Fresh Air

Lisa Kudrow is up for two Emmys for the final season of The Comeback, about an actress who will endure almost anything to keep working. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her character’s delusion and how the show has captured different eras of Hollywood. Kudrow also talks about a life-changing trip to Belarus, being a straight-laced girl, and watching Friends after her co-star Matthew Perry’s death. 

Also, critic-at-large John Powers reviews the Paramount+ series Diarra from Detroit.

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Colman Domingo is nominated for two Emmy Awards this year, for two very different roles: in the Netflix comedy The Four Seasons and in the final season of HBO's Euphoria. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about the transition from dramatic roles to comedy, and guest hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! for a week. 

Award-winning writer Leïla Slimani grew up in Morocco, where women were second-class citizens, but inside her home and with her family, she was free to speak her mind. Her mother, a doctor, pushed her to go to France to study. Slimani spoke with Terry Gross about her trilogy of novels inspired by her own French-Moroccan roots.

Rock critic Ken Tucker looks back on the soundtrack of the 1976 film Sparkle, sung by Aretha Franklin. 

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The Dog Stars, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Josh Brolin and Jacob Elordi, is about two men who become unlikely compatriots when a pandemic wipes out much of the country's population. Adventure writer Peter Heller spoke with Dave Davies in 2012 about the book, which draws on his own survival skills. 

Also, we remember pioneering rock critic Dave Marsh. He was an early champion and biographer of Bruce Springsteen, and helped launch the rock magazine Creem before winding up at Rolling Stone. He died August 14 at age 79. 

Justin Chang reviews the new film Dreams in Nightmares. 

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Two weeks after being nominated for an Emmy for his leading role in Wonder Man, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II found out that the series had been cancelled. He says Marvel could do more to support Black-led projects. Abdul-Mateen spoke with co-host Tonya Mosley about how he stumbled into acting, padding his early resumé, and working through his stutter. 

Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews Teenage Death and Sex at Camp Miasma. 

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Defense analyst Stacie Pettyjohn says while the U.S. military is facing long-range missile shortages, prolonged deployments, and vacated regional bases, Iran is building cheaper weapons quickly. She tells Dave Davies the U.S. military is scrambling to adjust to innovations in modern warfare. 

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Segel returns to talk with Terry Gross about his Emmy-nominated series Shrinking, in which he plays a therapist who suffered a nervous breakdown in the wake of his wife’s death. Segel opens up about his own therapy, acting opposite Harrison Ford, and overcoming writer's block. He thinks of his vulnerability as a super power. "I'm kind of devoid of pride or shame about the dirty underneath. I'll say the stuff that a lot of people are trying to hide." Segel wrote and starred in the hit comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and played David Foster Wallace in The End of the Tour. 

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When you’re dieting to lose weight, human evolution is often working against you. We’ll talk about why with Daniel Lieberman, author of Fed Up and founder of Harvard’s Department of Evolutionary Biology.  He spoke with Terry Gross about diets he’s tested, and the often contradictory information about what’s healthy to eat and what’s not.

Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Etna, a novel that looks at war through the narration of a dog. 

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Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues to break box office records, after having the biggest U.S. opening weekend in history. Tonya Mosley talks with the film’s director, Destin Daniel Cretton. Long before Marvel, he worked in a group home for at-risk teens. He says it's an experience that shaped everything he's made since then, and became the movie Short Term 12.

Also, we hear from Harriet Clark. She was a baby when her mother was a getaway driver of a robbery of a Brink’s truck in 1981. The robbers were members of a radical offshoot of the Weather Underground and the Black Panthers. For 37 years, Clark spent Saturdays visiting her mother in prison. “She figured out how to mother me in some of the most difficult conditions possible,” Clark tells Terry Gross. Her novel, The Hill, draws on her experience visiting her mother in prison. 

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Poet and writer Clint Smith says we are taught to think of slavery as something that happened a long, long time ago. But then he learned that his grandfather's grandfather had been enslaved. “This person who was so central to my life and my own identity is someone who was only a generation or two removed from a family member who had been born into slavery," he tells Terry Gross. Smith is the author of the bestselling book How the Word Is Passed, about distortions in how the history of slavery was taught to him and other children -- and the ways many Americans deceive themselves about that history. He's also the author of the collection of poetry called Above Ground.

Also, critic at large John Powers reviews the new TV series Lanterns. 



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Colman Domingo is nominated for two Emmy Awards for two very different performances — in the Netflix comedy The Four Seasons and in HBO's Euphoria. "I can go very deep with my characters," he tells co-host Tonya Mosley. He talks about doing comedy with masters like Tina Fey, filling in for Jimmy Kimmel, why he loves being in his 50s. 

Also, Lloyd Schwartz reviews a remastered album of Handel arias by Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. 


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China produces at least 70% of the world’s drones, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar cells. And with the U.S. stockpile of munitions diminished from the Iran war, would the U.S. have what it needs to defend Taiwan if China invaded? Terry Gross talks with New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos about his latest story, “The Future Made in China.” “The irony here is that we are in some ways beholden right now to the Chinese factory in order to produce the munitions that we need to defend American interests from China. That’s the exquisite problem that we've found ourselves in,” Osnos says. 


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Cretton grew up in Hawaii, and says movies expanded his perspective: “That is how I traveled. That is how I was exposed to other cultures. That's how I understand how kids grew up in high school on the mainland,” he tells co-host Tonya Mosley. He explains how his job at a group home for at-risk teens inspired his film Short Term 12, how he relates to Peter Parker’s loneliness, and how his difficult relationship with his father helps him with directing.


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Journalist Gil Durán argues that a small circle of Silicon Valley billionaires and venture capitalists have concluded that democracy is in their way — and that they should be governing in its place. Durán traces their fringe ideologies from blogs, manifestos and private talks straight to the White House. “The weird stuff these guys say in their blogs or in their speeches is not just eccentric fluff. Because they have so much money, they can turn these weird ideas into policy and cause tremendous damage.” His book is The Nerd Reich. 

Also, Ken Tucker has a 50th anniversary appreciation of the Sparkle soundtrack. Loosely based on the girl group The Supremes, the 1976 film starred Aretha Franklin and the music was written and produced by Curtis Mayfield. 

In the audio of this story, we incorrectly say the theme music of the movie Shaft was by Curtis Mayfield. It was by Isaac Hayes.

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Seven years ago, New Yorker staff writer Jia Tolentino coined the term “Instagram Face.” Now we talk about how current beauty standards are changing our relationship to reality. “It seems more explicitly anti-human right now than ever before,” she tells Tonya Mosley. “There seems to be something that’s dove-tailing with the age of AI.” 

Also, we hear from Lee Sung Jin, creator of the Netflix series Beef. The second season is a story about class and blackmail at an exclusive country club. He talks about how he has pulled ideas from his own life, and his experience working in writers rooms as the only Asian person. 

Film critic Justin Chang reviews the new erotic comedy I Want Your Sex, starring Olivia Wilde.


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The internationally acclaimed horseman Monty Roberts defied the conventional method of breaking horses and developed his own gentler approach — based on horses' non-verbal language. He died on July 31st at 91. Roberts spoke with Terry Gross in 1997, at the time of his memoir.

Also, jazz critic Martin Johnson reviews Jason Moran’s record of Duke Ellington tracks, and John Powers reviews Tony, the Anthony Bourdain biopic that focuses on his first time working in a kitchen. 


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Claire Vaye Watkins' new novel, 'Yellow Pine,' is about a group of misfits and activists in the Mojave desert, fighting a corporate solar development. Living in the desert is "not for everybody," she tells Terry Gross. Her home, near Death Valley, is staggeringly beautiful and brutal. She talks about growing up around environmental activism, solitude, and her father's escape from the Manson Family.

Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new thriller series ‘Furious,’ starring Emmy Rossum, by ‘New Girl’ creator Elizabeth Meriwether. 

In the audio version of this story, we incorrectly use she/her pronouns for the actor Lola Petticrew. Petticrew uses they/them pronouns.

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New York Times reporter Eric Lipton discusses his Pulitzer Prize-winning investigations into Trump’s conflicts of interest and whether he’s exploiting the power of the presidency for self-enrichment. Lipton spoke with Terry Gross. 

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The fifth and final season of the HBO comedy series ‘Hacks’ is nominated for 24 Emmys, including one for Smart as best actress in a comedy series. The writers “raised the bar every single season," Smart tells guest interviewer Aarti Shahani. They talk about why the show is ending, Smart’s distant relative who narrowly escaped the Salem Witch Trials, and adopting a baby when she was in her 50s. 

Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the novel ‘Country People,’ by Daniel Mason. 

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Historian Micki McElya’s book, ‘Liberation Summer,’ revisits September 1968, when three groups of women converged on the Atlantic City boardwalk: feminists protesting the Miss America Pageant, contestants in the first-ever Miss Black America Pageant, and women defending Miss America herself. McElya argues the collision that day created a politics of beauty that runs through the rise of the religious right, the #MeToo era, all the way to today. She spoke with Tonya Mosley. 

Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews HBO’s ‘Big Bang’ spin-off,  ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.’ 

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Christopher Nolan’s new film ‘The Odyssey’ is a box-office hit, but classics scholar Emily Wilson, who translated Homer’s poem from the original text, says the film’s script is abysmally written, lacking in emotional depth and character development. She talks about her translation and divisive criticism of the film. 

Also, we hear from actor Jon Bernthal who plays Menelaus, King of Sparta in ‘The Odyssey’ and the Punisher in the new Spider-Man movie.  


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Irish musician Glen Hansard, best-known for his band The Frames and his part in the 2007 film ‘Once,’ died July 29 in a motorcycle crash. He was 56. Hansard got his start busking in the streets of Dublin. Ironically, it was his headmaster who urged him to drop out of school to pursue music. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2008, with his ‘Once’ co-star Markéta Irglová. Their song from the film, “Falling Slowly,” won an Oscar for Best Original Song. 

Also, Kevin Whitehead pays tribute to Tony Bennett, who would have been 100 next week, and film critic Justin Chang reviews ‘I Want Your Sex.’ 

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Bernthal often plays intense, violent, damaged characters, like Mikey from ‘The Bear’ and Shane from ‘The Walking Dead.’ When talking about himself and his characters, Bernthal says that it’s easy for someone who’s scared to turn into someone who’s scary. He currently stars in ‘The Odyssey’ and the new Spider-Man film, ‘A Brand New Day.’ He spoke with Tonya Mosley about how he went from being an angry young man to a disciplined, dedicated artist. 

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Renowned classics scholar Emily Wilson caused a stir when her critical review of Christopher Nolan's ‘The Odyssey’ went viral. Wilson explains her reaction to the film and why she's translating the poem again. She spoke with Dave Davies about trolls, tattoos, and why she balks at her work being categorized as “feminist.” 

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Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘New York Times’ reporter Mike McIntire says gun companies and the NRA are broadening the scope of the Second Amendment, socializing kids to appreciate guns and marketing a new brand of masculinity. McIntire spoke with Terry Gross about his book, ‘Ricochet: Guns, Greed, and the American Way of Violence.’ 

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Award-winning writer Leïla Slimani grew up in Morocco, where women were second-class citizens, but inside her home and with her family, she was free to speak her mind. Her mother, a doctor, pushed her to go to France to study. Slimani spoke with Terry Gross about her trilogy of novels inspired by her own French-Moroccan roots and her search for belonging. Her books include ‘I’ll Take the Fire’ and ‘The Perfect Nanny.’ 


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At the age of 80, André De Shields is now on Broadway in “CATS: The Jellicle Ball.” He won a Tony in 2019 for his performance in “Hadestown” and co-stars in the new movie of the revival. He talks with Terry Gross about his Broadway debut in the original production of ‘The Wiz,’ living with HIV for almost 50 years, and why he walks like a king.

Also, White Mountain Apache Chef Nephi Craig explains how cooking and teaching about indigenous foods saved his life. His memoir is ‘Our Knives Will Save Us.’  

John Powers reviews Will Ferrell’s new series ‘The Hawk.’

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Poverty, chastity, obedience, total devotion – and rebellion. Catherine Coldstream talks with Terry Gross about her years as a Carmelite nun and why she left the monastery. Her memoir is ‘Cloistered: My Years as a Nun.’ 

John Powers reviews the series ‘The Hawk,’ starring Will Ferrell.


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The second season of Lee Sung Jin’s Netflix series ‘BEEF’ earned 16 Emmy nominations. Set at an exclusive country club, it stars Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan in a story about class struggles and generational differences. The storylines of both seasons were inspired by real events in Lee's life. Before ‘BEEF,’ he spent two decades in comedy writers' rooms, often feeling alienated as the only Asian person on staff. “That's what people first thought of me when I first started – I was the diversity hire." He spoke with Tonya Mosley about the years he spent masking to fit in, and the breaking point that changed how he writes. 

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new Apple TV series ‘Lucky.’ 


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Botox, fillers, facelifts: Plastic surgery is becoming so normalized and undetectable, it's changing our relationship to reality. ‘New Yorker’ staff writer Jia Tolentino considers how beauty standards have dovetailed with AI. 


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At the age of 80, Broadway legend André De Shields now starring in "CATS: The Jellicle Ball." He won a Tony in 2019 for his performance in "Hadestown," and co-stars in the new film of last year’s London revival. He made his Broadway debut in the title role of the 1975 original production of "The Wiz."

De Shields describes himself as Afro Queer, a longtime HIV survivor, and unreformed hippie, who grew up in inner city Baltimore. He’s always gone his own way in how he thinks, speaks, dresses and moves. "I don’t rush anywhere. I walk slowly. My reputation is that Andre DeShields doesn’t walk, he floats." He spoke with Terry Gross.

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