Fresh Air
By
Fresh Air with Terry Gross, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs.
Episodes
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What's new this season on network TV? Not much
So many of the network's new prime-time series are like cafeteria casseroles: aggressively and intentionally bland. But late-night shows continue to offer spice in the form of biting humor.
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How culture wars divided one small progressive church in Philadelphia
Journalist Eliza Griswold says complaints about homophobia, white privilege and diversity are splintering progressive organizations — including one particular church. Her book is Circle of Hope.
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Singer/songwriter Randy Newman looks back on his decades-long music career
Ken Tucker reviews Robert Hilburn's biography of Newman, A Few Words in Defense of Our Country. Plus, we listen back to a 1998 archival interview with the Grammy Award-winning artist.
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Papal politics take an unholy turn in the clever thriller 'Conclave'
When the pope dies, backbiting, infighting and ruthless smear campaigning taint the effort to find his successor. Ralph Fiennes stars in a film perfectly timed for this nail-biting election season.
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For painter Titus Kaphar, forgiveness is 'a weight lifted off of your shoulders'
Kaphar draws on his own painful relationship with his father in his film, Exhibiting Forgiveness. He says the project gave him "a sympathy for my father that I never had as a young man."
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After John le Carré's death, his son had the 'daunting' task to revive George Smiley
Nick Harkaway grew up hearing his dad read drafts of his George Smiley novels. He picks up le Carré's beloved spymaster character in the new novel, Karla's Choice.
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What if a 'Blood Test' predicted you'd commit murder?
In Charles Baxter's new novel, a small-town insurance salesman buys a blood test that can predict romantic entanglements, promotions — and more. It's a screwball satire of all-American zaniness.
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What do Elon Musk and other billionaires want in return for backing Trump?
New Yorker writer Susan Glasser says Trump is highly transactional, so billionaires may be betting on access and a seat at the table if he’s re-elected. It’s what some of them got in his first term.
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'Somebody Somewhere' is about finding your people: Here’s how Bridget Everett found hers
Everett never felt like she fit in her hometown of Manhattan, Kan. After moving to New York City and developing a cabaret show, she returned to Kansas for her HBO show Somebody Somewhere.
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Fresh Air Weekend: Pharrell Williams; Riley Keough
The animated film Piece By Piece traces Pharrell’s early life in Virginia Beach to music superstardom. Elvis’ granddaughter says it was her "duty" to finish Lisa Marie Presley’s memoir.
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A sex worker marries the son of a Russian oligarch in the comically chaotic 'Anora'
Anora is easily one of Sean Baker’s funniest works — and also one of the saddest. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and the director says it's dedicated to sex workers "past, present and future."
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Sterlin Harjo says 'Reservation Dogs' gives audiences permission to laugh
Harjo was recently named a 2024 MacArthur Fellow. His TV show Reservation Dogs focused on group of teenagers living on a Native reservation in rural Oklahoma. Originally broadcast Sept. 19, 2022.
