Fresh Air

Benicio del Toro talks about his leading role in Wes Anderson's new film, The Phoenician Scheme. He'll look back on his acting career, and tell us about moving from Puerto Rico to Pennsylvania in his teens. His other movies include The Usual Suspects, Traffic and Sicario. Film critic Justin Chang reviews Materialists. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal dat...

Washington Post Reporter Hannah Natanson says DOGE's mass firings made the government more inefficient. She also explains the risks of DOGE creating a massive database for the Trump administration. "There's a great deal of concern over how basically the Trump administration has taken every tool at their disposal and weaponized a lot of the federal government," she tells Terry Gross. Book critic Ma...

MSNBC political analyst Molly Jong-Fast's mother Erica Jong became famous from her 1973 novel Fear of Flying, which was considered a groundbreaking work of feminist literature. But Molly's mom became addicted to the fame and couldn't bear to lose it. She talks about her childhood and a year of great loss in her new memoir, How to Lose Your Mother. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our coll...

Okatsuka is known for her bowl haircut — and for finding humor in the dysfunction of her immigrant family. Her new standup special, Father, is about her dad, who reappeared in her life after decades away. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about being a caretaker, her signature style, and following in the footsteps of Margaret Cho. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of perso...

Playing Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy, made Desi Arnaz a star. Behind the scenes, he created what became standard procedures for producing, shooting, lighting and broadcasting TV sitcoms. Author Todd Purdum talks about his new book Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television. Also, we hear from Mark Hamill. He's in the new movie The Life of Chuck and is known for playing the iconic hero Luke Skywal...

Do you have trouble remembering names and faces, or where you put your keys? Neurologist Dr. Charan Ranganath talks about the latest research into memory. His book is called Why We Remember. Alf Clausen, the Emmy-winning composer, arranger and orchestrator behind the music and song parodies on The Simpsons, died at 84. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1997. And Justin Chang reviews the new film The Li...

Poet and novelist Ocean Vuong joins us to discuss his new novel, The Emperor of Gladness. Set in a fictional small town in Connecticut, it follows a 19-year-old grappling with addiction and despair, who forms an unexpected bond with an 82-year-old widow living with dementia. Together, they navigate memory and survival. He also talks about teaching and why he's put an end date on the number of book...

The Trump administration has frozen around 3 billion dollars in Harvard grants and contracts, and is trying to stop the university's ability to enroll foreign students. In response, Harvard is suing. Terry Gross talks with Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman. TV critic David Banculli previews CNN's live telecast of the broadway production of Good Night, and Good Luck, starring George Clooney as TV...

Mark Hamill played Luke Skywalker, one of the most iconic heroes in movie history. His latest film, The Life of Chuck, is an adaptation of a Stephen King novella. He spoke to Fresh Air about auditioning for Star Wars, voiceover work, and the advice Carrie Fisher gave him. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sp...

The success of I Love Lucy is often credited to Lucille Ball's comedic talent, but biographer Todd Purdum says Desi Arnaz was more than just "second banana" to Lucy. He also helped shape the modern sitcom. Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews a documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to man...

Comic Sarah Silverman talks about her new Netflix special, PostMortem, about the death of her father and stepmother, 9 days apart. She talks with Terry Gross about how the special came to be. Also, we hear from Cole Escola, creator and star of the hit Broadway comedy Oh Mary! It's an intentionally ridiculous reimagining of first lady Mary Todd Lincoln. It portrays her as having become addicted to...

Filmmaker and stunt coordinator 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." His film The Fall Guy is about the unknown performers who put their lives on the line. He spoke with Terry Gross about barrel rolling cars, being lit on fire, and doing another take whe...

Silverman's father and stepmother are buried under one tombstone that reads: "Janice and Donald, who loved to laugh." The loss was a starting point for Silverman's "cathartic" Netflix comedy special, PostMortem. She spoke with Terry Gross about their final days, finding the joy in grief, and she reflects on the boys' club of the comedy scene when she was starting out. See pcm.adswizz.com for infor...

The Atlantic writer George Packer calls JD Vance the most interesting figure in the Trump administration: "He's capable of complex thought, and I also think he may be the future of the MAGA movement." Also, David Bianculli reviews the HBO movie Mountainhead, written by Succession writer/creator Jesse Armstrong. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for s...

James Patterson's books have sold over 400 million copies worldwide. He says he often gets ideas for them late at night. His latest, The #1 Dad Book, offers advice for fathers. He spoke with Terry Gross at a WHYY live event for the "Lifelong Learning Award." Also, Martin Johnson reviews a new album from accordionist Will Holshouser, and we listen back to Terry's interview with him when he brought...

For the holiday weekend, we're revisiting our recent interview with Questlove. His documentary, SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), examines Sly Stone's enormous impact on music — and the price he paid for it. "Sly will invent the alphabet for which most of pop and R&B or Black music will write from for the next 60 years," Questlove says. "We're still writing from his dictionary to th...

Professors and educators are now turning to A.I. to prepare lessons, teach, and even grade students' work. We talk with New York Times tech reporter Kashmir Hill about the ongoing debate in higher-ed about A.I.. TV critic David Bianculli reviews One to One, a new documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Also, writer Amanda Hess talks about motherhood in the digital age, navigating a world where...

We remember Broadway composer Charles Strouse, who died May 15 at age 96. He wrote the music for the hit musicals Bye Bye Birdie and Annie, which included such songs as "Put On a Happy Face," "A Lot of Livin' to Do," and "Tomorrow." Jay-Z sampled "Hard Knock Life," from Annie, on a Grammy-award-winning rap recording. Strouse understood why: "I wanted that song to be gritty. I didn't want it to be...

Walton Goggins talks with Tonya Mosley about growing up poor in the Deep South, the travel that changed him, and collaborating with his wife. He says his unconventional childhood shaped his approach to acting, from Justified to The White Lotus and The Righteous Gemstones. David Bianculli reviews a new two-part HBO documentary about Paul Reubens, who played Pee-Wee Herman. See pcm.adswizz.com for i...

Colleges and universities have been trying to fight against students using tools like ChatGPT to do class assignments and communicate. But here's a twist: Professors and educators are now turning to A.I. to prepare lessons, teach, and even grade students' work. We talk with NYT tech reporter Kashmir Hill about these conflicts on campus. Also, she shares what she learned after giving over her life...

CNN host Jake Tapper's book, Original Sin, co-authored by Alex Thompson, describes a president who struggled to function: "One person told us that the presidency was, at best, a five-person board with Joe Biden as chairman." Tapper spoke with Terry Gross about moderating the disastrous Biden/Trump debate, George Clooney's op-ed calling for the president to drop out, and the White House's "cover-up...

Escola gives former first lady Mary Todd Lincoln a wild second act in the Tony-nominated play Oh, Mary! "This play is about a woman with a dream that no one around her understands," Escola says. The actor spoke with Ann Marie Baldonado about growing up in rural Oregon, the inspiration for the play, and making sense of its surprise success. Maureen Corrigan reviews Ocean Vuong's new novel, The Empe...

Ramy Youssef's new animated comedy series, #1 Happy Family USA, is about an Egyptian American Muslim family living in New Jersey, after 9/11, trying to blend in and doing everything they can to avoid being seen as a threat. Youssef spoke with Terry Gross about the series and his own experience during that time. Also, Danny McBride talks with Tonya Mosley about his HBO series The Righteous Gemstone...

There's a new documentary about the '60s British band The Zombies. It's called 'Hung Up on a Dream' and it's streaming on Amazon Prime. We're listening back to Terry's 1998 interview with lead singer of The Zombies, Colin Blundstone. The band had a reputation for being clean cut and well mannered. "People want rascals and rogues and naughty boys. So in a way, I think that it went against us a bit,...

Journalist Amy Larocca says our society's obsession with optimization and self-care has reached a fever pitch. She unpacks what it really means to take care of ourselves in How to Be Well. Also, Justin Chang reviews the Chinese film Caught by the Tides. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferenc...