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American socialism past & present, with historian Jill Lepore Nov 11, 2026

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American socialists are having their best year since 1912. In last week's midterms, six socialists were elected to Congress, and three were elected mayor, which means New York, L.A., Washington, D.C., Seattle, Ann Arbor and Providence are now led by democratic socialists. But socialism means different things to different people. Terry Gross talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore about these victories and the history of American socialism.
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How much money would it take to feel financially secure? Nov 10, 2026

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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mona Chalabi spent five years following 10 Americans living across the economic spectrum – from those living paycheck-to paycheck to top wage earners Her new book, Ten Lives, explores why financial security can feel so elusive. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about our stunted language around class, inheritance, and why so many people in the U.S. self-identify as middle class.
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‘Wild Horse Nine’ filmmaker Martin McDonagh Nov 09, 2026

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Filmmaker and playwright Martin McDonagh talks about his new movie, Wild Horse Nine. It’s a dark comedy about two CIA agents (Sam Rockwell, John Malkovitch) who travel to Easter Island before the 1973 coup d’etat in Chile. McDonagh also wrote and directed The Banshees of Inisherin, In Bruges, and Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri. He spoke with Terry Gross about the themes across his work – male friendship, guilt, regret, redemption, and mortality.
Maureen Corrigan reviews new books about Edgar Allen Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
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Best Of: John Turturro / Jordan Firstman on ‘Club Kid’ Nov 07, 2026

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John Turturro stars in the new film The Only Living Pickpocket in New York. To prepare, he studied with a pickpocket. Turturro is known for his roles in films by Spike Lee and the Coen Brothers, in acclaimed TV series The Night Of, and Severance. He spoke with Terry Gross about how growing up around volatility helped him understand some of his characters.
Also, Jordan Firstman talks about writing, directing and starring in the new comedy/drama film Club Kid. He plays a hard-partying gay club promoter who discovers he has a 10 year-old kid. He spoke with Ann Marie Baldonado about capturing the highs and lows of club life.
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Novelist Min Jin Lee on the promise and perils of Western education Nov 05, 2026

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Min Jin Lee’s new novel American Hagwon is her first in nearly a decade. ‘Hagwon’ is the Korean term for private tutoring centers. It’s the third installment of a four-part series on the Korean diaspora. Her previous, Pachinko, was a finalist for a National Book Award. In American Hagwon, Lee is taking on the promise and perils for Koreans who pursue a Western education. “I think education is a really beautiful thing,” she tells guest interviewer Aarti Shahani. “But I think we now really have to ask: Why do we get it and what do we want from it?” She’ll also reflect on surviving what she was told was a terminal diagnosis.
Critic-at-large John Powers reviews the new British comedy series Small Prophets.
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Jordan Firstman captures the highs and lows of being a ‘Club Kid’ Nov 04, 2026

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Firstman's new film, Club Kid, is about a gay party promoter whose life is upended when he discovers he has a young son. "Arlo teaches Peter to grow up, and I think Peter teaches Arlo to be a kid," he tells Fresh Air’s Ann Marie Baldonado. The filmmaker and actor talks about his own years partying in excess, finding inspiration in heartache, and his esoteric impressions that went viral during lockdown.
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The skyrocketing cost of elder care Nov 03, 2026

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A new AARP study finds family caregivers spend, on average, nearly a third of their household income on care. Sometimes, the first challenge is understanding how much help someone needs. We talk with NYT and KFF Health News journalist Paula Span. "Parents will downright lie and tell you on the phone they're fine and they're handling everything, and ‘you can just butt out, thank you,’ and then you go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas and you see the reality and think, things are not fine,” Span tells Tonya Mosley.
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John Turturro could pick your pocket (if he wanted to) Nov 02, 2026

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Lifting wallets and watches was part of Turturro's training for the new film, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York. In it, he plays a small-time thief who's also the primary caretaker for his ailing wife. Turturro spoke with Terry Gross about growing up around volatility, helping his parents with both construction and dressmaking, and how his background helped him connect with Spike Lee.
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Best Of: Making ‘La Bola Negra’ / 'New Yorker' cartoonists lament their kitchens Oct 31, 2026

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Spanish filmmakers Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (Los Javis) turned an unfinished play by a gay poet murdered during Spain's Civil War into a sweeping epic. La Bola Negra tells the story of three generations of gay men. They spoke with Tonya Mosley about the making of the film.
Also, New Yorker cartoonists Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein talk with Terry Gross about their embarrassment and shame over their kitchens.Their new graphic book is The Two Saddest Kitchens.
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Kazuo Ishiguro on ‘Klara and the Sun’ Oct 30, 2026

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Nobel Prize-winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Klara and the Sun is now a feature film, directed by Taika Waititi. The story is set in a future time, where children no longer go to school; instead they learn on devices, isolated from each other. The story is narrated by a human-like robot, who serves as one child's "artificial friend." Ishiguro spoke with Terry Gross in 2021, at the time of publishing.
Also, Justin Chang reviews La Bola Negra.
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