Fresh Air

New Yorker writer Ben Taub tells Dave Davies that while the idea of acquiring Greenland is out of the headlines, it hasn’t been dropped by Trump. Taub describes how his ongoing efforts have broken the trust of our allies. "People are just completely exhausted and worn down. ... That trust cannot be rebuilt," Taub says. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

44m 54s

Jesse Wegman talks to Dave Davies about James Wilson. A brilliant lawyer who helped craft the U.S. Constitution, Wilson lived a colorful life and died as a Supreme Court justice on the run from the law and creditors. Also, David Bianculli reviews the Prime Video series 'Spider-Noir.' See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

44m 48s

Glaude's book , ' America, U.S.A.,' looks at the country through the lens of its previous anniversaries and centennials. Today, as in the past, he tells Tonya Mosley, "the divided soul of the nation is in full view." As the 250th anniversary approaches, he says it's time for the U.S. to acknowledge the ways it has failed to deliver on its founding principles. "America has to grow up. It can no longer hide in its adolescence," he says. Also, Maureen Corrigan recommends three books to help you jum

44m 38s

Fifteen years after ‘The Book of Mormon’ made its Broadway debut, original cast members Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad once again took the stage as Mormon missionaries — this time at the 2026 Tony Awards. The musical is a satirical — sometimes affectionate, sometimes offensive — look at Mormonism and youthful naïveté. Rannells and Gad spoke with Terry Gross about their first impressions of the show, how their voices have changed, and how the songs in 'The Book of Mormon' are a tribute to musical t

48m 5s

In the new film 'Pressure,' Scott plays an Army meteorologist advising military officials on the date for the D-Day invasion. He spoke to Terry Gross in 2024 about playing a killer conman in ‘Ripley’ and the “hot priest” in ‘Fleabag.' Plus, we listen back to Terry Gross’ 2003 interview with French-Iranian artist and writer Marjane Satrapi, who died June 4. Satrapi's groundbreaking graphic novel ‘Persepolis’ introduced readers to life in Iran during the Islamic revolution and the Iran/Iraq war. A

46m 17s

Johnson says he’s not shy about sharing his insecurities on stage. "One of the most connected attributes of the human condition ... is just being flawed," he tells Terry Grosss. "We really connect with people on their faults." Johnson’s new comedy special is Symphony . Also, Martin Johnson reviews ELEPHANT , a new album by jazz trumpeter Adam O'Farrill. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship prefere

44m 51s

O'Connor stars as a cybersecurity expert who decides the world deserves to know the truth about alien life in the Steven Spielberg film Disclosure Day . He speaks with Tonya Mosley about preparing in secret to star in the summer Blockbuster, why he initially had no interest in playing Prince Charles in The Crown , and why he gets sick after completing almost every role. David Bianculli reviews new documentaries about Martin Short and Lorne Michaels. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our

44m 13s

The biggest World Cup ever starts this week. Laura Williamson, editor in chief of The Athletic, describes how sky-high prices, travel restrictions, politics and the Ebola outbreak are impacting fans. Williamson also discusses President Trump’s UFC event on the White House lawn. Ken Tucker reviews Kacey Musgraves’ album ‘Middle of Nowhere,’ which he says pairs well with the music biography ‘Gary Stewart: I Am From the Honky-Tonks.’ See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use

45m 18s

Fifteen years after ‘The Book of Mormon’ made its Broadway debut, original cast members Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad once again took the stage as Mormon missionaries — this time at the 2026 Tony Awards. Created and written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the duo behind ‘South Park’), along with veteran Broadway composer Robert Lopez, ‘The Book of Mormon’ follows two young missionaries sent to try and bring Mormonism to a Ugandan village. The musical is a satirical — sometimes affectionate, someti

44m 52s

Maggie O’Farrell wrote the novel ‘Hamnet’ and co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation. She has a new book called ‘Land,’ about a father and son mapping 19th-century Ireland after the devastation of the Great Famine. Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the latest by classics scholar Mary Beard. Also, we hear from historian Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor. She has spent much of her career tracing the N-word through slavery, Jim Crow, the civil rights movement, and hip hop. For a long time she ke

48m 10s

The Tony Awards are this Sunday. To celebrate, we’re listening back to two award-winners from our archive: Alan Cumming, who played the emcee in ‘Cabaret’ in three different productions, and Angela Lansbury, who starred in Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Sweeny Todd,’ as Mrs. Lovett who baked Sweeney’s victims into pies. Also, Justin Chang reviews two new horror films: ‘Obsession’ and ‘Backrooms.’ See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage

46m 1s

Peters’ credits include police Detective Lester Freamon in ‘The Wire,’ a Vietnam veteran in Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods,’ and now a retiree in the supernatural thriller ‘The Boroughs’ on Netflix. Peters spoke with Terry Gross about his long career on stage and screen, his singing voice, and why he relocated to London in the ‘70s. “I picked this profession so that I would have longevity, so that I could still be acting at 100, if it comes to it,” he says. Also, David Bianculli reviews the Apple 10-p

44m 42s

Pope Leo XIV’s Creole family roots inspired New Orleanian journalist Susan Saulny to research her Creole great-uncle who moved to Chicago, identified himself as white and never returned. She describes her journey to reunite her family. Her piece in the New York Times is called "A Family Secret No More." Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the Netflix series ‘The Boroughs.’ See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your pod

44m 28s

O’Farrell’s 2020 novel ‘Hamnet’ was adapted into an award-winning film last year. She co-wrote the screenplay. It’s about the grief Shakespeare and his wife Agnes struggle with after their son, Hamnet, dies of the plague, and how that grief leads him to write the play Hamlet. O’Farrell’s new novel, ‘Land,’ is about the lives of an Irish family living in the aftermath of the Great Famine. Even though she writes historical novels, she tries not to lean too much into history: “I find there’s nothin

46m 16s

Historian Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor has spent her career tracing the racial slur, the N-word, through slavery, Jim Crow, the civil rights movement, and hip hop. But what she didn't tell most of her students, even some of her colleagues, was that her father was the comedian who put the word at the center of American comedy – Richard Pryor. "I was a scholar of the N-word — and so was he,” she tells Tonya Mosley. Her new book, ‘Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me,’ is part mem

43m 44s

Alfre Woodard stars in a new Netflix sci-fi mystery series ‘The Boroughs,’ from the creators of ‘Stranger Things.’ She plays a retired journalist living in a senior community where the residents are being preyed on by something otherworldly. She spoke with Tonya Molsey. Rose Byrne is now on Broadway in the comedy play ‘Fallen Angels.’ She spoke with Fresh Air producer Ann Marie Baldonado about her Tony-nominated performance, as well as her starring role in ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.’ In it she

48m 55s

The great jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins died Monday at the age of 95. He was known for his improvisation and technique, his full bodied sound that could erupt into grunts and brays, and his love of songs. Rollins said of improvising: “When I'm actually on the stage and performing, the optimum condition is not to think. I just want the music to play itself. I didn't want to have to think about it.” We listen back to Terry Gross’s 1994 interview with Rollins. Also, jazz historian Kevin Whitehead

46m 18s

Alfre Woodard stars in the new Netflix series ‘The Boroughs,’ a supernatural mystery from the producers of ‘Stranger Things.’ In it, she leads an ensemble of folks in a retirement community who band together to stop an otherworldly threat. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about the new show, her Emmy-winning performance on ‘Hill Street Blues,’ where she played a mother whose child was killed by a police officer, and her network of Black actresses in Hollywood. See pcm.adswizz.com for information abou

43m 40s

Ben Rhodes was a speechwriter and Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama. He spoke with Terry Gross about his experience negotiating with Iran during his time in the White House, and his read of the current conflict. His new book, ‘All We Say,’ is a collection of 15 speeches — from Ben Franklin to President Trump — about what it means to be American. He also reflects on collaborating with President Obama on one of his most impactful speeches, like the so-called "race speech." See pc

43m 56s

Humorist David Sedaris says the best part of reading his work to an audience is earning the laughs — or the groans. "A collective groan is fine with me," he says. Sedaris reflects on his Duolingo obsession, AI, and why he’ll continue writing and touring as long as he possibly can. His new book of essays is ‘The Land and Its People.’ He spoke with guest interviewer Sam Fragoso, host of the podcast ‘Talk Easy.’ Also, John Powers reviews two new mystery novels: ‘The End of the Sahara,’ by the Alger

46m 4s

Popstar Billie Eilish has a new 3D concert film that she co-directed with James Cameron. She and her brother and co-producer Finneas spoke with Terry Gross in 2024 about the album ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft.’ Also, for Memorial Day, book critic Maureen Corrigan reflects on the history of pocket-size books that soldiers were given in WWII. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Po

45m 28s

Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ ended last night after 11 years. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2016 shortly after he took over from David Letterman. Before that, Colbert played a conservative persona in the vein of Bill O'Reilly on ‘The Colbert Report.’ When he started ‘The Late Show,’ out of character, he said, “I knew it would be a little bit of a public discovery. It's somebody else's joke, but life is like learning to play the violin in public. You don't know what you're doing until you do it.”

45m 59s

Zayd Ayers Dohrn’s mother, Bernardine Dohrn, was a leader of SDS, a student group protesting the Vietnam War. She also led a faction that broke away and became the Weather Underground, advocating armed resistance against the government. His father, Bill Ayers, was also an activist-turned-revolutionary. In a new memoir, Zayd wrestles with questions he had growing up, like if his parents were living underground and on the run from the FBI, why did they have kids? He spoke with Terry Gross. Also, t

48m 11s

Rose Byrne starred in big box office comedies like ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘Neighbors,’ and, more recently, the indie film ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,’ which kind of defies genre. It’s about a woman trying to care of her sick daughter while her life is unraveling. “In many ways, it tapped into the monster within and the fear of being a parent and the horror of being a parent – and some of the joy, too.” Her raw performance won a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination this year. Now Byrne is nominated f

44m 41s

D.O.J. gave President Trump and his family immunity from tax audits and set up a $1.8 billion fund for victims of "government weaponization." Former government lawyer Andrew Weissmann explains the settlement. His book is 'Liar’s Kingdom: How to Stop Trump's Deceit and Save America' See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

44m 26s

Jesmyn Ward learned the term "respair" — the recovery of hope after despair — in 2020, shortly after her partner died suddenly. Her new book, ‘On Witness and Respair,’ is an essay collection on grief, motherhood and survival. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about writing through painful things and why she returned to her native Mississippi. Her previous National Book Award-winning novels are ‘Sing, Unburied, Sing’ and ‘Salvage the Bones.’ Also, jazz critic Martin Johnson reviews an album from Tomeka

44m 52s

"From my very first memories, I knew that the FBI was chasing us," Zayd Ayers Dohrn says. "My parents tried to explain it in terms [like] we were like Robin Hood or we were like the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars. So I knew in the way a kid knows that our lives were precarious." His mother, Bernardine Dohrn, was a leader of the '60s radical student group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which opposed the war in Vietnam and racism. Along with his father, Bill Ayers, she helped found the Weat

44m 12s

Boots Riley talks about his new film, ‘I Love Boosters.' It stars Keke Palmer as the leader of a crew of women shoplifters who steal from luxury stores and sell the goods cheap to people who can't afford retail. Riley says he thinks of his work labor organizing, filmmaking and writing hip-hop music as the same project. Also, we’ll hear from actor Will Sharpe. He starred in season two of ‘The White Lotus,’ Lena Dunham’s series ‘Too Much,’ and the movie ‘A Real Pain.’ Now he plays Mozart in a new

48m 12s

Philip Caputo wrote the 1977 acclaimed and unflinching memoir ‘A Rumor of War,’ about leading a Marine platoon during the Vietnam War. It taught him a painful truth. “I had discovered that I had a capacity to be violent and dark in my actions in a way that totally shocked me,” he told Terry Gross in 2005. He went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Caputo died May 7 at 84. Also, celebrated naturalist and nature documentarian Sir David Attenborough turned 100 this month. We listen b

46m 46s

Former national security official Rush Doshi says President Trump’s 2025 sky-high tariffs on Chinese goods sparked a clash in which China prevailed. Doshi spoke with Dave Davies about the current state of U.S.-China relations and President Trump’s meeting with President Xi in Beijing. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

46m 10s