A conversation with R. Crumb, the king of underground comics
Crumb's comics were staples of 1960s counterculture. He's now the subject of a new biography. Crumb spoke to Fresh Air in 2005, and again, with his wife, fellow comic Aline Kominsky Crumb, in 2007.
How country music allowed Jerry Lee Lewis to vary his wild-man persona
Lewis came up in rock, but proved his country chops on the 1968 album Another Place, Another Time. The music suited his piano style, and the lyrics fit the emotions he brought to every performance.
'Fresh Air' remembers rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis
We mark the life of Lewis, who died Oct. 28, by listening to archival interviews with his sister, pianist/singer Linda Gail Lewis, and with Myra Lewis Williams, who married Jerry Lee when she was 13.
Billy Porter makes peace with himself: 'I set myself free, honey. No more secrets'
Porter won an Emmy for Pose, and a Tony for the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. In addition to performing, he's also a star on the red carpet. His memoir is Unprotected. Originally broadcast in 2021.
Jazz trio Thumbscrew celebrates 10 years together on 'Multicolored Midnight'
From the beginning, Thumbscrew has had a thing for off-kilter rhythms and shifting accents. This new album is filled with idiosyncratic tunes — music befitting of the idiosyncratic band.
Taking lessons from 2020, thousands of election deniers are now working the midterms
New York Times reporter Alexandra Berzon says election deniers are joining the electoral process at the precinct level. Their hope is to remake the machinery of American elections.
Never mind that it's not factual, this Weird Al biopic parody is very, very funny
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is the most entertaining musical biography satire since Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Don't expect much truth in the telling here — but do expect some over-the-top fun.
'Shutter' author was inspired by her own experiences as a crime scene photographer
Ramona Emerson's novel is about a police department photographer, who, like Emerson, grew up in the Navajo Nation. The protagonist is haunted by the ghosts of victims from scenes she's photographed.