Interviews

Health & Safety

Lux Narayan: What Do Obituaries Teach Us About Lives Well-Lived?

11:05am September 07, 2018

by NPR/TED Staff

Lux Narayan analyzed 2000 New York Times obituaries, of both famous and not-so-famous people, over a two-year period. One common thread among them? A fierce desire to help others.

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Reporter April Ryan raises her hand during a press briefing at the White House in 2017. Her pointed questioning has often earned her the ire of the Trump administration's communications team, as she writes in Under Fire.

In The Trump Era, Journalist April Ryan Finds Herself 'Under Fire'

4:55pm September 05, 2018

by Audie Cornish

The longtime White House correspondent, one of the few black reporters in the press corps, has frequently clashed with the current administration's press officers — which she details in a new book.

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John Oliver's HBO show, Last Week Tonight, returned for its fifth season in February.

Fresh Air Weekend: John Oliver; Allison Janney; A Tribute To Roger Miller; Neil Simon

10:13am September 01, 2018

Oliver talks about hosting Last Week Tonight. Janney says her relationships with her own family inform her role on Mom. Ken Tucker reviews King of the Road. Fresh Air remembers playwright Neil Simon.

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National

Encore: Longtime Partners Find Treasure Among Trash

12:57pm August 31, 2018

In 2010, Angelo Bruno and Eddie Nieves talked about the bond they forged working together to clean up New York City. They've since retired from the job, but their friendship hasn't gone to waste.

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Tima Kurdi holds her necklace bearing a photograph of her nephews, Alan (left) and Ghalib Kurdi. She is the author of The Boy on the Beach: My Family's Escape from Syria and Our Hope for a New Home.

An Aunt's Memoir: Remembering The Drowned Syrian Boy On The Beach

10:55am August 31, 2018

by Diane Cole

Tima Kurdi has written a book that tells the story of the family's attempt to cross from Turkey to Greece in a rubber boat — and the struggle to make sense of the tragedy.

Kennedy Odede (in blue shirt) is dancing for a good reason. The charity he and his wife started has been awarded the $2 million Hilton Humanitarian Prize. He's joined by residents of Kibera, the neighborhood in Nairobi where his nonprofit group provides e

Whatever Happened To ... The Street Kid Whose Life Was Saved By Kindness

5:28pm August 29, 2018

by Marc Silver

Kennedy Odede was a homeless kid in the slum of Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya. Now he's the founder of a successful nonprofit helping his community. How's he and his group faring?

André Holland did research with the Equal Justice Initiative in order to prepare for his role as a lawyer on the Hulu series Castle Rock.

Fresh Air Weekend: Actor André Holland; 'Crazy Rich Asians' Author Kevin Kwan

9:32am August 25, 2018

Castle Rock star Holland talks about growing up in rural Alabama. Kevin Whitehead reviews Andy Biskin's Songs from the Alan Lomax Collection. Kwan reflects on the screen adaptation of his novel.

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Linda Kwong's (right) suicide attempt in 2012 took a toll on her relationship with her daughter, Emily. Linda and Emily talk for the first time about what happened that day in a conversation at StoryCorps in 2013.

'I Never Faked My Love For You': A Mother Opens Up After Her Suicide Attempt

7:05am August 24, 2018

Linda Kwong tells her daughter Emily about the day she tried to kill herself. "In that moment that I took those pills," Linda says, "I wasn't thinking of you and that's hard to accept."

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Tyler Cowen: Do The Numbers Give Us The Full Picture?

10:04am August 17, 2018

by NPR/TED Staff

When it comes to global progress, Tyler Cowen says there's much more to the story than numbers can tell. And it's important, he says, to pay attention to the inherent "messiness" of the data.

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Hanna Rosin: Data Shows Women Have Progressed. But What's Next?

10:04am August 17, 2018

by NPR/TED Staff

Post-recession, journalist Hanna Rosin noticed an economic shift: jobs dominated by men were on the decline, jobs dominated by women were on the rise. But does that data signify meaningful progress?

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