Fresh Air
Weekdays at 7:00pm
Opening the window on contemporary arts and issues with guests from worlds as diverse as literature and economics.
Fresh Air Weekend: St. Vincent; Kids and mental health
St. Vincent offers tension, release and sonic "jump scares" on All Born Screaming. Child psychiatrist Harold Koplewicz says kids are experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety and depression.
Michael Douglas stars as a flirty Ben Franklin in this Apple TV+ series
by David Bianculli
Franklin is worth watching — not only for what it reveals about how the U.S. won independence from England then – but also about the complexities of war, and international politics now.
Contrarian Lionel Shriver deftly satirizes anti-intellectualism in 'Mania'
by Maureen Corrigan
Shriver's new novel is one of her best. It takes place in an alternative America, where the last acceptable bias — discrimination against people considered not so smart — is being stamped out.
What's a 'Soundie'? A new collection revisits this little known 1940s phenomenon
by Lloyd Schwartz
Soundies were 3-minute musical films which you could watch at a bar or club on a large jukebox with a screen. Film historian Susan Delson has curated a selection in Soundies: The Ultimate Collection.
A 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' appreciation, as the series comes to an end
After 25 years and 12 seasons, Curb wraps April 7. We mark the occasion with archival interviews with Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, Robert B. Weide, Timothy Olyphant, Ted Danson and others.
Abortion opponents push for 'fetal personhood' laws, giving rights to embryos
by Tonya Mosley
The Guardian's reproductive health reporter Carter Sherman says efforts are underway in a number of states to assign fetuses "some kind of rights that we would generally ascribe to a human person."
Beyoncé bucks the country industry establishment with sprawling 'Cowboy Carter'
by Ken Tucker
While Beyoncé's new album suggests the country-music industry's problematic history of excluding Black artists, the collection as a whole is as much a celebration as it is a critique.
'The Wide Wide Sea' revisits Capt. James Cook's fateful final voyage
by Dave Davies
"A lot of things started going wrong from the very beginning," historian Hampton Sides says of Cook's last voyage, which ended in the British explorer's violent death on the island of Hawaii in 1779.