Best Fresh Air From WHYY Podcasts (2025)

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Ben Stiller On His Parents’ Showbiz Marriage 45:21

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3h ago45:21

45:21

After the deaths of his parents, comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Ben found a stash of their audio recordings. Those tapes are at the center of a new documentary, ‘Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost.’ He spoke with Terry Gross about growing up in the spotlight, his father’s life-changing role on ‘Seinfeld,’ and the connection between his famil…

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Cynthia Erivo's Road To 'Wicked' 45:52

1d ago45:52

45:52

Erivo speaks with Tonya Mosley about the parallels between her life and the experience of her ‘Wicked’ character, Elphaba. She also talks about singing as a child, using perfume to get into character, and why she shaved her head. Erivo's new memoir is called ‘Simply More: A Book for Anyone who Has Been Told They're Too Much.’ Learn more about spons…

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Best Of: Ethan Hawke / Tim Robbins 48:38

3d ago48:38

48:38

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 h…

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The High Pressure Experiments That Made D-Day 45:05

4d ago45:05

45:05

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 d…

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Ethan Hawke On The Role That Pushed Him To His Limit 44:11

5d ago44:11

44:11

"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…

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Who Is Laura Loomer, Trump's 'Loyalty Enforcer'? 45:59

6d ago45:59

45:59

'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 Re…

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Nutrition, SNAP & Why We Need A Food Revolution 45:33

7d ago45:33

45:33

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…

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Tim Robbins Believes In The Power Of Theater 45:39

8d ago45:39

45:39

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 Alt…

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Best Of: Judd Apatow / Misty Copeland 46:58

11d ago46:58

46:58

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 Vir…

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Patti Smith’s ‘Horses’ Turns 50 46:49

11d ago46:49

46:49

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,’ s…

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Trump's Options To Subvert The 2026 Midterms 44:59

12d ago44:59

44:59

'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 t…

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Misty Copeland Begins A New Chapter 45:32

13d ago45:32

45:32

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 t…

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The Undoing Of The Department Of Justice 43:52

14d ago43:52

43:52

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 lea…

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Richard Linklater: 'Filmmaking Is Problem Solving' 43:59

15d ago43:59

43:59

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 w…

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Best Of: Guillermo Del Toro / Cameron Crowe 48:54

18d ago48:54

48:54

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 ot…

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The Making Of ‘Young Frankenstein’ 47:11

18d ago47:11

47:11

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…

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The ‘Shadow President’ Dismantling The Government 43:22

19d ago43:22

43:22

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 …

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Filmmaker Nia DaCosta Defies Categorization 44:30

20d ago44:30

44:30

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, an…

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Judd Apatow Unpacks His Comedy Memorabilia 44:05

21d ago44:05

44:05

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 c…

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For Cameron Crowe, Being 'Uncool' Is A Badge Of Honor 46:12

22d ago46:12

46:12

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. …

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Best Of: Malala Yousafzai / Ken Burns On The Revolutionary War 47:31

25d ago47:31

47:31

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 ho…

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Remembering NPR 'Founding Mother' Susan Stamberg 46:38

25d ago46:38

46:38

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 …

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Guillermo Del Toro Finally Makes His Own 'Frankenstein' 45:48

26d ago45:48

45:48

When Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro was a kid growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico, he would draw monsters all day. His deeply Catholic grandmother even had him exorcised because of it. But when del Toro saw the 1931 film Frankenstein, his life changed. "I realized I understood my faith or my dogmas better through Frankenstein than through…

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Confused By The U.S. Economy? You're Not Alone 46:23

27d ago46:23

46:23

How are changing tariffs, the AI boom, immigration policies and uncertainty in employment and the stock market impacting the economy? Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, explains. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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Malala Yousafzai On Breaking Rules & Finding Her Way 44:28

28d ago44:28

44:28

After surviving the Taliban's 2012 attempted assassination, activist Malala Yousafzai didn't back down. She continued to advocate for girls' education across the globe. In 2014, Yousafzai became the youngest person to win a Nobel Prize, an honor that weighed on her when she went off to college. In Finding My Way, she writes about her life at Oxford…

Fresh Air From WHYY Podcasts

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Fresh Air

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Fresh Air From WHYY

Fresh Air From WHYY

1
Ben Stiller On His Parents’ Showbiz Marriage 45:21

1
Cynthia Erivo's Road To 'Wicked' 45:52

1
Best Of: Ethan Hawke / Tim Robbins 48:38

1
The High Pressure Experiments That Made D-Day 45:05

1
Ethan Hawke On The Role That Pushed Him To His Limit 44:11

1
Who Is Laura Loomer, Trump's 'Loyalty Enforcer'? 45:59

1
Nutrition, SNAP & Why We Need A Food Revolution 45:33

1
Tim Robbins Believes In The Power Of Theater 45:39

1
Best Of: Judd Apatow / Misty Copeland 46:58

1
Patti Smith’s ‘Horses’ Turns 50 46:49

1
Trump's Options To Subvert The 2026 Midterms 44:59

1
Misty Copeland Begins A New Chapter 45:32

1
The Undoing Of The Department Of Justice 43:52

1
Richard Linklater: 'Filmmaking Is Problem Solving' 43:59

1
Best Of: Guillermo Del Toro / Cameron Crowe 48:54

1
The Making Of ‘Young Frankenstein’ 47:11

1
The ‘Shadow President’ Dismantling The Government 43:22

1
Filmmaker Nia DaCosta Defies Categorization 44:30

1
Judd Apatow Unpacks His Comedy Memorabilia 44:05

1
For Cameron Crowe, Being 'Uncool' Is A Badge Of Honor 46:12

1
Best Of: Malala Yousafzai / Ken Burns On The Revolutionary War 47:31

1
Remembering NPR 'Founding Mother' Susan Stamberg 46:38

1
Guillermo Del Toro Finally Makes His Own 'Frankenstein' 45:48

1
Confused By The U.S. Economy? You're Not Alone 46:23

1
Malala Yousafzai On Breaking Rules & Finding Her Way 44:28