Fresh Air
Weekdays at 7:00pm
Opening the window on contemporary arts and issues with guests from worlds as diverse as literature and economics.
'Satchel' recalls the iconic pitcher who helped integrate Major League Baseball
by Dave Davies
Hall of Famer Satchel Paige started his career pitching in the Negro leagues and later became a major league star. Author Larry Tye tells his story in Satchel. Originally broadcast in 2010.
Think you know how it ends? David Kelley's 'Presumed Innocent' will keep you guessing
by David Bianculli
The twists are plentiful in this eight-part Apple TV+ remake of Scott Turow's 1987 bestseller, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a prosecutor accused of murdering a colleague.
Reconstruction-era records reveal how formerly enslaved people were stripped of land
by Tonya Mosley
Journalist Alexia Fernández Campbell says some freed men and women were given titles to land following the Civil War -- but after President Lincoln's death, the land was taken back.
Questlove on hip-hop, history and the first time he heard 'Rapper's Delight'
by Terry Gross
The Roots bandleader says hearing The Sugarhill Gang's 1980 hit felt like a paradigm shift: "Suddenly they start talking in rhythmic poetry and we didn't know what to make of it."
An arresting memoir of 'Consent' asks: Does a marriage's end excuse its beginning?
by Maureen Corrigan
Jill Ciment was 17 in 1970 when she got involved with the 47-year-old teacher who would become her husband. Now widowed, she reconsiders the relationship — and its "poisonous" beginnings.
Actor Griffin Dunne revisits his Hollywood childhood in 'The Friday Afternoon Club'
by Tonya Mosley
In a new memoir, Dunne writes about growing up in a family of storytellers, his complicated relationship with fame and the trauma the family experienced after the 1982 murder of his sister, Dominique.
In 'Problemista' Julio Torres spins immigration stress into satire
by Terry Gross
The comic, actor and filmmaker came to the U.S. from El Salvador in his 20s. Torres tackled immigration in Problemista; his new HBO comedy series is Fantasmas. Originally broadcast March 24, 2024.
How Ronan Farrow's reporting on Weinstein led to the criminal case against Trump
by Dave Davies
While reporting on Harvey Weinstein, Farrow unearthed details of the National Enquirer’s plan to pay for damaging stories about Trump and then bury the stories — a practice known as "catch and kill."
Swamp Dogg's 'Blackgrass' is one of the best country albums of the year
by Ken Tucker
Swamp Dogg, aka Jerry Williams Jr., began his career in the 1960s. Now 81, he demonstrates that, in his long career in R&B, soul and funk, country is another road he’s traveled.
Colson Whitehead channels the paranoia and fear of 1970s NYC in 'Crook Manifesto'
"My early '70s New York is dingy and grimy," the Pulitzer Prize-winning author says. Whitehead's sequel to Harlem Shuffle centers on crime at every level. Originally broadcast July 24, 2023.