Fresh Air with Terry Gross

07/26/2024

Comedy legend Bob Newhart died last week at age 94. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1998 about his signature stammer, his colorblind stylist, and his epic friendship with insult comic Don Rickles.
Listen to our remembrance: https://tinyurl.com/5h9zwdnr

07/26/2024

Review: Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have good, thorny chemistry in this odd-couple action hero flick. But brand extension disguised as a satire of brand extension is still just ... brand extension.

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have good, thorny chemistry in this odd-couple action hero flick. But brand extension disguised as a satire of brand extension is still just ... brand extension.

07/24/2024

Jon M. Chu, the director of 'Crazy Rich Asians' and 'In the Heights' talks with Terry Gross about growing up in Silicon Valley, seeing Wicked for the first time, and learning to be adaptable. His 'Wicked' movie comes out in November.

Chu takes his inspiration from his dad, a Chinese immigrant who worked both the front room and the kitchen of their family-run restaurant: "The guy that in the back of the kitchen, that was my hero."

07/24/2024

Review: Dinaw Mengestu's ingenuity and eloquence as a writer are on display in this novel about an Ethiopian American man who returns home only to learn that his father has just died.

Dinaw Mengestu's ingenuity and eloquence as a writer are on display in this novel about an Ethiopian American man who returns home only to learn that his father has just died.

07/23/2024

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anne Applebaum says that today’s dictators — including Putin and Xi — are working together in a global fight to dismantle democracy, and Trump is borrowing from their playbook. Listen: https://tinyurl.com/5z8cr4n7

07/23/2024

Autocracy, Inc. author Anne Applebaum says that today’s dictators — including Putin and Xi — are working together in a global fight to dismantle democracy, and Trump is borrowing from their playbook.

07/22/2024

Filmmaker David Leitch says it's easier to do stunts himself than direct his stunt performer friends. "You are responsible for their safety," he explains. "Your heart goes through your chest."

07/19/2024

Dr. Ruth Westheimer's matter-of-fact s*x advice, along with her funny lively personality, made her a national media celebrity. She talked with Terry Gross in 1996 about the s*x talk as well as her early life when she escaped the n***s. She died July 12.
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/3256sm88

07/19/2024

Review: This follow-up to the 1996 blockbuster 'Twister' updates the original by making its heroine — not its hero — the center of gravity, but alas, the script doesn’t let her be a whole lot of fun.

This follow-up to the 1996 blockbuster Twister updates the original by making its heroine — not its hero — the center of gravity, but alas, the script doesn’t let her be a whole lot of fun.

07/18/2024

Humorist Shalom Auslander has written for decades about growing up in a dysfunctional household within an ultra-orthodox Jewish community. The title of his latest memoir comes from the Yiddish word for "yuck." Listen: https://tinyurl.com/55m2dhv3

07/18/2024

Review: Nicolas Cage plays a satanic murderer, and Maika Monroe is the clairvoyant FBI agent on his trail, in this tense and frightening horror movie.

Nicolas Cage plays a satanic murderer, and Maika Monroe is the clairvoyant FBI agent on his trail, in this tense and frightening horror movie.

07/17/2024

FRONTLINE | PBS documentarians Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes spent 34 years following two working-class families who lost well-paying manufacturing jobs and then struggled to regain their way of life. Their film is 'Two American Families.'
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/5aj4nmxp

07/16/2024

Review: Rosalind Brown's debut novel, Practice, centers on an undergraduate student trying to write an essay on Shakespeare. Along the way, we are treated to the fleeting insights of the the brain at work.

Rosalind Brown's debut novel, Practice, centers on an undergraduate student trying to write an essay on Shakespeare. Along the way, we are treated to the fleeting insights of the the brain at work.

07/16/2024

You may know her from 'Mare of Easttown,' 'August Osage County,' or 'Boardwalk Empire.' Character actor Julianne Nicholson likes disappearing into her roles. Now she stars in the new film 'Janet Planet.' Hear her conversation with Dave Davies:
https://tinyurl.com/99nkhd2w

07/15/2024

The shooter who tried to assassinate former President Trump used an AR-15. Today we talk about why this rifle is the weapon of choice for mass shooters, an icon in gun culture, and how it became popular with civilians with the help of clever marketing and lobbying. We talk with Todd Frankel, the lead reporter on the main story of a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post investigation into the history of the AR-15.
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/v2enw74y

07/11/2024

David Madland of the Center for American Progress says new, “good” jobs are on the rise, but many of the workers don’t realize it’s a result of Biden’s new industrial policies.

Listen: https://bit.ly/4bHziEd

07/10/2024

Disgraced financier Bernie Madoff scammed investors out of approximately $68 billion. Investigative journalist Richard Behar spoke to Madoff in prison more than 50 times in researching his new book. Behar also conducted interviews with Wall Street insiders, prosecutors, FBI agents, and people who lost most or all of their money investing through Madoff's company. The book is 'Madoff: The Final Word.'
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/4yh6xhkm

07/09/2024

Since the MeToo movement, Jill Ciment sees her marriage differently.

Ciment met her husband in the 1970s. At the time of their first kiss, he was a married father of two; she was his art student. In her memoir Consent she reconsiders the origin story of their marriage.

07/08/2024

Taffy Brodesser-Akner's new novel, 'Long Island Compromise,' centers on the kidnapping of a rich businessman, and the impact, decades later, on his grown children. Her previous book, 'Fleishman Is in Trouble,' was adapted into a FX/Hulu series.
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/3dwuzybs

07/03/2024

David Tatel, a former judge on the nation’s second highest court, shares his concerns about the state of our democracy and our judiciary. His new book is Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice.
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/9fdv5c3w

07/02/2024

Comedy writer Ian Karmel has been making fun of his own body since he was a kid. He wrote T-Shirt Swim Club: Stories from Being Fat in a World of Thin People along with his sister.

07/01/2024

New Yorker staff writer Emily Nussbaum discusses the lawsuits brought forth by the Love is Blind cast members, and reflects on how reality TV has impacted our culture. Her new book is Cue the Sun!

New Yorker writer Emily Nussbaum discusses the lawsuits brought forth by the Love is Blind cast members, and reflects on how reality TV has impacted our culture. Her new book is Cue the Sun!

06/28/2024

British singer/guitarist Richard Thompson spoke to Fresh Air in 1994 and 2022 about about his formative years with Fairport Convention and about pioneering a new musical genre that blended rock with traditional music of the British isles. He has a new album called 'Ship to Shore.'
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/3uu6zh7h

06/28/2024

Review: Writing and directing her first film, playwright Annie Baker exhibits uncanny powers of observation. Not much happens in this mother-daughter movie, but something momentous seems to have taken place.

Writing and directing her first film, playwright Annie Baker exhibits uncanny powers of observation. Not much happens in this mother-daughter movie, but something momentous seems to have taken place.

06/27/2024

New York Times political correspondent Shane Goldmacher has been following the flood of campaign finance money for both presidential candidates. Trump is now ahead of President Biden, backed by wealthy independent donors, many of whom gave millions after he was convicted of felony charges. Also, we discuss how Trump and Biden have prepared for their first debate Thursday night, and how this debate will be different
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/3ynr8nrm

06/26/2024

Michelle Buteau says covering the news of the 2001 terrorist attacks crystalized her desire to go into comedy. She stars in the film 'Babes' and in the Netflix series 'Survival of the Thickest.'

Buteau says covering the news of the 2001 terrorist attacks made clear: "We all might die. So I better start living." She stars in the film Babes and in the Netflix series Survival of the Thickest.

06/25/2024

Summer reads: There’s something about the shadowy moral recesses of crime and suspense fiction that makes those genres especially appealing as temperatures soar. Here are four novels that turn the heat up.

There’s something about the shadowy moral recesses of crime and suspense fiction that makes those genres especially appealing as temperatures soar. Here are four novels that turn the heat up.

06/25/2024

Ghanaian artist Blitz Bazawule is best known for directing the 2023 adaptation of 'The Color Purple: The Musical.' He also co-directed 'Black Is King' with Beyoncé. His new exhibit of paintings is about growing up in Ghana.
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/3nvyux4b

06/24/2024

In his book 'How the World Ran Out of Everything,' journalist Peter Goodman examines the supply chain breakdowns during the pandemic. He finds that decisions made in recent decades by corporate managers seeking to maximize profits and politicians determined to deregulate critical industries left the economy vulnerable to serious disruptions.
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/4t77rj8m

06/21/2024

Review: For the first time in a while — probably since his 2017 misfire, 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' — Yorgos Lanthimos seems to be spinning his wheels.

Fresh off of Poor Things, director Lanthimos' three-part dark comedy about domination and free will feels like a lazy and self-admiring riff — punctuated by the occasional crude shock.