Historian David Blight's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography traced Frederick Douglass' path from slavery to abolitionist and inspired HBO's documentary, Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches. "Seeing and hearing Douglass became, through the course of the 19th century, a kind of American wonder of the world," Blight says.

Also, we remember anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer, who died Feb. 21. He dedicated his life to providing health care for the poor in Haiti, Rwanda and other countries. He spoke with Fresh Air in 2011.

Film critic Justin Chang reviews Cyrano, starring Peter Dinklage.