Fresh Air
Weekdays at 7:00pm
Opening the window on contemporary arts and issues with guests from worlds as diverse as literature and economics.
A woman invented the rape kit. So why was a man given credit for it?
Rape kits were widely known as "Vitullo Kits" after a Chicago police sergeant. But a new book tells the story of Marty Goddard, a community activist who worked with runaway teenagers in the 1970s.
Practicing 'Extreme Medicine,' From Deep Sea To Outer Space
Dr. Kevin Fong explores how humans survive extremes of heat, cold, outer space and deep sea. He compares the exploration of medicine with the "explorers of the 20th century and every age before them."
How Young People Went Underground During The '70s 'Days Of Rage'
Bryan Burrough's new book describes the Weather Underground and other militant groups' tactics to protest the government. He interviews former radicals who had never gone on the record before.
Fresh Air Remembers Historian Stanley Kutler
In the '90s, Kutler helped uncover secrets of the Nixon administration: He and an advocacy group sued the National Archives for about 200 hours of White House tapes. Kutler died Tuesday; he was 80.
There Is A Rich World In Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp A Butterfly'
by Ken Tucker
Fresh Air music critic Ken Tucker says the rapper's second album has an excitingly adventurous sound.
'Displacement': The Frustrations, Fears And Absurdities Of A Cruise Upended
When Lucy Knisley agreed to go on a Caribbean cruise with her grandparents, she didn't know she'd spend 10 days basically keeping them alive. She writes about it in her new cartoon memoir.
'Louie' Hits Its Mark While 'The Comedians' Hasn't Yet Fully Succeeded
by David Bianculli
Louis C.K.'s comedy and the new mockumentary The Comedians start Thursday on the FX cable network. Both are unusual and ambitious, says critic David Bianculli, but only one hits the ground running.
Billie Holiday's Voice Was Always Her Own
by Kevin Whitehead
Holiday was born 100 years ago Tuesday in Philadelphia. Fresh Air jazz critic Kevin Whitehead has some thoughts on Holiday's changing style, her influences, and singers she influenced.
Mantel Takes Up Betrayal, Beheadings In 'Bodies'
Hilary Mantel is the first woman to win the Man Booker Prize twice, first for her 2009 novel, Wolf Hall, and also for its 2012 sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. She discusses the books with Terry Gross.