Fresh Air

Fresh Air

NewBetty Gilpin is seeking anti-algorithm, weird roles – and it's workingOctober 22, 2026 · 44 min
Episodes
300
Released
daily
Latest episode
Oct 22, 2026

About the podcast

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.

Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including weekly bonus episodes and curated playlists of archive interviews from Fresh Air.

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

Episodes 300

  1. Betty Gilpin is seeking anti-algorithm, weird roles – and it's working

    44 min

    "There's an understandable pull in my industry to make things that are kind of like a gleaming vanilla car commercial, like super safe, super familiar, appeal to the masses. And [then there are] people that are …

    Show notes
    "There's an understandable pull in my industry to make things that are kind of like a gleaming vanilla car commercial, like super safe, super familiar, appeal to the masses. And [then there are] people that are out there who are like, I'm actually going to go the other way,” she tells Fresh Air’s Ann Marie Baldonado. Gilpin won an Emmy for her guest role in the horror-comedy Widow’s Bay, and now she currently stars in the noir series The Lowdown. She talks about growing up with actor parents, aging out of archetypal roles, and the 105% it takes to play Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” on Broadway.

    Also, John Powers reviews the documentary Once Upon a Time in Harlem.


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  2. Election experts share concerns about the midterms

    45 min

    Ahead of the midterms, we talk with two election experts about President Trump’s efforts to interfere with voting. Richard Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project, and Pennsylvania’s lead election …

    Show notes
    Ahead of the midterms, we talk with two election experts about President Trump’s efforts to interfere with voting. Richard Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project, and Pennsylvania’s lead election official, Al Schmidt. Both are hoping the states, the courts and the public will ensure free and fair elections. They spoke with Fresh Air's Dave Davies.


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  3. David Treuer traces America's relationship with violence back to the frontier

    45 min

    Ojibwe writer David Treuer’s new book, The Savage Mind: An American Legacy, is written as a letter to his three children. It examines how the violence that shaped America's founding still influences who we are …

    Show notes
    Ojibwe writer David Treuer’s new book, The Savage Mind: An American Legacy, is written as a letter to his three children. It examines how the violence that shaped America's founding still influences who we are today. Treuer has spent much of his career challenging the idea that Native American history is a story of tragedy and disappearance, and that Native culture is a thing of the past. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about why he felt compelled to write the book now.

    Plus, rock critic Ken Tucker reviews an extended version of Stevie Wonder’s iconic 50 year-old album Songs in the Key of Life.


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  4. Meshell Ndegeocello turns familiar songs inside out

    45 min

    Grammy-winning singer, bassist, and composer Meshell Ndegeocello helped shape the sound that became known as "neo-soul," but she's spent more than three decades resisting the labels placed on her and her music …

    Show notes
    Grammy-winning singer, bassist, and composer Meshell Ndegeocello helped shape the sound that became known as "neo-soul," but she's spent more than three decades resisting the labels placed on her and her music. Now, on her new album, Synonym, she's reimagining familiar songs, including duets made famous by Sonny and Cher and the Human League. But these aren't simply new arrangements. “This album is not just about rearranging chords and rhythms, but also about queerness and self-expression, visibility, liberation," she tells Tonya Mosley. Meshell talks about her "soulful" musical influences, growing up in the Baptist church, and why she loves 'Wicked.'

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  5. Best Of: Mahershala Ali / Writer Yiyun Li

    48 min

    In his new film, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali plays a devout Muslim father and hit man whose life is upended when he suddenly has to care for his children on his own …

    Show notes
    In his new film, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali plays a devout Muslim father and hit man whose life is upended when he suddenly has to care for his children on his own. The role brings together a lot of what has shaped Ali as an actor, including an attraction to characters who live in morally complicated places. “That’s why I think someone like myself signs up to do a part like this,” he tells Tonya Mosley. “Because it isn’t simple. It isn’t easy. It’s a little nasty. It’s a little gray. But it just makes for great drama.”

    Also, we hear from writer Yiyun Li. She won a Pulitzer for her memoir about the suicides of her two teenage sons. In her new novel, she escapes the present and writes about two piano prodigies. “I’ve written everything I’ve known about life into this novel,” Li tells Terry Gross.

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  6. Remembering Eva Marie Saint / 'Interview with the Vampire' turns 50

    46 min

    The actor Eva Marie Saint died last week at age 102. She won an academy award for her first film role in On the Waterfront opposite Marlon Brando, and in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest she co-starred …

    Show notes
    The actor Eva Marie Saint died last week at age 102. She won an academy award for her first film role in On the Waterfront opposite Marlon Brando, and in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest she co-starred with Cary Grant. She said Hitchcock didn't give her much direction. “Things like lower your voice, don't use your hands… and look directly into Cary Grant's eyes at all times – which was not difficult.” She told Terry Gross in 2000.

    Also Anne Rice's debut novel Interview with the Vampire turns 50 this year. Terry spoke with Rice in 1990. “I think if a vampire were to come to me and say, 'I can make you immortal, we do exist,' I think I might find the offer irresistible,” she said.

    Film critic Justin Chang reviews Nathan Fielder’s highly-anticipated documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, You Can See Everything.




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  7. Inside the Musk/Bezos space race

    43 min

    Atlantic staff writer Josh Tyrangiel says Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos each want to colonize the moon, mine its resources and launch thousands more satellites -- but their only real competition is each other …

    Show notes
    Atlantic staff writer Josh Tyrangiel says Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos each want to colonize the moon, mine its resources and launch thousands more satellites -- but their only real competition is each other. “Ordinarily, we have entrusted the future of our civilizations to people we elect to office,” Tyrangiel tells Terry Gross. “We now have folks with a tremendous amount of power over our future, particularly if you view the future as being partially in space, and we have to reckon with it.”


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  8. Why the Arctic is a new source of global tension

    45 min

    As polar ice melts in the Arctic, shipping lanes are opening up, making the region a new zone of super-power competition. Writer Rana Foroohar spoke with Dave Davies about the stakes. Her book is in Sea …

    Show notes
    As polar ice melts in the Arctic, shipping lanes are opening up, making the region a new zone of super-power competition. Writer Rana Foroohar spoke with Dave Davies about the stakes. Her book is in Sea Change.

    Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the new graphic book The Saddest Kitchens, by New Yorker cartoonists Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein.


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  9. After losing her sons, Yiyun Li learned to ‘suffer better’

    44 min

    If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.Li’s teenage sons both died by suicide six years apart, Vincent in 2017 at age 16 …

    Show notes
    If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

    Li’s teenage sons both died by suicide six years apart, Vincent in 2017 at age 16, and James in 2024 at age 19. Her Pulitzer-Prize winning 2025 memoir, Things in Nature Merely Grow, chronicled the loss of her sons and her effort to go on. Her new novel is about two piano prodigies in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It’s called Music Against the Night. She spoke with Terry Gross about the “abyss” of sadness, finding comfort in piano and writing.

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  10. Mahershala Ali

    46 min

    In his new action thriller, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, Mahershala Ali plays a devout Muslim father and hit man whose life is upended when he suddenly has to care for his children on his own. The role …

    Show notes
    In his new action thriller, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, Mahershala Ali plays a devout Muslim father and hit man whose life is upended when he suddenly has to care for his children on his own. The role brings together a lot of what has shaped Ali as an actor, including an attraction to characters who live in morally complicated places. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about why the script blew him away, filming Moonlight, and his childhood.

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  11. A John Prine Appreciation

    45 min

    Prine, who died in 2020, would’ve turned 80 this weekend. A five-day event in and around his native Chicago is underway, including a tribute concert. The beloved folk singer-songwriter spoke with Terry Gross in …

    Show notes
    Prine, who died in 2020, would’ve turned 80 this weekend. A five-day event in and around his native Chicago is underway, including a tribute concert. The beloved folk singer-songwriter spoke with Terry Gross in 2018 about how throat and neck surgery affected his voice, getting discovered by Roger Ebert, and his songwriting process.

    Film critic Justin Chang reviews the new film Fjord.

    The audio version of this story incorrectly states that John Prine’s song "Sam Stone” is about a Korean War veteran. In fact, it is about a veteran of the Vietnam War.


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  12. Veteran White House reporter April Ryan’s ‘Blacklash’

    44 min

    Ryan has spent decades pressing presidents for answers. She talks about access, power, race and how asking questions put her in President Trump's crosshairs. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her book, Notes on …

    Show notes
    Ryan has spent decades pressing presidents for answers. She talks about access, power, race and how asking questions put her in President Trump's crosshairs. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her book, Notes on a Blacklash.

    Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new CBS legal drama set in Silicon Valley, Cupertino.


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  13. How Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brought the culture wars to the military

    45 min

    New York Times military and Pentagon reporter Greg Jaffe says Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has disproportionately blocked promotions of Black and women senior officers, and he’s also been purging the …

    Show notes
    New York Times military and Pentagon reporter Greg Jaffe says Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has disproportionately blocked promotions of Black and women senior officers, and he’s also been purging the military of transgender people. “Usually Secretaries of Defense do everything they can to protect the military from our divisive politics and those culture wars,” Jaffe tells Dave Davies. “Hegseth was really the first Secretary of Defense I've seen in my lifetime who invited that into the Pentagon, and made it a central plank of his identity and leadership.”


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  14. ‘Showbiz!’ entertainer Murray Hill became what he didn’t see

    44 min

    Murray Hill's character on HBO’s Somebody Somewhere, Fred Rococo, is a soil scientist trans man who hosts a queer cabaret. “[He] is me dialed down to like a 2,” he tells Terry Gross. In real life, Murray has …

    Show notes
    Murray Hill's character on HBO’s Somebody Somewhere, Fred Rococo, is a soil scientist trans man who hosts a queer cabaret. “[He] is me dialed down to like a 2,” he tells Terry Gross. In real life, Murray has hosted drag king shows, queer cabarets, burlesque shows and performed his own act. He spoke with Terry Gross about finding and building his community, forgiveness, and how anti-trans rhetoric and policy has affected him. His new memoir is Showbiz! My Life as a Middle-Aged Man.


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  15. Michael Douglas

    45 min

    Michael Douglas is one of the most recognizable actors of our time, but in 1987, many still knew him as Kirk Douglas's son. That year, he starred in Fatal Attraction and Wall Street, and his role as Gordon …

    Show notes
    Michael Douglas is one of the most recognizable actors of our time, but in 1987, many still knew him as Kirk Douglas's son. That year, he starred in Fatal Attraction and Wall Street, and his role as Gordon Gekko won him the Oscar for Best Actor. "When I went up and received my Oscar for Wall Street, I thanked my father because I finally felt I was out of his shadow. And those two pictures in that year was when I finally felt I was my own man,” he tells Tonya Mosley. Behind the accolades, Douglas was struggling –- drinking heavily and using cocaine. In his new memoir, One Helluva Ride, Douglas looks back at what his success cost him, and what it finally took to change.

    Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new Netflix adaptation of East of Eden.


    The audio version of this story incorrectly states that the 1981 East of Eden miniseries featured Sam Bottoms as Cal. In fact, the actor playing Cal was Timothy Bottoms.


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  16. Best Of: Kyle MacLachlan / Inside the ‘romance scam’

    49 min

    Kyle MacLachlan was just 23 when he auditioned for Lynch's adaptation of Dune. The two would go on to work together on the cult classics Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. “The worlds that [Lynch] creates are real in …

    Show notes
    Kyle MacLachlan was just 23 when he auditioned for Lynch's adaptation of Dune. The two would go on to work together on the cult classics Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. “The worlds that [Lynch] creates are real in his mind — they exist,” he tells Terry Gross. MacLachlan's new memoir is Fictional Selves.

    Also, Wired reporter Andy Greenberg describes the story he broke about a cyber crime operation in Southeast Asia that entraps computer engineers into defrauding victims around the world of billions of dollars.

    And book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Min Jin Lee’s new novel, American Hagwon.


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  17. Celebrating minimalist composer Steve Reich

    46 min

    Often called one of the fathers of minimalist music, Reich created a vocabulary that has influenced nearly every form of music: Classical, electronic, jazz, and pop. To commemorate his 90th birthday, there are …

    Show notes
    Often called one of the fathers of minimalist music, Reich created a vocabulary that has influenced nearly every form of music: Classical, electronic, jazz, and pop. To commemorate his 90th birthday, there are worldwide performances and festivals in his honor, including an upcoming concert at Carnegie Hall. Reich spoke with Terry Gross in 1989 and 1999. We’ll listen back to his compositions, and hear about the sounds that have influenced him – from the rhythms of speech, to African drumming, Jewish cantorial singing and the sound of trains.


    Also, Justin Chang reviews the documentary NAZA.

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  18. Sheryl Crow

    46 min

    The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has a new album, Pick You Up, out Oct. 9. She spoke with Fresh Air guest interviewer Sam Fragoso (Talk Easy) about touring with Michael Jackson in her 20s as a back-up …

    Show notes
    The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has a new album, Pick You Up, out Oct. 9. She spoke with Fresh Air guest interviewer Sam Fragoso (Talk Easy) about touring with Michael Jackson in her 20s as a back-up singer, depression, and Bob Dylan’s advice for writer’s block.

    Also, John Powers reviews the Spanish language Netflix miniseries My Sad Dead.

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  19. New drones, deadlier attacks: Dystopian reality in Ukraine

    46 min

    Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, is just back from her fourth visit to Ukraine. She says Russia has ramped up production of missiles and deadly drones, while Ukraine is desperately short …

    Show notes
    Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, is just back from her fourth visit to Ukraine. She says Russia has ramped up production of missiles and deadly drones, while Ukraine is desperately short of interceptors to resist the onslaught. “[Kyiv] has been under really extraordinary bombardment from the Russians, and they are basically trying to make life unlivable in a city of several million people,” she tells Dave Davies. They also discuss the state of relations between Europe, Canada and the U.S. in the Trump era.


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  20. Mahmoud Khalil’s 104 days in ICE Detention

    45 min

    Khalil was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and fled the country at 18. He had a green card to be in the United States, and had become one of the most visible faces of the pro-Palestinian protests at …

    Show notes
    Khalil was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and fled the country at 18. He had a green card to be in the United States, and had become one of the most visible faces of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, where he had been a graduate student and a negotiator between the protesters and the administration. In 2025, he was arrested by ICE and sent to a detention center in Louisiana. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about the events, the pro-Palestine movement, and his hopes for the future. His memoir is No Land to Stand On.


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  21. Kyle MacLachlan was David Lynch’s ‘submersible’ into dark places

    46 min

    MacLachlan was just 23 when he auditioned for Lynch's adaptation of Dune. The two would go on to work together on the cult classics Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. “The worlds that [Lynch] creates are real in his …

    Show notes
    MacLachlan was just 23 when he auditioned for Lynch's adaptation of Dune. The two would go on to work together on the cult classics Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. “The worlds that [Lynch] creates are real in his mind — they exist,” he tells Terry Gross. MacLachlan's new memoir is Fictional Selves.

    Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the novel American Hagwon, by Min Jin Lee.


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  22. Best Of: Rhiannon Giddens / Investigating Diddy’s Rise & Fall

    48 min

    Rhiannon Giddens doesn’t usually make pop music, but she wrote and played the banjo riff on Beyoncé’s country single, “Texas Hold ‘Em.” She comes from the Black string band tradition, is the artistic director …

    Show notes
    Rhiannon Giddens doesn’t usually make pop music, but she wrote and played the banjo riff on Beyoncé’s country single, “Texas Hold ‘Em.” She comes from the Black string band tradition, is the artistic director of the Silk Road Ensemble, and studied opera in college. Giddens spoke with Terry Gross about channeling her ancestors through her instrument.

    Also, Rolling Stone investigative reporter Cheyenne Roundtree talks with Tonya Mosley about her new book, Bad Boy for Life. It tells the story of Sean Combs across the names he gave himself: Puffy, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Love, and the systems that allowed his alleged abuse to go on for decades.

    Film critic Justin Chang reviews the new film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, starring Mahershala Ali.


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  23. Bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings

    47 min

    The Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and guitarist has one foot in traditional bluegrass and another in improvisational jam music. He has a new album, So Much for Goodbyes, inspired by his late mother. He …

    Show notes
    The Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and guitarist has one foot in traditional bluegrass and another in improvisational jam music. He has a new album, So Much for Goodbyes, inspired by his late mother. He spoke with producer Sam Briger about healing himself through songwriting, performing the day his mom died, and how being a father has changed him as a musician. "I sing now from a place of freedom and joy in my belly," Strings says. He brought his guitar to the interview. Originally broadcast Sept. 8, 2025.

    Ccritic at large John Powers reviews the new novel The Disappearers by Marlon James, which has been described as a masterpiece.


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  24. Investigating the system that protected Sean “Diddy” Combs

    46 min

    Sean Combs founded Bad Boy Records and spent three decades as one of the most powerful men in hip hop. Now he's serving a federal prison sentence. Rolling Stone reporter Cheyenne Roundtree spent years talking …

    Show notes
    Sean Combs founded Bad Boy Records and spent three decades as one of the most powerful men in hip hop. Now he's serving a federal prison sentence. Rolling Stone reporter Cheyenne Roundtree spent years talking to the people who worked for him, many of them trying to break into the music business. In her new book, Bad Boy for Life: The Rise and Fall of Sean Combs, she lays out what those jobs actually required. "This was supposed to be their jobs and careers... keeping their boss' domestic violence of his girlfriends a secret,” she tells Tonya Mosley.


    Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews the new action thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.


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  25. Global power, rivalry, and A.I.; a preview of the U.S./China summit

    46 min

    As President Trump and China's President Xi prepare to meet tomorrow, Rush Doshi of the Council on Foreign Relations explains the current state of US-China relations and what to expect from this summit …

    Show notes
    As President Trump and China's President Xi prepare to meet tomorrow, Rush Doshi of the Council on Foreign Relations explains the current state of US-China relations and what to expect from this summit.


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  26. Inside the 'modern slavery' where cyber scammers are victims themselves

    46 min

    WIRED’s Andy Greenberg explains how a cybercrime operation in Southeast Asia trapped computer engineers into defrauding victims of billions of dollars. Plus he discusses the scam involving Fresh Air.Also, jazz …

    Show notes
    WIRED’s Andy Greenberg explains how a cybercrime operation in Southeast Asia trapped computer engineers into defrauding victims of billions of dollars. Plus he discusses the scam involving Fresh Air.

    Also, jazz historian Kevin Whitehead reflects on John Coltrane for the centennial of his birth.


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  27. Rhiannon Giddens traces the banjo from her ancestors to Beyoncé

    47 min

    A self-described "folkie to the bone," Giddens talks with Terry Gross about channeling her ancestors through her instrument, playing on Beyoncé’s country single “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and a connection between Irish …

    Show notes
    A self-described "folkie to the bone," Giddens talks with Terry Gross about channeling her ancestors through her instrument, playing on Beyoncé’s country single “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and a connection between Irish folk music and Dolly Parton. Giddens also sings and plays banjo and fiddle throughout the interview. Her latest album, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, takes its name from an Emily Dickinson poem.


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  28. Best Of: Colin Kaepernick / Danielle Brooks

    49 min

    10 years ago, former 49ers NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police violence against Black people. After the season ended, he never played in the NFL again. He …

    Show notes
    10 years ago, former 49ers NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police violence against Black people. After the season ended, he never played in the NFL again. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about his childhood, football career, and activism. His memoir is his The Perilous Fight.

    Actor Danielle Brooks first became known as Taystee on Orange Is the New Black. She spoke with Terry Gross about that series, growing up singing in her parents’ church, and landing the role of Sofia in "The Color Purple," both on Broadway and the film adaptation.


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  29. Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones / Remembering singer Cassandra Wilson

    47 min

    The new film Coyote vs. ACME is based on the classic Warner Bros. cartoons featuring the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. Today, we listen back to Terry’s 1989 interview with animator Chuck Jones. He created the …

    Show notes
    The new film Coyote vs. ACME is based on the classic Warner Bros. cartoons featuring the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. Today, we listen back to Terry’s 1989 interview with animator Chuck Jones. He created the characters, among others, and directed many Looney Tunes cartoons. He says they had specific rules for the characters: “The roadrunner can never harm the Coyote. The Coyote could only harm himself by buying these unfortunate things he gets from the ACME corporation.”

    Also, we remember singer and composer Cassandra Wilson who defied category but became a bona fide jazz star. Kevin Whitehead has an appreciation and we hear some of her interview with Terry. She died Sept. 2 at age 70.


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  30. The Roy Cohn Playbook, from McCarthyism to Trump

    46 min

    In a biography of Roy Cohn, Kai Bird looks at how the lawyer taught President Trump to deny, delay, attack, sue and countersue, never admit defeat, side step paying bills and avoid a paper trail. His book, with …

    Show notes
    In a biography of Roy Cohn, Kai Bird looks at how the lawyer taught President Trump to deny, delay, attack, sue and countersue, never admit defeat, side step paying bills and avoid a paper trail. His book, with co-author Susan Goldmark, is American Scoundrel. He spoke with Terry Gross.

    Also, Ken Tucker reflects on three of Dolly Parton’s performances that he says demonstrate her range and her unique takes on romance and heartbreak.


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