Fresh Air
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Opening the window on contemporary arts and issues with guests from worlds as diverse as literature and economics.
Celebrating singer Sarah Vaughan, on what would have been her 100th birthday
by Kevin Whitehead
Born in 1924 in Newark, N.J., Vaughan came up in the '40s, alongside bebop, a new jazz style she instantly took to. In the following decades, she proved to be one of the best singers of any genre.
Remembering Academy Award-Winning Composer Michel Legrand
by Terry Gross
The jazz pianist, singer and producer, who died Saturday, won Oscar Awards for his compositions in Yentl, Summer of '42 and The Thomas Crown Affair. Originally broadcast in 1996.
Fresh Air Weekend: 'Ear Hustle' Podcasters; Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor tell about life behind bars in Ear Hustle. Kevin Whitehead reviews new interpretations of Monk's complete works. Gates talks about DNA testing and finding his own roots.
Eric Dolphy's 'Musical Prophet' Reissue Is Both Adventurous And Catchy
by Kevin Whitehead
Seven months before his 1964 masterwork Out to Lunch! Dolphy recorded a pair of sessions with producer Alan Douglas. Critic Kevin Whitehead says this reissue is long overdue.
Alan Alda On 'M*A*S*H*' And His 'Tremendous Education' Growing Up In A Burlesque Club
by Terry Gross
Alda, who spoke to Terry Gross in 1997, is being awarded the lifetime achievement award by the Screen Actors Guild on Sunday for his humanitarian efforts and acting roles.
Comic Roy Wood Jr. Taps Into America's Psyche On 'The Daily Show'
by Terry Gross
In 2018, Wood explained how the years he spent performing in comedy clubs in the South and Midwest — sometimes in places where he felt unsafe as a black man — prepared him for The Daily Show.
'The Friend' Novelist Grapples With Suicide, Grief And Student-Teacher Relationships
by Terry Gross
Sigrid Nunez's National Book Award-winning novel is narrated by a woman grieving the suicide of her longtime friend and former writing professor, whom she slept with once.
Host Of The Prison Podcast 'Ear Hustle' Reflects On His 27 Years Behind Bars
by Terry Gross
Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor started the podcast Ear Hustle when Woods was a prisoner in San Quentin. Woods' sentence was recently commuted, but the two continue to tell stories of life behind bars.
The 'Very Particular' History Being Presented At Confederate Sites
by Dave Davies
Journalist Brian Palmer toured several Confederate sites and monuments across the South and found a distorted message that celebrates the Confederacy and often omits the fact of slavery all together.