Interviews

Pope Benedict XVI has been the leader of the Catholic Church for eight years and is the first pope to retire since 1415.

Religion

Catholic Church At Crossroads: Demographics, Social Issues Pose Challenges

2:42pm April 02, 2013

by NPR Staff

Pope Benedict XVI leaves the church in the midst of change: American Catholics' social views tend to diverge from the Vatican's, and the church now sees much of its support in South America and Africa. One former member of the College of Cardinals says the next pope will have to be aware of the church's needs in South America.

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Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell have been friends and collaborators since the 1970s. Their new album together is called Old Yellow Moon.

Fresh Air Weekend: Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Chris Hayes And 'Room 237'

11:51am March 30, 2013

Harris and Crowell always wanted to make an album together, but they never got around to it until now. After hosting a Sunday morning show on MSNBC, Hayes is making the move to weeknights. Obsessive fans of Kubrick's The Shining search for clues as to what the film is really about.

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Dawn Maestas has removed tattoos from women who have been branded as a result of domestic violence. She recorded an interview with one of her clients, who wanted to remain anonymous.

National

Tattoo Removal Artist Helps Clients With Emotional Scars

11:14am March 29, 2013

by NPR Staff

Dawn Maestas helps women who have been branded with tattoos as a result of domestic violence.

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Fresh Air Remembers Journalist Anthony Lewis

1:32pm March 26, 2013

Anthony Lewis, the New York Times columnist and reporter who covered the Supreme Court in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died Monday. Fresh Air remembers him by listening back to a 1991 interview in which Lewis talks about the responsibilities of a columnist and the importance of a correctly-spelled name.

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Future Robot's FURo robot acts as a host.

Science

Four Robots That Are Learning To Serve You

6:34pm March 23, 2013

by NPR Staff

Robots are moving further from sci-fi into everyday reality. They can now assist with doing housework, giving directions and even performing surgery. They're still a few years off, but here are a few robots we may live with someday.

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Emily Rapp is also the author of Poster Child, about a congenital birth defect that led to the amputation of her leg when she was a child, and about how she subsequently became a poster child for the March of Dimes.

Fresh Air Weekend: Emily Rapp, Phil Spector, Philip Roth And Sea Chanteys

10:52am March 23, 2013

In The Still Point of the Turning World Rapp writes about caring for a terminally ill child. Phil Spector is based on the music producer, but it's fiction. Philip Roth is the subject of a PBS documentary. Tom Waits, Patti Smith and others appear on a new compilation of sea songs from Hal Willner.

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John Tull, 63, and Lucinda Marker, 57, survived a bout of the bubonic plague in 2002.

Living And Loving Through The Bubonic Plague

10:55am March 22, 2013

by NPR Staff

Lucinda Marker and her husband, John Tull, fell ill when fleas carrying the bacterial infection bit them in 2002. The plague is so rare in the U.S., they were suspected of being terrorists or bioterrorism victims.

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Composer and producer Adrian Younge has produced two new albums: one with William Hart of The Delfonics and another with rapper Ghostface Killah.

Fresh Air Weekend: Adrian Younge, 'Frankenstein's Cat' And Tegan And Sara

10:30am March 16, 2013

Spaghetti Westerns, opera and the Wu-Tang Clan come together in the music of Adrian Younge. Emily Anthes talks about how scientists are working to create pigs that can grow organs for human transplant. Tegan and Sara depart from their indie singer-songwriter roots with their latest album.

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In HBO's Enlightened, Laura Dern stars as corporate executive Amy Jellicoe, who returns from a post-meltdown retreat to pick up the pieces of her broken life. Series creator Mike White stars as Tyler, Amy's friend and co-worker.

Fresh Air Weekend: Mike White, Mike Piazza And David Bowie

10:50am March 09, 2013

Enlightened's writer, Mike White, says the show's whistle-blowing plot line was inspired, in part, by his own father's experience. In a new memoir, the catcher opens up about feuding with Roger Clemens and retiring from the game. Bowie's new album plays like a collection of discreet singles.

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An early mug shot shows James "Whitey" Bulger in 1953.

Fresh Air Weekend: 'Whitey Bulger,' 'Salt Sugar Fat' And Historical Language

12:40pm March 02, 2013

Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy have a new book about the Boston gangster Whitey Bulger. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Moss' new book goes inside the world of processed, packaged goods. Geoff Nunberg says a historical novel or screenplay should give us a translation, not a transcription.

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