RuPaul describes his drag persona as "one-part Cher, two-parts David Bowie, one-part Diana Ross and two heaping spoonfuls of Dolly Parton." The reality show he hosts and created, 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' is now in its 12th season on VH1. He talks with Terry Gross about his early punk style of drag, becoming a "glamizon," and the best advice his mother gave him. 

Also, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead shares a remembrance of legendary pianist McCoy Tyner.  He died last Friday at 81.

RuPaul

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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Writer Salman Rushdie talks about the knife attack that nearly killed him — and his life since then. In 2022, he was onstage at a literary event when the assailant ran up from the audience, and stabbed him 14 times. His new book is called Knife. 

Also, Diarra Kilpatrick talks about writing and starring in the new series, Diarra From Detroit, a dark comedy about a public school teacher who is ghosted by a Tinder date and, in her quest to find out why, investigates a decades-old mystery that takes her into the underbelly of Detroit. 

Ken Tucker reviews Tierra Whack's new album World Wide Whack.

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Best Of: Salman Rushdie's Survival / A New Kind Of Whodunit

Longtime PBS news anchor Robert MacNeil died last week at 93. He spoke with Terry Gross a few times over the course of his journalism career. We revisit those conversations. 

Also, we listen back to Eleanor Coppola's 1992 interview about her documentary, Hearts of Darkness. It chronicles the chaotic filming of Francis Ford Coppola's movie Apocalypse Now. She also died last week, at age 87.

David Bianculli reviews HBO's The Jinx — Part Two, which picks up where The Jinx left off: With Robert Durst admitting to murder.

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Remembering PBS Anchor Robert MacNeil

Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser says mergers and acquisitions have created food oligopolies that are inefficient, barely regulated and sometimes dangerous. His new documentary with Michael Pollan is Food, Inc. 2. 

Also, Justin Chang reviews the film The Beast. 

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Our Fragile Food System

Alua Arthur works with families, caretakers, and people close to death who want to be intentional about the end of life. She's learned through her work and her own experiences with loss that facing the inevitable can help lessen the anxiety and fear so many of us have around death. Her new book is called, Briefly Perfectly Human. 

Also, we remember painter Faith Ringgold, who died Saturday at the age of 93.

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A Death Doula Says 'Get Real' About The End

Rushdie was onstage at a literary event in 2022 when he was attacked by a man in the audience: "Dying in the company of strangers — that was what was going through my mind." His new book is Knife.

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RuPaul

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