Fresh Air

Ethan Hawke stars in the new movie ‘Blue Moon,’ about lyricist Lorenz Hart, half of the Broadway duo Rodgers and Hart. It’s his ninth collaboration with director Richard Linklater. He’s also in the new noir-inspired streaming series ‘The Lowdown.’ He tells Terry Gross while playing Hart pushed him to the edge of his ability, he totally related to his character in ‘The Lowdown.’ Also, we hear from actor and director Tim Robbins. He reflects on 30 years of making films and why he believes live theater can sometimes speak to us in more profound ways than film can. He spoke with Tonya Mosley.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What happens to the body in the deep sea? You need oxygen to survive, but too much oxygen can be deadly. If you rise to the surface too quickly, nitrogen bubbles can form in your body and kill you. Terry Gross spoke with author and scientist Rachel Lance last year about her research for the military. She used a hyperbaric chamber that mimics what divers and submarines are exposed to. Her book, ‘Chamber Divers,’ is about the scientists whose dangerous experiments about underwater pressure and injury were critical to the success of D-Day.Also, Justin Chang reviews ‘Sirat,’ which he calls one of the most gripping movies of the year. Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

"Every now and then you bump up against a part that presses you to the wall of your ability," Hawke says of playing lyricist Lorenz Hart in ‘Blue Moon.’ Hawke spoke with Terry Gross about collaborating with Richard Linklater, 'The Lowdown,' and his thoughts on aging. Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

'New Yorker’ staff writer Antonia Hitchens describes how Laura Loomer went from a conspiracy theorist to a close ally of Trump who’s gotten government officials she claims are disloyal to the president fired. Hitchens has a new profile of Loomer in the magazine. Also, David Bianculli reviews Ken Burns’ new six-part PBS docuseries on the American Revolution. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Food policy expert and nutritionist Marion Nestle's 2006 book, ‘What to Eat,’ became a consumer bible of sorts when it came out, guiding readers through the supermarket while exposing how industry marketing and policy steer our food choices. Now, two decades later, she's back with ‘What to Eat Now,’ a revised field guide for the supermarket of 2025.Also, Justin Chang reviews Joachim Trier’s new film, Sentimental Value.’  Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Oscar-winning actor/director has a new play, “Topsy Turvy,” about a chorus that loses its ability to sing together after COVID isolation."Things that I had held sacred or had held as truths were challenged," Robbins says of the pandemic. He talks with Tonya Mosley about ‘Shawshank Redemption,’ ‘Dead Man Walking,’ and how working with Robert Altman changed the trajectory of his career. Also, David Bianculli reviews the new Netflix miniseries, ‘Death by Lightning.’Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Before he was directing box office hits or launching the careers of comedy superstars, Judd Apatow was a kid writing fan letters to his heroes, collecting autographs, and obsessively documenting everything. He’s now opened his personal archive for a new book of photographs, letters, scripts, and journals that shaped movies like ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin,’ ‘Knocked Up,’ and ‘Trainwreck.’  Also, we hear from Misty Copeland, who captivated audiences as the first Black woman to become a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. She also performed with Prince, who helped change her perception of herself. “He was my biggest supporter. He showed what it was the be one of a kind, to be unique and to use that as a power.”Ken Tucker celebrates 50 years of Patti Smith’s album ‘Horses.’Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

50 years ago next week, Patti Smith released her debut album, ‘Horses,’ ushering in a new era of rock and roll. We’re listening back to portions of our interviews with Smith, from 1996 and 2010. She talks about her early days in New York City, when she was trying to find her way as a poet, performer and later songwriter. When it came to ‘Horses,’ she says, “I thought I would do this record and then go back to my writing and my drawing and return to my somewhat abnormal normal life. But ‘Horses’ took me on a whole different path.”  And Ken Tucker reviews the new anniversary edition of the album. Also, we remember actress Diane Ladd in an excerpt of an interview with her daughter, Laura Dern. And David Bianculli reviews ‘Pluribus,’ the new series from ‘Breaking Bad’ creator Vince Gilligan.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

'Atlantic' journalist David Graham describes how President Trump could potentially use troops near polling places, pressure local election workers and have federal agents seize voting machines.Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Patti Smith’s ‘Bread of Angels,’ a prequel/sequel to ‘Just Kids.’ Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Copeland says her final performance with American Ballet Theatre was a thank you to the communities that had supported her. "What I represented is something far bigger than me," she says. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her final bow, her relationship to pain, and the legacy of Black ballet dancers. Also, David Bianculli reviews the new Peacock thriller series ‘All Her Fault,’ starring Sarah Snook. Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis talk about why the U.S. Justice Department’s cases against Donald Trump for alleged interference in the 2020 election and his retention of government documents never made it before a jury. They find both FBI officials and government prosecutors were at times reluctant to pursue leads out of concern for preserving the department’s commitment to fairness and independence from politics. Leonnig and Davis also detail many cases of Trump as president pressuring the DOJ to protect his friends and punish his perceived enemies. Their book is ‘Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department.’ They spoke with Fresh Air’s Dave Davies.Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Filmmaker Richard Linklater doesn't speak French, but that didn't stop him from directing a movie that's almost entirely in French. ‘Nouvelle Vague’ focuses on the beginning of the New Wave of cinema, specifically Jean-Luc Godard and his landmark 1960 movie ‘Breathless.’ "I know that sounds insane," Linklater says, "but me not having the language wasn't even in my top 10 concerns about if I could pull off the movie." Linklater spoke with Terry Gross about the impact of the French New Wave, and his other new film, ‘Blue Moon.’ It’s about Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart, the former creative partner of Richard Rodgers.Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the novel Heart the Lover by Lily King. Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The great filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro has a new adaptation of Frankenstein. He saw the 1931 film when he was 7. “I realized I understood my faith better through Frankenstein than through Sunday Mass,” he tells Terry Gross. “And I decided at age seven that the creature of Frankenstein was gonna be my personal avatar and my personal messiah.” His other films include Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water. Also, we hear from Cameron Crowe, who wrote and directed Jerry Maguire, Say Anything and the semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous, about writing for Rolling Stone starting at age 15. His new memoir is about being a naive teen, exposed to the excesses of rock musicians.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Mel Brooks’s classic 1974 movie Young Frankenstein parodies the iconic Frankenstein movies of the 1930s. This Halloween, we’re featuring our interviews with director Mel Brooks and stars Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Teri Garr and Cloris Leachman. And film critic Justin Chang reviews the new film Bugonia.Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In a New Yorker article co-published with ProPublica, reporter Andy Kroll describes Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, as a "shadow president" with oversized influence. “I don't think you can take in the full sweep of what this administration has done in less than a year and not come away with thinking that chaos is a goal, and certainly an outcome that serves Vought and his team’s larger agenda of putting cracks in the federal government, shaking the stability of this typically rock-solid steady institution that is the federal bureaucracy,” Kroll says.  Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

DaCosta directed the box office hit horror movie Candyman and The Marvels. Her latest, Hedda, is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play, Hedda Gabler. She reimagines the main character as a queer, mixed-race Black woman, played by Tessa Thompson. DaCosta spoke with Tonya Mosley about navigating white spaces in Hollywood, why she loves horror, and her time as a production assistant. Also, jazz critic Martin Johnson reviews bassist Linda May Han Oh’s album Strange Heavens. Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Long before Judd Apatow was directing box office hits or launching the careers of comedy superstars, he was a fan. As a kid he wrote letters to his heroes, collected autographs, and obsessively documented everything. He’s now opened up his personal archive: decades of photographs, letters, scripts, and journals for a new book that reveals how his childhood inspirations led to the creation of works like '40-Year-Old Virgin,' 'Knocked Up,' and 'Trainwreck.' It’s called 'Comedy Nerd: A Lifelong Obsession in Stories and Pictures.'Also, John Powers reviews the new museum heist film 'The Mastermind,' starring Josh O’Connor. Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The filmmaker's new memoir, 'The Uncool,' is about his teen years in the '70s as a rock journalist for 'Rolling Stone.' His unconventional story was dramatized in the 2000 movie 'Almost Famous.' Crowe spoke with Terry Gross about getting access to rockstars before he could drink, being mentored by Lester Bangs, and his interviews with David Bowie. |Also, David Bianculli reviews the new season of 'The Diplomat.' Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We know Malala as the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, the girl who survived a Taliban bullet at 15 for advocating for girls' education in Pakistan. Now in a new book, she's reintroducing herself to the world. It's called Finding My Way, and in it she writes about the messy, funny, and flawed experiences that come with age, while carrying both the honor and the weight of being an activist for women’s rights. TV critic David Bianculli reviews a new documentary series about Martin Scorsese. And Ken Burns talks about his new PBS documentary on the Revolutionary War. It includes the perspectives of women, Native Americans, and enslaved and free Black people–the people initially excluded from the declaration “all men are created equal.” Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

As longtime co-host of All Things Considered, Stamberg was the first woman to anchor a national news program in the U.S. People weren't used to hearing women's voices on the radio. "We were imitating men, so I was lowering my voice to sound as authoritative as I could," she said. Stamberg died Oct. 16. She spoke with Terry Gross in 1982, 1993, and 2021. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy