Fresh Air Weekend: Jordan Peele; 'Monk Dreams'; Novelist Sebastian Barry

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:

'Get Out' Sprang From An Effort To Master Fear, Says Director Jordan Peele: As a kid, Peele was terrified of "the demons that lurked in the dark." Then he realized that by making a horror-thriller, he "would be wielding this power, as opposed to being a victim to it."

Frank Carlberg's Big Band Takes Extended Flights On Familiar Monk Themes: Monk Dreams, Hallucinations and Nightmares, by the Finish-born pianist and composer, is a meditation on Thelonious Monk's "odd but catchy melodies," says jazz critic Kevin Whitehead.

An Irish Immigrant Fights On The Great Plains In 'Days Without End': The protagonist of Sebastian Barry's new novel is conscripted right off the boat as the price of American citizenship. Eventually he finds love and companionship with one of his fellow soldiers.

You can listen to the original interviews here:

'Get Out' Sprang From An Effort To Master Fear, Says Director Jordan Peele

Frank Carlberg's Big Band Takes Extended Flights On Familiar Monk Themes

An Irish Immigrant Fights On The Great Plains In 'Days Without End'

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