Fresh Air

Latest Episodes:

The American Presidency, Redefined Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian Jon Meacham talks with Dave Davies about Trump's impact on democracy. Meacham's latest book, ‘American Struggle,’ is a collection of speeches, letters and other original texts from 1619 to the present.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Best Of: Mixed Marriage Project / How Racism Costs Everyone Feb 14, 2026

Show notes

Dorothy Roberts’ father was a white anthropologist who studied interracial marriages and her mother was a Black woman from Jamaica. She always assumed her parents' relationship inspired her father’s scholarly focus, but that changed after he died, and she found boxes of interviews he conducted with interracial couples, dating back to the 1930s, decades before he met her mother. Robert's memoir is ‘The Mixed Marriage Project.’

We also hear from historian Heather McGhee. Her book, ‘The Sum of Us,’ examines a question at the heart of American life: Why do so many Americans believe that progress for one group means loss for another?

Also, David Bianculli talks about some TV shows he’s been catching up on.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

‘Sinners’ Songwriter Raphael Saadiq Feb 13, 2026

Show notes

Singer, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq is known for his work as a member of Tony! Toni! Toné!, as a solo artist, and for his work producing and writing for artists like Solange, D’Angelo, Beyoncé, John Legend, and more. “I Lied to You,” the song he co-wrote for the film ‘Sinners,’ has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. He spoke with Tonya Mosley.

Also, we remember jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski. His playing was influenced by classical techniques, swing and traditional jazz.
Justin Chang reviews Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights.’
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Fela Kuti and the music of political resistance Feb 12, 2026

Show notes

Considered the father of Afrobeat, Nigerian musician Fela Kuti used his music in the 1970s to combat colonial values and brutal dictatorship. Former Radiolab host Jad Abumrad tells his story in the podcast series, ‘Fela Kuti: Fear No Man.’ He spoke with Terry Gross.

Also, Fresh Air’s longtime executive producer Danny Miller is retiring. We close out the show with an appreciation and send-off from the staff.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Excavating the Epstein files Feb 11, 2026

Show notes

British journalist Vicky Ward first profiled sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 for Vanity Fair. The experience was so alarming and stressful that she went into labor with her twins at 30 weeks, two months early. More than 20 years later, Ward, still following the case, talks with Tonya Mosley about the fallout from the millions of publicly released documents, and why this story took so long to come out.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Love, Race & the ‘Mixed Marriage Project’ Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

Almost a decade after her father's death, legal scholar Dorothy Roberts had to confront the 25 boxes of his research collecting dust in her office. Roberts' parents, a white anthropologist and a Black woman from Jamaica, spent years doing research on interracial marriage and intimacy in Chicago. Her new memoir, ‘The Mixed Marriage Project,’ draws from their records. She says the project permeated every corner of her upbringing, and now, as a scholar herself, she’s reflecting on her life and racial identity with a new lens.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

The Ruby Ridge siege & conspiracy-laced politics in America Feb 09, 2026

Show notes

We look back at the 1992 siege at Ruby Ridge in Idaho, where gunfire left two civilians and a deputy U.S. Marshal dead. Chris Jennings’ new book explores the apocalyptic religious beliefs that led Randy Weaver and his family to move to a remote cabin, armed to resist government intrusion. He traces the impact of Ruby Ridge on the spread of conspiratorial anti-government and white-supremacist movements. His book is ‘End of Days.’

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the memoir 'Dizzy,’ by Rachel Weaver.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Best Of: Fighting for free press in Russia / ‘Fear and Fury’ Feb 07, 2026

Show notes

Julia Loktev’s latest documentary, ‘My Undesirable Friends - Part 1: Last Air in Moscow,’ follows independent Russian journalists in the months leading up to, and just after, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The film has arrived in the U.S. at a moment when questions about press freedom feel newly present. “Every day it feels like there is something to bring the story home for Americans, where it almost feels like there’s Easter eggs in the film that become more and more relevant.” she says.

Also, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Heather Ann Thompson revisits a 1984 New York City subway shooting, when Bernhard Goetz, a white man, shot four Black teenagers. In the days that followed, Goetz became a hometown hero. “We are watching someone tell us exactly who they are, exactly what they did, and it will not matter. Up will become down, down will become up. And that also felt very, very familiar to where we are today.” Her book is ‘Fear and Fury.’
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

A 50th anniversary celebration of ‘Taxi Driver’ Feb 06, 2026

Show notes

Martin Scorsese's masterpiece about loneliness, urban decay, and vigilantism is 50 years old this month. We’re revisiting archival interviews about ‘Taxi Driver’ with Scorsese, screenwriter Paul Schrader and actors Harvey Keitel, Cybill Shepherd, Jodie Foster, and Al Brooks.

Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews 'Pillion.'
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Following independent journalists fighting for free press in Russia Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

Julia Loktev's acclaimed documentary, ‘My Undesirable Friends,’ follows young Russian journalists in the months before and after Putin's invasion of Ukraine — and the impossible choices they face when dissent means prison or exile.

Also, jazz historian Kevin Whitehead revisits a two-night set Miles Davis did in Chicago in 1965.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected