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Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.
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Subscribe to Fresh Air Plus! You'll enjoy bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening - all while you support NPR's mission. Learn more at plus.npr.org/freshair
And subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Fresh Air Weekly, to get interview highlights, staff recommendations, gems from the archive, and the week's interviews and reviews all in one place. Sign up at www.whyy.org/freshair
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Oscar-nominated actors Scarlett Johansson and June Squibb talk about their new film, Eleanor The Great. In Johansson's directorial debut, a woman starts passing off her deceased friend's Holocaust survival story as her own.Also, Grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson talks about his memoir Night People—a love letter to the '90s club scene in New York City. He's 50 now and still DJing, but some things have definitely changed. "I used to be leaving the club and dialing the dealer on the way out of the club -- and now I'm making an appointment with my acupuncturist online as I'm leaving the club because my back is just so jacked." Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
2A film about a man trying to fund a gender-affirming operation by robbing a bank sounds like a modern-day plot. But 50 years ago, that was the scenario for the classic film Dog Day Afternoon. We're featuring our interviews with director Sidney Lumet and with Al Pacino, who starred as the bank robber. Lumet gave his lead license to take the role as far as he wanted, and then pushed Pacino to do more. "It's really one of the best pieces of movie acting I've ever seen. It was blinding in its intensity, agonizingly painful," he told Terry Gross in 1988.Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai which has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
The WWE superstar considered pursuing a career in mixed martial arts before realizing, "I don't like getting punched in the face." Johnson plays MMA fighter Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie's The Smashing Machine. He spoke with Terry Gross about his many injuries, his relationship with his late father, and his wrestling personas. Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
President Trump is pressuring the Department of Justice to pursue his political enemies, like former FBI director James Comey. Legal scholar (and former U.S. attorney) Barbara McQuade explains how this damages the rule of law.Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Oscar and Grammy-winning music producer Mark Ronson says nothing beats the rush of a great DJ set. "You can call it the scream, the chant, whatever it is. It's like clay or Play-Doh, like the whole crowd is this thing that you're able to mold together. It's incredible. It's kind of why I can't stop DJing," he tells Tonya Mosley. "It's still a feeling that I only get from this one thing, no matter what else I do in my work as a producer." His new memoir, Night People, is a love letter to the 1990s New York City club scene. Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshairSubscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
For the first seven years of her life, Cristela Alonzo lived in an abandoned diner in a south Texas border town. She spoke with Terry Gross about ICE raids, being mentored by labor activist Dolores Huerta, and the culture shock of having money after growing up so poor. Her new Netflix stand-up special is called Upper Classy. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
After the tremendous success of Salt Fat Acid Heat, chef and author Samin Nosrat realized she needed to recalibrate her life. "I really believed on some level if I achieved all of these things, that that would fill this hole of loneliness in my heart," she tells Fresh Air's Sam Briger. Nosrat's new book, Good Things, is about sharing food with the people you love.Elizabeth Gilbert, the bestselling author of Eat Pray Love, talks to Tonya Mosley about her new memoir, All the Way to the River. It’s about her intense relationship with her late partner Rayya, a love that she describes as deep and life-changing, but also destructive, marked by addiction and heartbreak.Film critic Justin Chang reviews the new romantic fantasy movie A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, starring Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
With Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the center of a free speech debate, we're revisiting Kimmel's 2013 interview with Terry Gross. The late night host talked about his David Letterman obsession as a teen and the pressure of putting on a late night show. Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews House of Guinness, the new Netflix series by Stephen Knight, who brought us the shows Peaky Blinders and A Thousand Blows. Film critic Justin Chang reviews the new action-thriller One Battle After Another, by director Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Actor Scarlett Johansson makes her directorial debut with Eleanor The Great, about a 94-year-old woman who claims her dead friend's Holocaust story as her own. "It's rare to feel surprised when you read a script," Johansson says. Squibb stars as Eleanor. They spoke with Tonya Mosley about Squibb's Broadway nickname, Johansson's memories of working with the late Robert Redford, and hosting SNL.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
After the tremendous success of Salt Fat Acid Heat, chef and author Samin Nosrat realized she needed to recalibrate her life. "I really believed on some level if I achieved all of these things, that that would fill this hole of loneliness in my heart," she tells Fresh Air's Sam Briger. Nosrat's new book, Good Things, is about sharing food with the people you love. Also, Justin Chang reviews Big Bold Beautiful Journey, starring Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Elizabeth Gilbert's new memoir, All the Way to the River, is an unflinching personal account of addiction, grief, and healing. The book tells the story of her relationship with Rayya Elias, first her hairstylist and friend, and later her romantic partner, who died of pancreatic and liver cancer in 2018. Gilbert writes about leaving her marriage for Rayya, the devotion and chaos of that love, and her own dangerous impulses. The Eat, Pray, Love author spoke with Tonya Mosley about her recovery from sex and love addiction, caregiver collapse, and why she isn't reading book reviews.Also, John Powers reviews the FX series The Lowdown, starring Ethan Hawke. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Jude Law now stars in the thriller series Black Rabbit on Netflix. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about the show, working with a dialect coach, and why he worked with a perfumer to play Henry VIII. Rock critic Ken Tucker shares some of his favorite music releases of the fall, and Pedro Pascal talks about how his dance training helped him become a better actor in action roles. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
The legendary actor died Tuesday at age 89. He spoke with Terry Gross about his movies, creating the Sundance Film Festival and Institute, and why he couldn't wait to leave school and Southern California. "I wasn't learning the way I was supposed to learn. I realized that my education was going to happen when I got out in the world." Interviews are from 1998 and 2013. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Jude Law's new Netflix series Black Rabbit with Jason Bateman follows two brothers in New York City, one a successful restaurateur, the other on the run and in debt. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about the series, using a perfumer to get into character to play Henry VIII and why he almost turned down his break-out role in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on Sept. 10, NYT reporter Robert Draper talks with Terry Gross about the conservative activist's rise and legacy. Draper profiled Kirk earlier this year and stayed in touch up to the day before his death. We also discuss right-wing extremist Nick Fuentes, a rival of Kirk’s with a large following. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Science writer Mary Roach is fascinated by the human body, especially, she says, the "gooey bits and pieces of us that are performing miracles on a daily basis. Roach has done deep dives on human cadavers, the digestive system and the science of sex. Now, in Replaceable You, she chronicles both the history of body part replacement (including prosthetic noses that date back to the 1500s), and more recent medical breakthroughs in regenerative medicine. Roach spoke with Terry Gross. This month marks Terry's 50th anniversary as host of Fresh Air. To commemorate the milestone, Sam Fragoso interviewed Terry for his podcast Talk Easy. In this excerpt, Gross shares her life motto and tells a story about writing song lyrics in high school. Listen to the full episode of Terry Gross on Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso.Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and Talk Easy @talkeasypod. The video version will be on YouTube this week. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Trymaine Lee's new memoir, A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America, is part history, and part personal. He traces the bloody history Black Americans have with firearms, recalls the gun violence in his own youth and follows his ancestors’ path back to Ghana. The book reads like a plea for people to see the humanity of those lost to gun violence — and for this country to care enough to act. Lee spoke with Tonya Mosley about the toll of writing about Black death. Also, Kevin Whitehead reviews a new anthology of Joni Mitchell's jazz connections. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
This month marks 50 years of Terry Gross as the host of Fresh Air. What began in 1975 as a local experiment at WHYY in Philadelphia has since grown into a national institution—one that not only transformed public radio, but laid the groundwork for the world of podcasting.To commemorate a half-century on the air, Terry Gross joins us for a rare appearance in the interview seat. At the top, we discuss her Brooklyn upbringing (11:39), early memories of writing (14:13), and her improbable road to public radio (30:51). Then, Terry walks us through the formative years of Fresh Air (34:50) and its seminal conversations with Kurt Vonnegut (41:34), John Updike (47:43), Monica Lewinsky (50:43), Joan Didion (1:02:08), and more.On the back-half, Gross reflects on forty-seven years of partnership with her late husband, jazz writer Francis Davis (1:04:37), their shared affinity for reading and music (1:07:10), the future of public media (1:20:29), and why she continues to have faith in (and love for) the long-form interview (1:32:48).Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Rob Reiner talks with Terry Gross about directing the new sequel to Spinal Tap, the mockumentary about a heavy metal band. He’ll also talk about his remarkable life and career, like directing When Harry Met Sally and starring in All in the Family. Also, singer songwriter and guitarist Billy Strings is one of the rare bluegrass musicians who can fill arenas with tens of thousands of fans. He’s been working to get to where he is for a long time. "I slept with my guitar when I was four or five years old, I'd put it right under the blankets with me, and I used to kiss it good night." Strings spoke with Fresh Air's Sam Briger and brought his guitar to the studio. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
The Netflix miniseries follows a 13-year-old accused of murdering a girl from his school. Co-creator and star Stephen Graham says he read about similar crimes and wanted to know: "Why is this happening?" Graham spoke with Sam Briger about the crime that inspired the show, fatherhood, and the unusual way the show was shot — in one single take. Adolescence has 13 Emmy nominations. Film critic Justin Chang reviews Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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why are you gay?
So so wonderful, this episode. Terry Gross is a treasure, a real gem.
What a great episode. I’ve listened to Terry gross and fresh air among all the npr shows in my state of Michigan since I was a young adult. It’s just a waste that Trump cut funding for public radio. It’s one of the crimes he’s committed. Thank God I had npr in my life. #NPR #terrygross
fantastic episode!
はわや
Also, many patients think benzos equal opioid and doctors are shy because of liability.
What I see in the last 10 years with younger adult women is that they are having more babies without any thought for the future and how they will provide for them. It’s crazy to me to keep having kids when they can’t afford the first one. It’s hard enough for younger adults to get by and have a job, a home and food for their kids. But yet they continue to have another and another. I wish schools would teach girls how easy it is to get pregnant and how they’d have to provide for them.
The grad speaker was a heroine!!!! And the positive reaction shows that she was not alone. I was active during the 70's and 80's when sex was NOT SHAMEFUL. I feel such sadness that these young women are being dragged back into the the dark ages of the 1950's.
This is a really interesting conversation but the vocal fry in the voice of the guest was really grating .
Excuse me, but who the fuck wants to hear about the future of maga?? We're ready for the demise!
No--hard NO. You ALL are disgusting on so many levels. we are slipping into authoritarianism and you're sensationalizing an ex-president with cancer...while the current president--who has more scandals of consequence in a single afternoon than Biden EVER did-- and whose actions are killing people every day. I just removed ALL CNN media from my feeds
Also, men are not a monolith. Talking about men as though we all share the same patriarchal beliefs and goals is a bit dishonest and is not going to help persuade any man on the fence to come to your way of thinking. this was not done so literally or directly, but it was certainly implied in a number of statements here. There's also a lack of admission that some of the public figures and writers that perpetuate the stereotypes or expectations mentioned in this episode are themselves women.
I feel like the host and the guests both miss the point of the fact that there were diary entries going back to the 1800s all with the same theme of girls pursuing whatever the ideal was at that time. To me, the fact that each of those decades had a different ideal, and yet the girls were all still doing the same thing means that pursuing an ideal version of yourself is more of a human trait and not something that is exclusive to women.
What are ANY of these crazy lunatics doing to make the Earth a better place to be? A place women actually want to bring children into?
Teachers and doctors have no problem suggesting any adhd meds and especially in grade school. There’s so much more than adhd meds to deal with adhd or add. Especially in grade school meds are really pushed to keep the kids from fidgeting and not sitting still all day. Drs and teachers really need to learn how to approach children and their opinions on adhd meds.
Because I wasn't "hyperactive", I was teased by the cousins, etc. and punished by my understand ably clueless parents for being " absent minded " careless " lazy " "tardy". Meanwhile Stanford Benet said 149 IQ. Teacher strike destroyed my referral to the only Gifted/Talented (That's what they used to call it) program in the parish. I am living to my full potential now,, but it needn't have been so hard to get here if I had only been diagnosed when girls weren't considered hyperactive.
I wonder my potential as a female in the '70s undiagnosed ADD impulsive type. I'm grateful my family MD recognized it in my 30s. Meds AND systems in place (e.g.spiral keyring on my elbow loading/unloading car prevent locked keys in car, white board checklist, stickies could have changed my life alone) Diagnosed, got AAS. COTA/ age 47. Meds and behavior systems in place can coexist without all the judgement. BTW, don't need meds now but will never rule out arbitrarily without an expert opine
In an odd way this was comforting to learn that there is heartfelt conviction behind this project rather than just the insatiable ego of one unhealthy man. That aside, what has caused me the most anguish is the Nazi-ish power and cruelty of ICE and the lack of our constitutionally enshrined and rightfully cherished due process for the "others" who are being deported. Is white supremacy and the creation of a secret police part of Project 2025?
Also that this episode focuses only on medication is an oversimplification of what we currently know about treatment of ADHD. It takes a multi-modal approach to improve outcomes. For some people, medication is a part of that, but for others it is not. Other important things are strategies and tools for managing tasks and emotional regulation, physical exercise, nutrition, sleep, the flexibility to use unconventional strategies/accomodations at school and work.
I think one of the issues with focusing on kids is that research has to focus on what the symptoms and behavior looks from the outside. Someone may look like they aren't that impaired from the outside, but might really be struggling inside. Even when it comes to choosing the right medication. There can be a difference between what the parents and teachers feel like is the best result, vs what the kid actually feels is the best result.