Fresh Air
By 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
Episodes (13)
Fresh Air
Best Of: ‘Boroughs’ Actor Alfre Woodard / Rose Byrne
Alfre Woodard and Rose Byrne deliver powerhouse performances in two very different roles that challenge how we see aging, motherhood, and the emotional toll of caregiving. Woodard, in Netflix’s 'The Burroughs,' redefines senior life not as decline but as vibra
Fresh Air
Richard Pryor’s daughter Elizabeth is a scholar of the N-word
Elizabeth Storter Pryor, daughter of legendary comedian Richard Pryor, reveals in her new memoir how she spent years concealing her identity while becoming a leading scholar of the N-word—a word her father famously weaponized in his stand-up. For decades, she
Fresh Air
'Hamnet' novelist Maggie O'Farrell maps her Irish roots in 'Land'
Maggie O'Farrell’s new novel, Land, is not just a historical fiction piece—it’s a deeply personal excavation of her Irish ancestry, centered on her great-great-grandfather’s work with the British Ordnance Survey in post-Famine Ireland. The novel confronts the
Fresh Air
Alan Cumming / Angela Lansbury
Alan Cumming and Angela Lansbury, two of Broadway's most iconic performers, are celebrated in a Fresh Air retrospective ahead of the 79th Tony Awards. Cumming reflects on his transformative role as the Emcee in Cabaret—revived three times across his career—rev
Fresh Air
Best Of: Novelist Maggie O’Farrell / A personal history of the N-Word
Maggie O'Farrell’s new novel, Land, is a haunting, myth-infused exploration of grief, memory, and Irish identity, rooted in her own family’s history. The story follows a father and son mapping post-Famine Ireland, where the land itself becomes a living, sentie
Fresh Air
Andrew Rannells & Josh Gad look back on 15 years of ‘Book of Mormon’
Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad reflect on the 15th anniversary of *The Book of Mormon* with candid, emotionally charged stories that go far beyond the show's satirical surface. Rannells reveals a deeply personal trauma from his Catholic youth—being sexually assa
Fresh Air
How sky-high ticket prices, war & politics could impact the World Cup
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, set to be the largest in history with 48 teams across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, is overshadowed by a storm of controversy over sky-high ticket prices, opaque ticketing practices, and geopolitical tensions. Laura Williamson, editor-
Fresh Air
Josh O'Connor takes the lead in 'Disclosure Day'
Josh O'Connor, best known for his roles in The Crown and Challengers, steps into the spotlight as the lead in Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day, a high-stakes sci-fi thriller about a cybersecurity expert who uncovers government proof of alien life and decides
Fresh Air
'Daily Show' comic Josh Johnson
Josh Johnson, the rotating anchor of The Daily Show and a rising star in stand-up comedy, reveals how his self-deprecating humor—born from feeling like an 'alien' in his own skin—has become both a shield and a superpower. In a candid Fresh Air interview, he un
Fresh Air
Andrew Scott/Remembering author Marjane Satrapi
Andrew Scott, the Irish actor known for his roles in Fleabag, Sherlock, and Tom Ripley, discusses how his complex portrayals of conflicted men—like the priest torn between faith and desire or the villainous Moriarty—stem from a deep personal connection to emot
Fresh Air
Best Of: 'Book of Mormon' turns 15 / Actor Clarke Peters
The 15th anniversary of The Book of Mormon on Broadway is celebrated with a candid conversation between original stars Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, who reveal the show’s controversial origins and their personal struggles with performing it over time. Gad reco
Fresh Air
Scholar Eddie Glaude Jr. reflects on America at 250
Eddie Glaude Jr. delivers a searing, grief-laden meditation on America’s 250th anniversary in his new book, *America USA*, arguing that the nation’s grand celebrations are ritualized acts of erasure—moments when the country collectively forgets its foundationa
Fresh Air
Remembering the nation's 'Lost Founder'
James Wilson, one of the most influential yet forgotten Founding Fathers, emerges as a radical champion of popular sovereignty in Jesse Wegman's new book, The Lost Founder. Though he signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Wilson's le
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