After the AIDS epidemic hit San Francisco, gay activist Cleve Jones co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and started the AIDS Memorial Quilt. "I have these memories of great struggle and great pain and great loss, but I also in my lifetime have seen extraordinary progress and amazing change," he says. His memoir, 'When We Rise,' was published in 2016.

Marijane Meaker wrote the lesbian pulp novel 'Spring Fire' in 1952, and was surprised when it sold 1.5 million copies. She went on to write other lesbian-themed books under pen names. She spoke with Terry Gross in 2003. 

Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews Jon Stewart's political satire film 'Irresistible.'

LGBTQ Activist Cleve Jones / Novelist Marijane Meaker

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 enjoy bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening - all while you support NPR's mission. Learn more at plus.npr.org/freshair

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

TV & Film

Books

Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sympathizer has been adapted into a series on HBO/MAX. It's set in Vietnam during the last days of the war, and in LA, just after. The narrator becomes a consultant to a Hollywood film about the war. The novel is written from a Vietnamese perspective. "It's my revenge on Francis Ford Coppola, my revenge on Hollywood, to try to get Americans to understand that Vietnam is a country and not a war," he told Terry Gross in 2016. Nguyen's family fled their village in South Vietnam in 1975, when it was taken over by the North. 

Also, David Bianculli reviews Let It Be, the Beatles film restored and rereleased after being shelved for more than 50 years.


Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

'The Sympathizer' Author Viet Thanh Nguyen

We remember painter and sculptor Frank Stella, whose early work was considered revolutionary. He died last week at age 87. Stella became famous and controversial in the 1950s for his "black paintings," which were a stark contrast to the abstract expressionism of the time, and made him one of the fathers of minimalism. 

Later, we'll feature an interview with one of the most influential early rock and roll guitarists, Duane Eddy. He also died last week. 

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Long Island, Colm Tóibín's new sequel to his bestselling novel Brooklyn. 

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Remembering Minimalist Painter Frank Stella

#BlackLivesMatter. #OscarsSoWhite. #ICantBreathe. Filmmaker Prentice Penny's docuseries about Black Twitter celebrates the voices and movements that impacted politics and culture. Penny was also the showrunner of the HBO series Insecure. 

Also, John Powers reviews the four-part series Shardlake, based on C.J. Sansom's first novel in a series about a crime-solving lawyer in 16th-century England.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

A People's History Of Black Twitter

Griner spent nearly 300 days incarcerated in Russia after authorities at the Moscow airport found two nearly empty cartridges of cannabis in her luggage. The WNBA star spoke with Terry Gross about the dehumanizing prison conditions, her release, and return to the court. Griner, who is 6'9", says she felt like a zoo animal in prison. "The guards would literally come open up the little peep hole, look in, and then I would hear them laughing." Her new memoir is Coming Home.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

WNBA Star Brittney Griner Imprisonment & Release

Climate journalist Zoë Schlanger explains the fascinating science behind how plants learn, communicate, and adapt to survive. She says plants can store memories, trick animals into not eating them, and even send alarm calls to other plants.  Her new book is called The Light Eaters. 

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new Netflix series A Man in Full, starring Jeff Daniels and Diane Lane.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

LGBTQ Activist Cleve Jones / Novelist Marijane Meaker

Download our free app to listen on your phone