Fresh Air
Weekdays at 7:00pm
Opening the window on contemporary arts and issues with guests from worlds as diverse as literature and economics.
Elisabeth Moss embraces her best role yet as a secret agent in 'The Veil'
by David Bianculli
Moss plays a British spy on the trail of a woman who may or may not be a terrorist. As the two begin working together, suspicions swirl on both sides.
What the 'Dawn of the Civil War' can tell us about today's acrimonious politics
by Dave Davies
In The Demon of Unrest, author Erik Larson chronicles the five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the start of the Civil War, drawing parallels to today's political climate.
Fantasy writer Leigh Bardugo on magic, miracles and her version of hell
by Sam Briger
Bardugo is best known for her YA Shadow and Bone series. Her adult novel, The Familiar, centers on a young woman in 16th century Spain who must hide her identity as a Jew who converted to Catholicism.
Sonny Rollins' big-hearted music speaks for itself on newly reissued 'Freedom Weaver'
by Kevin Whitehead
In 1959, Rollins was a few years into one of the great hot streaks in jazz history when he took a three-week trip to Europe. Three hours from that tour are heard on a new Rollins-approved reissue.
Novelist John Green says OCD is like an 'invasive weed' inside his mind
by Terry Gross
Green's YA novel, Turtles All The Way Down, has been recently adapted to film. Green described living with OCD, and how "one little thought" could take over his mind, in this 2017 interview.
How streaming, mergers and other major changes are upending Hollywood
by Tonya Mosley
Nearly a year after the Hollywood writers' strike started, the entertainment industry remains in flux. Harpers journalist Daniel Bessner says TV and film writers are feeling the brunt of the changes.
Taylor Swift's confessional 'Tortured Poets' would have benefitted from an edit
by Ken Tucker
Though Swift performs a range of experience and emotions, the music on her 11th album feels thin and is often in service of lyrics that could have used a red pencil.