican Party. Leonard says President Trump is a ...
08.12.2019 Sister Helen Prejean Prejean is best known for her 1993 memoir, 'Dead Man Walking,' about her role as a spiritual adviser to a convicted killer on death row. The story was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Prejean ...
08.10.2019 Best Of: Filmmaker Rodney Evans / Writer Jia Tolentino Rodney Evans is still making movies, despite having lost much of his vision. His new documentary, 'Vision Portraits,' is about how he and three other blind or visually impaired artists (a photographer, a dancer, and a writer) continue to do ...
08.09.2019 Remembering Toni Morrison The Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'Beloved,' 'The Bluest Eye,' 'Sula,' 'Song of Solomon,' and other novels, essays and children's books died Monday at 88. She was known for her precise, poetic prose. Her books drew from the ...
08.08.2019 Disinformation & The Murder Of Seth Rich In July of 2016, Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was murdered in his D.C. neighborhood. Police think he was the victim of a robbery gone wrong. But Russian intelligence operatives planted a fake report claiming that Rich was the ...
08.07.2019 Discrimination Against Women In Hollywood (With Geena Davis & Maria Giese) The new documentary 'This Changes Everything' explores how women in Hollywood are pushing for more representation in front of and behind the camera. Actor Geena Davis and director Maria Giese talk with Terry Gross about the dramatic disparities on screen. ...
08.06.2019 Jia Tolentino On Feminism, Ecstasy & The Internet 'New Yorker' staff writer Jia Tolentino writes about how social media shapes identity, public discourse and political engagement, particularly for millennials like herself. She talks about growing up in a Houston megachurch, her devastating year in the Peace Corps, and ...
08.05.2019 'Vision Portraits' Focuses On Visually Impaired Artists Filmmaker Rodney Evans is still making movies, despite having lost much of his vision. His new documentary, 'Vision Portraits,' is about how he and three other blind or visually impaired artists (a photographer, a dancer, and a writer) continue to ...
08.03.2019 Best Of: Comic Wanda Sykes / Crime Novelist Laura Lippman Wanda Sykes' latest Netflix stand-up special, 'Not Normal,' is nominated for two Emmys. She talks with Terry Gross about doing comedy in the Trump era, getting booed for criticizing the president, and coming out publicly at an LGBTQ rally. Laura ...
08.02.2019 Polar Photographer Paul Nicklen Paul Nicklen has spent decades documenting the Arctic, Antarctic and the effects of climate change. He talks about some of the dangerous situations he's been in while on the job. "I'm not really scared of death, I just want my ...
08.01.2019 Comic Wanda Sykes Sykes talks about coming out publicly at an LGBTQ rally, her double mastectomy, and her career before comedy — working for the National Security Agency. Sykes' latest Netflix stand-up special, 'Not Normal,' is nominated for two Emmys.
07.31.2019 How Tech Companies Track Your Every Move & Sell Your Data 'Washington Post' tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler talks about how web browsers, phone apps, and smart speakers are tracking users, even when they're asleep. Fowler listened to four years' worth of audio that Amazon had captured and stored from his Alexa ...
07.30.2019 Crime Novelist Laura Lippman Lippman's new novel, 'Lady in the Lake,' set in the 1960s, centers on Maddie Schwartz, who leaves her marriage, gets a job at Baltimore's newspaper, and begins investigating the mysterious death of a young black woman. Lippman talks about her ...
07.29.2019 Why We Need Insects / Illustrator Lisa Hanawalt Conservation biologist Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson warns that the world's insect population is on the decline — which may have serious consequences for human beings and many other species. Sverdrup-Thygeson talks about eating insects for protein, the ripple effect of insect species ...
07.27.2019 Best Of: 'The Farewell' Director Lulu Wang / The Nocturnal Brain When Lulu Wang's grandmother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given three months to live, the family flew to China to see her, but decided not to tell her the prognosis. "I turned out to be a surprisingly good liar," ...
07.26.2019 Ranky Tanky In 2017, three members of Ranky Tanky, a band that takes inspiration from the Gullah people, performed songs from their self-titled debut album. It builds on the music and culture of slave descendants. Their new album is 'Good Time.'Also, film ...
07.25.2019 Jane Mayer On The Case Of Al Franken The 'New Yorker' investigative reporter recently did a deep dive into the accusations of sexual misconduct that forced Sen. Franken to resign in 2017. Mayer says the chief accuser's story is full of holes. "I certainly knew that we were ...
07.24.2019 Filmmaker Lulu Wang On 'The Farewell' & Her Family's Real Life Lie When Lulu Wang's grandmother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given three months to live, the family flew to China to see her, but decided not to tell her the prognosis. "I turned out to be a surprisingly good liar," ...
07.23.2019 Sleep Disorders & The Nocturnal Brain Neurologist Dr. Guy Leschziner, author of 'The Nocturnal Brain,' says sleep is not a binary state, and the brain can be in multiple stages of sleep at once. That can explain why people sometimes walk, eat, and even have sex ...
07.22.2019 Breakthroughs In Heart Health Dr. Haider Warraich talks about advancements in treating and preventing heart failure, and explains how the understanding of healthy blood pressure and good cholesterol continues to evolve. His book is 'State of the Heart.' Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews ...
07.20.2019 Best Of: TV Critic Emily Nussbaum / Satirist Randy Rainbow Emily Nussbaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning TV critic for 'The New Yorker,' talks about the art of "terrible men" in the #MeToo era and TV's revolution (from low brow to high art). Her new book of essays and reviews is 'I Like ...
07.19.2019 50th Anniversary Of The Moon Landing For the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, we're listening back to archival interviews with Michael Collins, who circled the moon in the command capsule while Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were on the moon's surface; Alan Shepard, ...
07.18.2019 Corruption & Dysfunction In The Border Protection Agency When Customs and Border Protection was formed after 9/11 (as a part of the Department of Homeland Security), many agents signed up for the job thinking it would be a quasi-military position, focused on catching terrorists and stopping drug smugglers. ...
07.17.2019 Satirist Randy Rainbow Rainbow writes and performs satirical songs about President Trump set to melodies of show tunes. "I always considered song parody kind of cheap," the Emmy-nominated performer says. "But ... I've gotten [such a] response from others ... that I'm appreciating ...
07.16.2019 Novelist Colson Whitehead On 'The Nickel Boys' The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist's new book, 'The Nickel Boys,' is based on the true story of a notorious Florida reform school where many boys were beaten and sexually abused. Dozens of unmarked graves were discovered on the school grounds, which ...
07.15.2019 TV Critic Emily Nussbaum The Pulitzer Prize-winning TV critic for 'The New Yorker' talks about the art of "terrible men" in the #MeToo era, TV's revolution (from low to high brow), and what she calls "the bad fan." Her new book of essays and ...
07.13.2019 Best Of: Yiddish 'Fiddler On The Roof' / How 'Maiden' Sailed Into History A new Yiddish language production of 'Fiddler on the Roof' is currently running off-Broadway. Steven Skybell, who plays Tevye, and Joel Grey, who directs the show, explain why the play still resonates.Film critic Justin Chang reviews the thriller 'Midsommar.'In 1989, ...
07.12.2019 MLB's Keith Hernandez / Remembering Pitcher Jim Bouton & Actor Rip Torn The former first baseman played on championship teams with the Cardinals and Mets, and made a memorable appearance on 'Seinfeld.' His memoir, now out in paperback, is 'I'm Keith Hernandez.'MLB pitcher Jim Bouton, who died Wednesday, spoke to 'Fresh Air' ...
07.11.2019 The Ongoing Crisis At The U.S.-Mexico Border NY Times reporter Caitlin Dickerson has been documenting the impact of the Trump administration's policies on migrants — and on the workers who deal with the large number of people held in detention. Dickerson talks about the squalid conditions at ...
07.10.2019 Yiddish 'Fiddler On The Roof' A new, Yiddish language production of the musical is currently running off-Broadway. Steven Skybell, who plays Tevye, and Joel Grey, who directs the show, explain why the play still resonates.
07.09.2019 Gerrymandering, The 2020 Census & Voter Suppression 'Mother Jones' journalist Ari Berman says recent Supreme Court decisions on redistricting and the 2020 census will determine which party is in power in the next decade. Berman says while Americans are justifiably worried that Russia might try again to ...
07.08.2019 A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle With Opioids Travis Rieder became dependent on opioids after a motorcycle accident in 2015 that crushed his left foot, and forced him to endure six surgeries. His book 'In Pain' draws on his insights as a patient, and his subsequent research into ...
07.06.2019 Best Of: Sarah Jessica Parker / 'Leaving The Witness' Parker is best-known for her role as the iconic single New Yorker Carrie Bradshaw on 'Sex and the City.' Now, on the HBO series 'Divorce,' she plays Frances, a woman navigating the dissolution of her marriage. Also, Ken Tucker reviews ...
07.05.2019 Willie Nelson At the age of 86, Nelson is still going strong. He's touring and has a new record, 'Ride Me Back Home.' We'll listen back to two interviews with Nelson and hear a review of the new album. When Terry Gross ...
07.04.2019 Lizzo The flute-playing pop star celebrates self-love on her latest album, 'Cuz I Love You.' About 10 years ago, "I made the decision that I just wanted to be happy with my body," she says. Lizzo talks to Terry Gross about ...
07.03.2019 Sarah Jessica Parker Parker is best-known for her role as the iconic single New Yorker Carrie Bradshaw on 'Sex and the City.' Now, on the HBO series 'Divorce,' she plays Frances, a woman navigating the dissolution of her marriage. Parker spoke with Terry ...
07.02.2019 Uncovering The Story Of Chernobyl HBO's recent series 'Chernobyl' has renewed public interest in the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Journalist Adam Higginbotham has spent years investigating the causes of the accident and the dramatic efforts to contain the damage. He says design ...
07.01.2019 From Nightmares To PTSD, The Toll On Facebook Moderators 'Verge' journalist Casey Newton investigated working conditions for the moderators who determine what material can be posted to Facebook. Many are traumatized by the images of hate and violence they see. "I've talked to folks who will wake up in ...
06.29.2019 Best Of: Founders OF The 1st AIDS Ward / Comic Ramy Youssef The new documentary '5B' tells the story of America's first hospital unit dedicated to the care of people with AIDS. Nurse Cliff Morrison helped create 5B in 1983, and worked on it with Dr. Paul Volberding. They talked with Terry ...
06.28.2019 Novelist John Green On OCD Green's latest novel, 'Turtles All The Way Down,' is about a teenage girl with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The author spoke with Terry Gross about his own experience with OCD in 2017. "It starts out with one little thought, and then ...
06.27.2019 How An All-Female Crew Sailed Round The World & Into The History Books In 1989, 26-year-old skipper Tracy Edwards set out on what was thought of as an unthinkable journey for a woman — to sail the 33,000 mile Whitbread Round The World Race. She assembled an all-female crew, restored a shabby racing ...
06.26.2019 Founders Of The 1st AIDS Ward The new documentary '5B' tells the story of America's first hospital unit dedicated to the care of people with AIDS. Nurse Cliff Morrison helped create 5B in 1983, and worked on it with Dr. Paul Volberding. They talked with Terry ...

Older episodes

Fresh Air

What's Fresh Air about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Fresh Air episodes:

Tracing The Course Of The Opioid Epidemic

Character Actor Stephen Root

The Renegade Anthropologists Who Reinvented How We Think About Race & Gender

Exploring Underwater Caves

Best Of: Colson Whitehead / A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle With Opioids

Actor Jonathan Groff

Kitten Lady

Janet Mock On 'Pose'

The 'Secret History' Of Koch Industries

Sister Helen Prejean

Best Of: Filmmaker Rodney Evans / Writer Jia Tolentino

Remembering Toni Morrison

Disinformation & The Murder Of Seth Rich

Discrimination Against Women In Hollywood (With Geena Davis & Maria Giese)

Jia Tolentino On Feminism, Ecstasy & The Internet

'Vision Portraits' Focuses On Visually Impaired Artists

Best Of: Comic Wanda Sykes / Crime Novelist Laura Lippman

Polar Photographer Paul Nicklen

Comic Wanda Sykes

How Tech Companies Track Your Every Move & Sell Your Data

Crime Novelist Laura Lippman

Why We Need Insects / Illustrator Lisa Hanawalt

Best Of: 'The Farewell' Director Lulu Wang / The Nocturnal Brain

Ranky Tanky

Jane Mayer On The Case Of Al Franken

Filmmaker Lulu Wang On 'The Farewell' & Her Family's Real Life Lie

Sleep Disorders & The Nocturnal Brain

Breakthroughs In Heart Health

Best Of: TV Critic Emily Nussbaum / Satirist Randy Rainbow

50th Anniversary Of The Moon Landing

Corruption & Dysfunction In The Border Protection Agency

Satirist Randy Rainbow

Novelist Colson Whitehead On 'The Nickel Boys'

TV Critic Emily Nussbaum

Best Of: Yiddish 'Fiddler On The Roof' / How 'Maiden' Sailed Into History

MLB's Keith Hernandez / Remembering Pitcher Jim Bouton & Actor Rip Torn

The Ongoing Crisis At The U.S.-Mexico Border

Yiddish 'Fiddler On The Roof'

Gerrymandering, The 2020 Census & Voter Suppression

A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle With Opioids

Best Of: Sarah Jessica Parker / 'Leaving The Witness'

Willie Nelson

Lizzo

Sarah Jessica Parker

Uncovering The Story Of Chernobyl

From Nightmares To PTSD, The Toll On Facebook Moderators

Best Of: Founders OF The 1st AIDS Ward / Comic Ramy Youssef

Novelist John Green On OCD

How An All-Female Crew Sailed Round The World & Into The History Books

Founders Of The 1st AIDS Ward

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