Michael Schur wrote for the The Office, and created The Good Place, and co-created Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. His new show for Netflix, A Man on the Inside, features Ted Danson as a widowed retiree who goes undercover in a retirement community. He spoke with Terry Gross about the series.

Later, comic and Silicon Valley actor Jimmy O. Yang talks about his new Hulu series, Interior Chinatown. He plays a waiter who inadvertently becomes central to a crime story.

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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 returning to the U.S. "At one time or another he was the target of the entire security apparatus of the United States of America," Eyman says. His book is Charlie Chaplin vs. America.

Also, Justin Chang reviews two highly-anticipated blockbusters, Wicked and Gladiator II.

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Michael Schur wrote for the The Office, and created The Good Place, and co-created Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. His new show for Netflix, A Man on the Inside, features Ted Danson as a widowed retiree who goes undercover in a retirement community. He spoke with Terry Gross about the series, making fun of NPR (lovingly) on Parks, and being a life-long rule-follower.

Also, our TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new series and says it's the sweetest show since Ted Lasso.

Subscribe to Fresh Air's weekly newsletter for staff recommendations, gems from the archive, and a peek at what's coming next week.

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Trump has called the press the "enemy of the people" and threatened retribution, including jailing reporters, investigating NBC for treason, and suggesting CBS's broadcast license be taken away. Terry Gross talks with David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, and Marty Baron, former executive editor of The Washington Post, about the media landscape as we head into a second Trump administration.

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The actor-singer-entrepreneur stars in Emilia Pérez, the new Spanish-language musical about a cartel boss who undergoes gender-affirming surgery. Gomez talks with Tonya Mosley about re-learning Spanish, her Disney years, and working alongside comedy legends Martin Short and Steve Martin in Only Murders in the Building.

Also, Ken Tucker shares three great country songs: Maren Morris' "People Still Show Up," Dwight Yoakam's "A Dream That Never Ends," and Shawna Thompson's "Lean On Neon."

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In his new Hulu comedy series, Interior Chinatown, Jimmy O. Yang plays a waiter who inadvertently becomes central to a crime story. As an Asian American actor, he says he relates to the character's feeling of invisibility. Yang talks with Ann Marie Baldonado about auditioning for Silicon Valley, working alongside his dad, and feeling like an outsider among other Asians in California.

Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews the Indian movie All We Can Imagine as Light.

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Atlantic staff writer Annie Lowery suffers from a rare liver condition that causes severe chronic itch. It led her to look into the stigma of itchiness, the itch-scratch cycle, and finding acceptance in her body.

Also, we hear from screenwriter and author of one of the most anticipated novels of the season, Richard Price. His new novel, Lazarus Man, is about second chances. Price also wrote for the HBO shows The Wire, The Deuce and The Night Of.

And Maureen Corrigan has two books to recommend if you're looking for inspiration, beauty, and humor.

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Kerri Russell stars in the Netflix political drama The Diplomat as a foreign service officer tapped to become the American ambassador to the UK. Russell also starred in the series Felicity and The Americans. She spoke with us last year about these characters and getting her start on The All New Mickey Mouse Club as a kid.

Also, we remember author Dorothy Allison, who died this week at age 75. Her critically acclaimed 1992 novel Bastard out of Carolina was based on her own childhood experience of being physically and sexually abused. We listen back to Terry's interview with Allison about the book and her life.

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In Richard Price's new novel, Lazarus Man, a five-story building collapses, upending the lives of the building's residents. It's about second chances and finding the faith to carry on. Price has written for HBO's The Wire and The Deuce, and co-created HBO's The Night Of and The Outsider. Several of his novels, including Clockers, were adapted into films. He spoke with Terry Gross.

Also, Maureen Corrigan shares two books that offer humor and beauty: Billy Collins' collection of poetry Water, Water, and The Dog Who Followed The Moon by James Norbury.

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With wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Ukraine, and with high tariffs on the horizon, The Economist Editor-In-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes says president-elect Trump's agenda may be chaotic. But she stays resolutely optimistic about possible good elements in his foreign policy.

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