Interviews

Fresh Air Remembers Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright And Actor Sam Shepard

2:33pm August 04, 2017

Shepard, who died Sunday, penned more than 55 plays, including Buried Child. His breakthrough film role was as astronaut Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff. Originally broadcast in 1998.

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Wally Funk is one of the Mercury 13, a group of women who trained to be astronauts in the early 1960s.

This Pilot Is Headed To Space With Or Without NASA

5:07am August 04, 2017

In 1961, Wally Funk trained to be an astronaut. But, she never got to go to space. Fifty years on, she still dreams of flying among the stars.

DOJ Plans To Take Affirmative Action Against College Admissions

4:14pm August 02, 2017

by Ari Shapiro

The Justice Department plans to investigate universities using affirmative action policies that discriminate against white applicants. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks to Bob Driscoll, who served at the DOJ.

Jessica Williams plays a struggling playwright who is trying to get over an ex-boyfriend in The Incredible Jessica James.

Fresh Air Weekend: Comic Jessica Williams; 'Chester B. Himes'; Trump And The Media

12:04pm July 31, 2017

Williams discusses The Daily Show and her new film, The Incredible Jessica James. Maureen Corrigan reviews a biography of writer Himes. New York Times reporter Peter Baker talks about covering Trump.

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The Rev. Noel Hickie was working as a hospital chaplain when he met Marcia Hilton, a bereavement counselor at a hospital in Eugene, Ore. For 25 years they often worked together on hospice teams.

For Decades These Caregivers Helped Patients, Families Through Illness And Death

5:13am July 28, 2017

When the Rev. Noel Hickie and Marcia Hilton began working in hospice care, neither was sure they were cut out for the job. But they realized they could help families process grief and make things OK.

World News

Life In Yemen's Taiz: A City Under Siege

11:34pm July 27, 2017

NPR's Kelly McEvers speaks with Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, from Sana'a, Yemen. He's visited the besieged city of Taiz, and describes what he saw there.

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Filmmaker Dreams Of A Romantic Comedy Set In Rwanda

5:10pm July 27, 2017

by Eyder Peralta

Rwanda is not exactly the kind of set you might imagine for a romantic comedy. But one filmmaker is dreaming of laughing and falling in love in a country still living in the shadow of genocide.

Movie: Director Joshua Weinstein Explains The Story Behind 'Menashe'

5:10pm July 27, 2017

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with director Joshua Weinstein about his film Menashe. It tells the story of a recent widower, trying to regain his bearings under the rules of Hassidic life.

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What You Need To Know About Foxconn

4:32pm July 27, 2017

Foxconn hasn't had much presence in the U.S., but it's the largest corporate employer in China. NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Brian Merchant, a tech reporter for Vice, about the company.

David Mikkelson, founder of Snopes, sits next to a doctored storm photo in 2004. Snopes debunked that image — and has uncovered many other hoaxes. But the future of one of the nation's first digital fact-checking initiatives is currently in doubt.

National

Who's The True Boss Of Snopes? Legal Fight Puts Fact-Check Site At Risk

11:10am July 27, 2017

by David Folkenflik

The future of one of the nation's first digital fact-checking initiatives is in doubt. The site's founder says a legal battle for control of the company has led to all of its revenue being cut off.

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