Fresh Air

Latest Episodes:

Tim Robbins Believes In The Power Of Theater Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

The Oscar-winning actor/director has a new play, “Topsy Turvy,” about a chorus that loses its ability to sing together after COVID isolation."Things that I had held sacred or had held as truths were challenged," Robbins says of the pandemic. He talks with Tonya Mosley about ‘Shawshank Redemption,’ ‘Dead Man Walking,’ and how working with Robert Altman changed the trajectory of his career.
Also, David Bianculli reviews the new Netflix miniseries, ‘Death by Lightning.’

Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes.
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: Judd Apatow / Misty Copeland Nov 08, 2025

Show notes

Before he was directing box office hits or launching the careers of comedy superstars, Judd Apatow was a kid writing fan letters to his heroes, collecting autographs, and obsessively documenting everything. He’s now opened his personal archive for a new book of photographs, letters, scripts, and journals that shaped movies like ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin,’ ‘Knocked Up,’ and ‘Trainwreck.’
Also, we hear from Misty Copeland, who captivated audiences as the first Black woman to become a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. She also performed with Prince, who helped change her perception of herself. “He was my biggest supporter. He showed what it was the be one of a kind, to be unique and to use that as a power.”

Ken Tucker celebrates 50 years of Patti Smith’s album ‘Horses.’
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

Patti Smith’s ‘Horses’ Turns 50 Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

50 years ago next week, Patti Smith released her debut album, ‘Horses,’ ushering in a new era of rock and roll. We’re listening back to portions of our interviews with Smith, from 1996 and 2010. She talks about her early days in New York City, when she was trying to find her way as a poet, performer and later songwriter. When it came to ‘Horses,’ she says, “I thought I would do this record and then go back to my writing and my drawing and return to my somewhat abnormal normal life. But ‘Horses’ took me on a whole different path.” And Ken Tucker reviews the new anniversary edition of the album.

Also, we remember actress Diane Ladd in an excerpt of an interview with her daughter, Laura Dern. And David Bianculli reviews ‘Pluribus,’ the new series from ‘Breaking Bad’ creator Vince Gilligan.
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

Trump's Options To Subvert The 2026 Midterms Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

'Atlantic' journalist David Graham describes how President Trump could potentially use troops near polling places, pressure local election workers and have federal agents seize voting machines.

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Patti Smith’s ‘Bread of Angels,’ a prequel/sequel to ‘Just Kids.’

Misty Copeland Begins A New Chapter Nov 05, 2025

Show notes

Copeland says her final performance with American Ballet Theatre was a thank you to the communities that had supported her. "What I represented is something far bigger than me," she says. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her final bow, her relationship to pain, and the legacy of Black ballet dancers.
Also, David Bianculli reviews the new Peacock thriller series ‘All Her Fault,’ starring Sarah Snook.

The Undoing Of The Department Of Justice Nov 04, 2025

Show notes

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis talk about why the U.S. Justice Department’s cases against Donald Trump for alleged interference in the 2020 election and his retention of government documents never made it before a jury. They find both FBI officials and government prosecutors were at times reluctant to pursue leads out of concern for preserving the department’s commitment to fairness and independence from politics. Leonnig and Davis also detail many cases of Trump as president pressuring the DOJ to protect his friends and punish his perceived enemies. Their book is ‘Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department.’ They spoke with Fresh Air’s Dave Davies.

Richard Linklater: 'Filmmaking Is Problem Solving' Nov 03, 2025

Show notes

Filmmaker Richard Linklater doesn't speak French, but that didn't stop him from directing a movie that's almost entirely in French. ‘Nouvelle Vague’ focuses on the beginning of the New Wave of cinema, specifically Jean-Luc Godard and his landmark 1960 movie ‘Breathless.’ "I know that sounds insane," Linklater says, "but me not having the language wasn't even in my top 10 concerns about if I could pull off the movie." Linklater spoke with Terry Gross about the impact of the French New Wave, and his other new film, ‘Blue Moon.’ It’s about Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart, the former creative partner of Richard Rodgers.

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the novel Heart the Lover by Lily King.

Best Of: Guillermo Del Toro / Cameron Crowe Nov 01, 2025

Show notes

The great filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro has a new adaptation of Frankenstein. He saw the 1931 film when he was 7. “I realized I understood my faith better through Frankenstein than through Sunday Mass,” he tells Terry Gross. “And I decided at age seven that the creature of Frankenstein was gonna be my personal avatar and my personal messiah.” His other films include Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water.
Also, we hear from Cameron Crowe, who wrote and directed Jerry Maguire, Say Anything and the semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous, about writing for Rolling Stone starting at age 15. His new memoir is about being a naive teen, exposed to the excesses of rock musicians.
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 Making Of ‘Young Frankenstein’ Oct 31, 2025

Show notes

Mel Brooks’s classic 1974 movie Young Frankenstein parodies the iconic Frankenstein movies of the 1930s. This Halloween, we’re featuring our interviews with director Mel Brooks and stars Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Teri Garr and Cloris Leachman.

And film critic Justin Chang reviews the new film Bugonia.

The ‘Shadow President’ Dismantling The Government Oct 30, 2025

Show notes

In a New Yorker article co-published with ProPublica, reporter Andy Kroll describes Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, as a "shadow president" with oversized influence. “I don't think you can take in the full sweep of what this administration has done in less than a year and not come away with thinking that chaos is a goal, and certainly an outcome that serves Vought and his team’s larger agenda of putting cracks in the federal government, shaking the stability of this typically rock-solid steady institution that is the federal bureaucracy,” Kroll says.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected