Fresh Air with Terry Gross, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Each week, nearly 4.5 million people listen to the show's intimate conversations broadcast on more than 450 National Public Radio (NPR) stations across the country, as well as in Europe on the World Radio Network.
Though Fresh Air has been categorized as a "talk show," it hardly fits the mold. Its 1994 Peabody Award citation credits Fresh Air with "probing questions, revelatory interviews and unusual insights." And a variety of top publications count Gross among the country's leading interviewers. The show gives interviews as much time as needed, and complements them with comments from well-known critics and commentators.
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On Robeson, opera singer Davóne Tines pays tribute to the musician often remembered for singing "Ol' Man River." Tines' album pairs well with the 14-CD album Paul Robeson: Voice of Freedom.
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Haggard, who died in 2016, spoke to Fresh Air in 1995 about his love of trains. When he became a star, he acquired his own observation car. Now that coach is part of the Virginia Scenic Railway.
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ADHD has been considered a medical disorder, treatable with drugs like Ritalin, but New York Times Magazine writer Paul Tough says recent studies question that assumption and treatment options.
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NEA Jazz Master Braxton turns 80 this year. Lehman, one of his proteges, has created a tribute that highlights the composer's early work and shows the roads to and from his music.
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The Oscar-nominated filmmaker directed both Black Panther films and Creed. Coogler's latest movie is a vampire thriller about twins who open a juke joint in Jim Crow Mississippi.
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Laila Lalami's dystopian novel centers on a woman who's been incarcerated because an algorithm flagged her as a crime risk. The Dream Hotel paints a grim picture about the ways our data can betray us. -
The Max show uses actors and real people to stage elaborate recreations and imaginings of events. It's like a mystery tour, because you aren't given any clues about the final destination.
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Steven Levitsky studies how healthy democracies can slip into authoritarianism. He says the Trump administration has already done grave damage: "We are no longer living in a democratic regime."
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Dorothy Parker's posthumously published collection is Poems; Camilla Barnes' debut novel is The Usual Desire to Kill. Both affirm: sharp humor can be grounded in pain. -
After 11 seasons on ER, Wyle thought he was finished with medical dramas: "I spent 15 years avoiding — actively avoiding — walking down what I thought was either hallowed ground or traveled road."
