Fresh Air Weekend: Jimmy Fallon; Thelonious Monk At 100; David Mendelsohn's 'Odyssey'

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

Jimmy Fallon On The School Of 'SNL' And His Tendency To Smile Too Much: "There was a report card from kindergarten and the comment from the teacher was, 'Jimmy smiles too much,' " Fallon says. "I think I would smile even when I was getting yelled at."

On The Centennial Of His Birth, A Look Back At Thelonious Monk's Jazz Legacy: The jazz legend would have turned 100 today. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Monk's music is "universally beloved, by jazz musicians across the stylistic spectrum who might agree about little else."

A Scholar And His Octogenarian Dad Take On Homer's 'Odyssey': A few years ago, scholar David Mendelsohn's dad made an unusual request: He wanted to take his son's seminar on Homer's Odyssey. Mendelsohn looks back on that experience in his new memoir.

You can listen to the original interviews here:

Jimmy Fallon On The School Of 'SNL' And His Tendency To Smile Too Much

On The Centennial Of His Birth, A Look Back At Thelonious Monk's Jazz Legacy

A Scholar And His Octogenarian Dad Take On Homer's 'Odyssey'

Copyright 2017 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.