Fresh Air

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Investigating the system that protected Sean “Diddy” Combs Sep 24, 2026

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Sean Combs founded Bad Boy Records and spent three decades as one of the most powerful men in hip hop. Now he's serving a federal prison sentence. Rolling Stone reporter Cheyenne Roundtree spent years talking to the people who worked for him, many of them trying to break into the music business. In her new book, Bad Boy for Life: The Rise and Fall of Sean Combs, she lays out what those jobs actually required. "This was supposed to be their jobs and careers... keeping their boss' domestic violence of his girlfriends a secret,” she tells Tonya Mosley.
Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews the new action thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.
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Global power, rivalry, and A.I.; a preview of the U.S./China summit Sep 23, 2026

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As President Trump and China's President Xi prepare to meet tomorrow, Rush Doshi of the Council on Foreign Relations explains the current state of US-China relations and what to expect from this summit.
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Inside the 'modern slavery' where cyber scammers are victims themselves Sep 22, 2026

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WIRED’s Andy Greenberg explains how a cybercrime operation in Southeast Asia trapped computer engineers into defrauding victims of billions of dollars. Plus he discusses the scam involving Fresh Air.
Also, jazz historian Kevin Whitehead reflects on John Coltrane for the centennial of his birth.
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Rhiannon Giddens traces the banjo from her ancestors to Beyoncé Sep 21, 2026

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A self-described "folkie to the bone," Giddens talks with Terry Gross about channeling her ancestors through her instrument, playing on Beyoncé’s country single “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and a connection between Irish folk music and Dolly Parton. Giddens also sings and plays banjo and fiddle throughout the interview. Her latest album, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, takes its name from an Emily Dickinson poem.
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Best Of: Colin Kaepernick / Danielle Brooks Sep 19, 2026

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10 years ago, former 49ers NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police violence against Black people. After the season ended, he never played in the NFL again. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about his childhood, football career, and activism. His memoir is his The Perilous Fight.
Actor Danielle Brooks first became known as Taystee on Orange Is the New Black. She spoke with Terry Gross about that series, growing up singing in her parents’ church, and landing the role of Sofia in "The Color Purple," both on Broadway and the film adaptation.
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Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones / Remembering singer Cassandra Wilson Sep 18, 2026

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The new film Coyote vs. ACME is based on the classic Warner Bros. cartoons featuring the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. Today, we listen back to Terry’s 1989 interview with animator Chuck Jones. He created the characters, among others, and directed many Looney Tunes cartoons. He says they had specific rules for the characters: “The roadrunner can never harm the Coyote. The Coyote could only harm himself by buying these unfortunate things he gets from the ACME corporation.”
Also, we remember singer and composer Cassandra Wilson who defied category but became a bona fide jazz star. Kevin Whitehead has an appreciation and we hear some of her interview with Terry. She died Sept. 2 at age 70.
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The Roy Cohn Playbook, from McCarthyism to Trump Sep 17, 2026

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In a biography of Roy Cohn, Kai Bird looks at how the lawyer taught President Trump to deny, delay, attack, sue and countersue, never admit defeat, side step paying bills and avoid a paper trail. His book, with co-author Susan Goldmark, is American Scoundrel. He spoke with Terry Gross.
Also, Ken Tucker reflects on three of Dolly Parton’s performances that he says demonstrate her range and her unique takes on romance and heartbreak.
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Is Jared Kushner a 'walking conflict of interest'? Sep 16, 2026

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Pulitzer Prize-winning New Yorker staff writer Dexter Filkins says while Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is a U.S. special envoy negotiating peace, he's also working on private business deals, raising billions in some of the same countries. “He's potentially a walking conflict of interest,” Filkins tells Tonya Mosley.
Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Our Noble Selves, by Kate Atkinson.
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Actor Danielle Brooks has blessings to count Sep 15, 2026

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Brooks grew up in a church where her mom was a minister and her dad a deacon. She went on to play Taystee in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. Now she co-stars in the indie film If I Go Will They Miss Me? Brooks spoke with Terry Gross about singing in the church, playing gospel icon Mahalia Jackson, and why she hesitated to take her breakout role in Orange.
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Colin Kaepernick is still fighting – for justice and for his football career Sep 14, 2026

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It has been 10 years since former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem, in protest of police brutality against Black people. Once the season ended, Kaepernick never played in the NFL again.
"The NFL tried to send a very clear message that if you protest police killing Black folks, if you fight for a better society and better community, we're going to try to take your career from you," he tells Tonya Mosley. "I don't accept that that is going to be the end outcome of this, and will do everything I can to make sure that I change that narrative." Kaepernick has written a memoir called The Perilous Fight. It begins long before the anthem, with his experience as a Black boy adopted by white parents, learning to keep early experiences of racism to himself. He explains why, after all this time, he still wants to play in the NFL, and why he would keep his kids from playing the game.
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