Fresh Air
Weekdays at 7:00pm
Opening the window on contemporary arts and issues with guests from worlds as diverse as literature and economics.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson shares the poem she's kept in every one of her offices
The first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court says Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "The Ladder of Saint Augustine," has been a guiding principle. Jackson's new memoir is Lovely One.
Producer Cosimo Matassa Always Believed In New Orleans
by Ed Ward
In the '60s, musicians left New Orleans, major labels lost interest, and Motown and Memphis took over the black music charts. But one producer didn't give up.
Tom Varner's Got 'Nine Surprises' And A Big Band Is All Of Them
by Kevin Whitehead
In 2005, jazz composer and french horn player Tom Varner left New York for Seattle, where he put together a nine-piece band of local players.
In 'The Evil Hours,' A Journalist Shares His Struggle With PTSD
While embedded with troops in Iraq, David Morris almost died when a Humvee he was riding in ran over a roadside bomb. His book explores the history and science of post-traumatic stress disorder.
'Leviathan' And 'Red Army' Deliver A Peek Inside Russia, Now And Then
by John Powers
Leviathan follows a man who fights back after a corrupt mayor uses eminent domain to claim his house, and Red Army recounts the story of the Soviet Union's famous hockey team.
Sleater-Kinney Comes Roaring Back With 'No Cities To Love'
by Ken Tucker
Few bands re-form with their power as intact as Sleater-Kinney have; fewer still brag about their power, and make the claim something more than a brag.
'The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore' Debuts In Slot Vacated By Stephen Colbert
by David Bianculli
On Monday night, Comedy Central premiered former Daily Show correspondent Larry Wilmore's new show. While Wilmore's sarcastic comments on clips were funny, the round-table discussion didn't sparkle.
Skeptic Takes A Tour Of Self-Help's 'Promise Land'
Despite being the daughter of a child psychologist and self-help author, Jessica Lamb-Shapiro has spent her life recoiling from the self-help industry. She talks about how the industry helped her.
'Still Alice' Is A Triumph For Julianne Moore, But The Rest Of Film Is Thin
by David Edelstein
The movie is based on neuroscientist Lisa Genova's novel about a linguistics professor with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. While Moore is fascinating, the rest of the characters are half-formed.