Fresh Air Weekend: Actor Benicio Del Toro; Writer Molly Jong-Fast
Del Toro talks about his role in Wes Anderson's new film, The Phoenician Scheme. Justin Chang reviews Materialists. In How to Lose Your Mother, author Jong-Fast reflects on life with mom Erica Jong.
'Sinners' is one of the most interesting and audacious movies this year
This latest Ryan Coogler/Michael B. Jordan collaboration is set in 1930s Mississippi — it's awash in gorgeous music, turbulent romance, pan-African spiritualism and, by the end, buckets of blood.
Journalist Joy-Ann Reid revisits the legacy and marriage of Medgar and Myrlie Evers
Reid's book, Medgar and Myrlie, tells the stories of the civil rights leader from Mississippi and his wife, who became an activist after Medgar's 1963 assassination. Originally broadcast Feb. 7, 2024.
Francis Davis, Jazz critic and Terry Gross' husband, dies at 78
Davis was jazz critic for The Village Voice and a contributing editor for The Atlantic. He wrote many books on jazz, and won a Grammy for his liner notes for the reissue of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.
Why people with mental health issues have 'Starved in Jail.' A journalist investigates
New Yorker writer Sarah Stillman found dozens of cases of people with mental illness arrested for minor crimes and of deprived medication and healthcare. They died from malnutrition and dehydration.
Jazz tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons would have turned 100 this week
Born on April 14, 1925, Ammons was a second-generation jazz musician from Chicago, who earned attention for his fiery work in Billy Eckstine's big band, and his staged duels with fellow saxophonists.
New book explores the real-life KGB spy program that inspired 'The Americans'
In The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West, Shaun Walker shares how agents were trained to blend into a target country and pose as citizens.
'Black Mirror' remains a thought-provoking treasure in its 7th season
Netflix's near-future anthology series draws on classic film/TV for inspiration but its strongest episode, "Common People," takes on subscription tiers in a chilling way.
With 'Luther,' Kendrick Lamar stakes his claim as a great hip-hop ballad singer
Lamar's duet with SZA samples Luther Vandross' 1982 hit "If This World Were Mine." The song was written by Marvin Gaye, who himself recorded it in 1967 as a duet with Tammi Terrell.