Interviews

Rita Moreno attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4 in Hollywood, Calif.

Arts

Rita Moreno To 'My Gente': Be Proud Of Who You Are, And Don't Give Up

7:54am May 13, 2018

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Moreno is being honored by the Ellis Honor Society for her work with immigrant communities. She talks to NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro about her career, her advocacy, and progress in the Latino community.

In addition to making music, Tracey Thorn also writes a column for the British publication New Statesman.

Fresh Air Weekend: Singer-Songwriter Tracey Thorn; Chef Lidia Bastianich

10:39am May 12, 2018

Thorn sings about the different stages of women's lives on her new solo album. Maureen Corrigan reviews Barracoon, by Zora Neale Hurston. Bastianich's new memoir is My American Dream.

Max Knauer and his mother, Kittie Weston-Knauer, at a StoryCorps conversation recorded in April.

'Why Don't You Try It?': How The Oldest U.S. Female BMX Racer Broke Into The Sport

12:56pm May 11, 2018

Kittie Weston-Knauer and her son Max Knauer have spun bonding time into an extreme sport. Thirty years ago, Max egged her on to try BMX racing; at 69, she's still pedaling in races all over the U.S.

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Music & Culture

#MuteRKelly Co-Founder On The Moment, Her Movement And Its Momentum

10:18am May 06, 2018

by Ian Wren

In the wake of new allegations against R&B singer R. Kelly, the #MuteRKelly movement is gaining new support for a campaign to isolate the artist.

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Michelle Wolf says the title of her HBO special, Nice Lady, was inspired by real life: "For the longest time ... I thought that's how I was supposed to be. I thought I was just supposed to be nice and pleasant — and then I realized that's no fun."

Fresh Air Weekend: Comic Michelle Wolf; Journalist Alex Wagner's 'Futureface'

10:57am May 05, 2018

Wolf stands by her controversial performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner: "I wouldn't change a single word." Wagner talks about her search for the roots of her mixed-race ancestry.

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Joanne Brackeen and Jason Moran at NPR's Studio One in Washington, D.C.

Music & Culture

Jazz Giants Take The Stage At The NEA Jazz Masters Listening Party

6:27pm May 04, 2018

by Suraya Mohamed

Jason Moran sat down with the NEA Jazz Masters to talk about their careers and listen to music that played important roles in their lives.

In a StoryCorps conversation recorded in February, Patrick and Tracia Kraemer recall falling in love at a nudist park.

National

This Love Story Started At A Nudist Park

10:24am May 04, 2018

To celebrate her 40th birthday, Tracia Kraemer wanted to visit a nudist camp. She figured she'd wind up with a good story, but as she recalls with her husband, Patrick, she came away with a lot more.

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U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Hyeonseo Lee (far left) and other North Korean defectors in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 2, 2018.

World News

North Korean Defector Hopes To See Loved Ones Again — But Remains Skeptical

3:33pm May 02, 2018

by Mary Louise Kelly

Hyeonseo Lee left North Korea when she was 17. Now 38, she calls the recent meeting between Kim Jong Un and President Moon Jae-in "stunning," and says her greatest hope is reunification.

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Jake Tapper is CNN's chief Washington correspondent and the host of The Lead and State of the Union. His novel, The Hellfire Club, is set in 1954 Washington, D.C.

Arts

Fresh Air Weekend: CNN's Jake Tapper; Poet Gregory Pardlo

9:00am April 28, 2018

The CNN anchor talks about his new novel, The Hellfire Club. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a four-disc reissue of Louis Armstrong. Pardlo discusses his new memoir, Air Traffic.

In a 2009 StoryCorps interview, Charisse Spencer (right) shares with her son Myles Spencer-Watson her memories of growing up in Virginia during the 1960s civil rights movement.

National

'We Were Representing Our Whole Race': A Mom Passes On Her Civil Rights Story

11:38am April 27, 2018

Charisse Spencer grew up in the country's largest black suburb during the 1960s. She tells her son about being one of the first African-Americans to integrate an all-white school in Virginia.

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