Fresh Air
NPR
Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.
Subscribe to Fresh Air Plus! You'll enjoy bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening - all while you support NPR's mission. Learn more at plus.npr.org/freshair
And subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Fresh Air Weekly, to get interview highlights, staff recommendations, gems from the archive, and the week's interviews and reviews all in one place. Sign up at www.whyy.org/freshair
Location:
Philadelphia, PA
Description:
Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries. Subscribe to Fresh Air Plus! You'll enjoy bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening - all while you support NPR's mission. Learn more at plus.npr.org/freshair And subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Fresh Air Weekly, to get interview highlights, staff recommendations, gems from the archive, and the week's interviews and reviews all in one place. Sign up at www.whyy.org/freshair
Twitter:
@nprfreshair
Language:
English
Contact:
635 Massachusetts Av. NW, Washington, DC 20001 (202) 513-2300
Email:
freshair@freshair.com
Episodes
NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner
9/11/2025
Veteran Air Force linguist Reality Winner was working at the NSA in 2017 when she leaked a classified document to the press about Russian election interference. Soon after, the FBI showed up at her door. She was sentenced to five years in prison and was released in 2021. Winner's new memoir is I Am Not Your Enemy. She spoke with Terry Gross.
Also, John Powers reviews the MUBI series Mussolini: Son of the Century about the ferocious rise of the Italian dictator.
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Duration:00:44:52
The Future Of Free And Fair Elections
9/10/2025
Before 2026's midterms, President Trump wants to ban mail-in ballots and electronic voting machines, and change voting rules. Legal expert Richard Hasen discusses the future of free and fair elections in America. "What's it going to mean to have to stand up to the government to make sure that people have their right to vote?" Hasen says. "I think it's very unlikely that the president would say the elections are canceled, but there's lots of things he could do with his power, with the military, with his power over federal government machinery that can make it very difficult for some people to vote."
Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Patrick Ryan's novel Buckeye.
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Duration:00:45:45
Rob Reiner's 'Spinal Tap' Still Goes To 11
9/9/2025
Reiner's 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap sparked a new genre of satire. Now, more than 40 years later, the band is back in a new sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. "They have grown neither emotionally or musically," Reiner says. The filmmaker spoke with Terry Gross about When Harry Met Sally, growing up around comedy legends, and starring in Norman Lear's seminal sitcom All in the Family.
Also, David Bianculli reviews the new comedy series The Paper.
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Duration:00:45:30
Bluegrass Star Billy Strings
9/8/2025
The Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and guitarist has one foot in traditional bluegrass and another in improvisational jam music. He has a new album, Live at the Legion, and he brought his guitar to our studio. He spoke with Sam Briger about healing himself through songwriting, performing the day his mom died, and how being a father has changed him as a musician. "I sing now from a place of freedom and joy in my belly," Strings says.
Also, jazz critic Martin Johnson reviews an album from harpist Brandee Younger.
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Duration:00:44:58
Best Of : Jane Fonda / Spike Lee
9/6/2025
At 87, Oscar-winning actor Jane Fonda is pouring her energy into activism. She’ll reflect on her decades-long career, and how she first began her fitness empire to fund her activist work. Also, we hear from Spike Lee. His latest film, Highest 2 Lowest, reimagines Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic High and Low, but through the lens of modern-day America and hip-hop culture. Both guests spoke with Tonya Mosley.
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Duration:00:48:21
Noah Wyle, Star Of 'The Pitt'
9/5/2025
After 11 seasons on ER, Noah 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." But then COVID happened, and he felt compelled to tell more of these stories. He spoke with Dave Davies about the making of HBO's hit show The Pitt, the medical jargon, and his mom's feedback on the show.
Justin Chang reviews the new film Caught Stealing, from director Darren Aronofsky.
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Duration:00:44:10
How Does Pain Work? Dr. Sanjay Gupta Explains
9/4/2025
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta's new book examines the world of pain — why we feel it, and how we can treat it. He says distraction and meditation can be useful tools for managing pain. He spoke with Terry Gross about how the brain gets pain signals wrong, alternatives to painkillers, and how a family of circus performers inspired a new drug. Gupta's book is It Doesn't Have to Hurt.
Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the HBO series Task, by the creator of Mare of Easttown, starring Mark Ruffalo.
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Duration:00:45:26
RFK Jr.'s Impact On Americans' Health
9/3/2025
We look at the stormy tenure of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. New York Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg discusses how RFK Jr.'s cuts to government staff and expert groups will impact everyday Americans. A vaccine skeptic, Kennedy fired the CDC director last week.
Also, John Powers reviews the Prime Video thriller series Butterfly, starring Daniel Dae Kim.
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Duration:00:45:30
Jane Fonda Is Not Backing Down
9/2/2025
Earlier this year, Fonda made headlines for delivering a fiery critique of the Trump administration during a SAG-AFTRA award acceptance speech. "This is not the time to go inward," Fonda says. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her career onscreen and off, as an activist.
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Duration:00:45:15
Roots of Rock and R&B: Dion and Allen Toussaint
9/1/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. We listen back to a 2000 interview with former teen idol Dion. Plus we’ll hear an interview Terry Gross recorded in 1988 with New Orleans songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint. And jazz critic Kevin Whitehead profiles jazz saxophonist Art Pepper, who was born 100 years ago today.
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Duration:00:46:40
Roots of R&B: Charles Brown & Ray Charles
8/30/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. We listen back to a 1989 interview with singer and pianist Charles Brown. Brown is credited with creating an expressive style of music that blended rough Texas blues with the soft glamour of Hollywood. And we revisit a 1998 interview with soul singer Ray Charles, who helped shape American music, beginning with his 1955 hit, “I Got a Woman.”
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Duration:00:49:06
Roots of R&B: 'Stand By Me'
8/29/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. Soul singer Ben E. King began his career in the ‘50s with The Drifters but it was the '61 hit "Stand by Me" that sealed his musical legacy. He spoke to Fresh Air in 1988. We also listen back to a 1991 interview with lyricist Jerry Leiber and composer Mike Stoller, who wrote and produced music for King. Plus, we'll revisit Terry Gross' 1993 interview with Jerry Wexler, the hitmaker who coined the term "rhythm and blues."
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Duration:00:46:36
Roots of R&B: Johnny Otis & Etta James
8/27/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. Singer, songwriter, producer and talent scout Johnny Otis got his start leading a big band that had the 1945 hit “Harlem Nocturne.” Later, as a talent scout, he discovered such performers as Big Mama Thornton, Esther Phillips and Etta James. James' career took off in the '60s with hits including “At Last," “A Sunday Kind of Love” and “I’d Rather Go Blind."
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Duration:00:46:15
Roots of Rock: Sun Records & Johnny Cash
8/26/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. Sam Phillips discovered Elvis Presley and produced his first records, which many consider Elvis’ best. He also founded Sun Records and launched the careers of Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich and Johnny Cash. Cash is one of the most influential figures in country music. His collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, starting in the late 1990s, transformed Cash’s image and gained him a new, young audience.
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Duration:00:46:41
Roots Of Rock: "Blue Suede Shoes"
8/25/2025
All week we're revisiting archival interviews with key figures in early rock and roll, rockabilly and R&B. We're kicking it off with Terry Gross's interviews with Elvis Presley's guitarist Scotty Moore, who tells stories about playing with the King and recording "Blue Suede Shoes." That song was written by rockabilly musician Carl Perkins, who also spoke with Terry about his career.
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Duration:00:45:25
Remembering Actor Terence Stamp
8/22/2025
We remember British actor Terence Stamp, who died last week at age 87. He starred in the film The Limey, as an ex-con out for revenge, and in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as a transgender performer on the road with a lip-synch club act. Stamp got his start in the ’60s, starring in the films Billy Budd, Far From the Madding Crowd and The Collector. Stamp grew up in a working class cockney neighborhood and as a teenager, when he let it be known he wanted to be an actor, his father told him, "People like us don't do things like that." He spoke with Terry Gross in 2002.
Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews the new hit horror film Weapons.
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Duration:00:45:48
Robert Reich: The Baby Boomers Fell Short
8/21/2025
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich served under President Clinton from 1993 to 1997. He opens his new memoir, Coming Up Short, with an apology on behalf of the Baby Boom generation for failing to build a more just society.
Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the books Pariah and The Dancing Face.
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Duration:00:43:43
The Dramatic Overhaul Of The Justice Dept.
8/20/2025
The New Yorker’s Ruth Marcus says Bondi has presided over the DOJ's most convulsive transition of power since Watergate, aggressively reversing policies, investigating Trump’s foes and firing staff.
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Duration:00:45:10
Spike Lee On Dynamic Duos & Reimagining Kurosawa
8/19/2025
Spike Lee's new film, Highest 2 Lowest, centers on a music mogul (Denzel Washington) who faces a moral dilemma when kidnappers mistakenly hold his friend's son ransom instead of his own: Will he risk it all to save a child who isn't his? The Oscar-winning filmmaker spoke with Tonya Mosley about his decades-long partnership with Denzel, an upcoming docuseries about Hurricane Katrina, and Do The Right Thing, 35+ years later.
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Duration:00:44:41
Bowen Yang's 'Wicked' White Lie
8/18/2025
The Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Live cast member talks with Terry Gross about his favorite pop culture in the aughts, his SNL audition, and his recent trip to China.
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Duration:00:45:52