Fresh Air

Latest Episodes:

David Sedaris wants to be better (at everything) May 26, 2026

Show notes

Humorist David Sedaris says the best part of reading his work to an audience is earning the laughs — or the groans. "A collective groan is fine with me," he says. Sedaris reflects on his Duolingo obsession, AI, and why he’ll continue writing and touring as long as he possibly can. His new book of essays is ‘The Land and Its People.’ He spoke with guest interviewer Sam Fragoso, host of the podcast ‘Talk Easy.’
Also, John Powers reviews two new mystery novels: ‘The End of the Sahara,’ by the Algerian writer Saïd Khatibi, and ‘An Enigma by the Sea,’ by Italian authors Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini.
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

Billie Eilish & Finneas May 25, 2026

Show notes

Popstar Billie Eilish has a new 3D concert film that she co-directed with James Cameron. She and her brother and co-producer Finneas spoke with Terry Gross in 2024 about the album ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft.’
Also, for Memorial Day, book critic Maureen Corrigan reflects on the history of pocket-size books that soldiers were given in WWII.
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

Stephen Colbert / Remembering MA Rep. Barney Frank May 23, 2026

Show notes

Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ ended last night after 11 years. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2016 shortly after he took over from David Letterman. Before that, Colbert played a conservative persona in the vein of Bill O'Reilly on ‘The Colbert Report.’ When he started ‘The Late Show,’ out of character, he said, “I knew it would be a little bit of a public discovery. It's somebody else's joke, but life is like learning to play the violin in public. You don't know what you're doing until you do it.”
Also we remember Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, who died this week at age 86. The influential Democrat helped normalize being openly gay in public office. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2015.
Also, John Powers reviews the horror-comedy Apple TV series ‘Widow’s Bay.’
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: Zayd Ayers Dohrn’s childhood on the run / Writer Jesmyn Ward May 23, 2026

Show notes

Zayd Ayers Dohrn’s mother, Bernardine Dohrn, was a leader of SDS, a student group protesting the Vietnam War. She also led a faction that broke away and became the Weather Underground, advocating armed resistance against the government. His father, Bill Ayers, was also an activist-turned-revolutionary. In a new memoir, Zayd wrestles with questions he had growing up, like if his parents were living underground and on the run from the FBI, why did they have kids? He spoke with Terry Gross.
Also, two-time National Book Award winning writer Jesmyn Ward (‘Salvage the Bones,’ ‘Sing, Unburied, Sing’) has a new essay collection on grief, motherhood, and survival. It’s called ‘On Witness and Respair.’ She spoke with Tonya Mosley.
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

Rose Byrne May 21, 2026

Show notes

Rose Byrne starred in big box office comedies like ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘Neighbors,’ and, more recently, the indie film ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,’ which kind of defies genre. It’s about a woman trying to care of her sick daughter while her life is unraveling. “In many ways, it tapped into the monster within and the fear of being a parent and the horror of being a parent – and some of the joy, too.” Her raw performance won a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination this year. Now Byrne is nominated for a Tony for her performance in a revival of Noël Coward’s play ‘Fallen Angels.’ She spoke with producer Ann Marie Baldonado.
Later, TV critic Davie Bianculli reflects on the end of ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.’ The final episode airs tonight.
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 Justice Department gives Trump an unprecedented settlement May 20, 2026

Show notes

D.O.J. gave President Trump and his family immunity from tax audits and set up a $1.8 billion fund for victims of "government weaponization." Former government lawyer Andrew Weissmann explains the settlement. His book is 'Liar’s Kingdom: How to Stop Trump's Deceit and Save America'
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

Through loss, Jesmyn Ward will always return to the word May 19, 2026

Show notes

Jesmyn Ward learned the term "respair" — the recovery of hope after despair — in 2020, shortly after her partner died suddenly. Her new book, ‘On Witness and Respair,’ is an essay collection on grief, motherhood and survival. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about writing through painful things and why she returned to her native Mississippi. Her previous National Book Award-winning novels are ‘Sing, Unburied, Sing’ and ‘Salvage the Bones.’
Also, jazz critic Martin Johnson reviews an album from Tomeka Reid.
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

Son of radicals, Zayd Ayers Dohrn grew up underground & on the run May 18, 2026

Show notes

"From my very first memories, I knew that the FBI was chasing us," Zayd Ayers Dohrn says. "My parents tried to explain it in terms [like] we were like Robin Hood or we were like the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars. So I knew in the way a kid knows that our lives were precarious."
His mother, Bernardine Dohrn, was a leader of the '60s radical student group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which opposed the war in Vietnam and racism. Along with his father, Bill Ayers, she helped found the Weather Underground, a group committed to armed resistance against the government.
Dohrn spoke with Terry Gross about his radical childhood on the run, visiting his mom in prison, and the questions he needed to ask his parents. His book is ‘Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground.’
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: Boots Riley / Will Sharpe May 16, 2026

Show notes

Boots Riley talks about his new film, ‘I Love Boosters.' It stars Keke Palmer as the leader of a crew of women shoplifters who steal from luxury stores and sell the goods cheap to people who can't afford retail. Riley says he thinks of his work labor organizing, filmmaking and writing hip-hop music as the same project.
Also, we’ll hear from actor Will Sharpe. He starred in season two of ‘The White Lotus,’ Lena Dunham’s series ‘Too Much,’ and the movie ‘A Real Pain.’ Now he plays Mozart in a new adaptation of ‘Amadeus.’
TV critic David Bianculli reviews a new special by David Attenborough.
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

Remembering Philip Caputo, who wrote an unflinching Vietnam War memoir May 15, 2026

Show notes

Philip Caputo wrote the 1977 acclaimed and unflinching memoir ‘A Rumor of War,’ about leading a Marine platoon during the Vietnam War. It taught him a painful truth. “I had discovered that I had a capacity to be violent and dark in my actions in a way that totally shocked me,” he told Terry Gross in 2005. He went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Caputo died May 7 at 84.
Also, celebrated naturalist and nature documentarian Sir David Attenborough turned 100 this month. We listen back to his 1995 interview with Terry Gross about working in the field.
John Powers reviews the new film ‘The Wizard of the Kremlin.’
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