Fresh Air from WHYY

Schedule

88.5-1

Monday - Thursday

3:00 pm

88.3

Monday - Thursday

3:00 pm

88.5-3

Friday

3:00 pm

Fresh Air opens the window on contemporary arts and issues with guests from worlds as diverse as literature and economics.

Terry Gross hosts this multi-award-winning daily interview and features program. The veteran public radio interviewer is known for her extraordinary ability to engage guests of all dispositions. Every weekday she delights intelligent and curious listeners with revelations on contemporary societal concerns.

Find more information about Fresh Air.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Natalie Maines: A Country-Music Rebel Rocks On Her Own

On Mother, Maines' first solo record, the singer moves beyond the music that propelled her to fame as a member of the Dixie Chicks. It features an assortment of pop and rock covers, including a reworking of the Pink Floyd song that lends the album its title.

Nearly Three Years After Dodd-Frank, Reforms Happen Slowly

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was a sweeping legislative package designed to prevent another financial collapse. Journalist Gary Rivlin says passing the bill was just a first step in a long road to real reform, and the financial system is as vulnerable to disaster it was in 2008.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Scorsese Talks 'The Language Of Cinema'

In a talk he titled "Persistence of Vision: Reading the Language of Cinema," the famed director spoke passionately about the history of cinema and the films that stoked his love for the medium.

'Shocked': Patricia Volk's Memoir About Beauty And Its Beholders

Even as a child, Patricia Volk knew she would never measure up to her strikingly beautiful mother. But after reading the memoir of fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, Volk found a new understanding of beauty that had more to do with personality than a pretty face.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Caitlin Rose: A Singer Grounded In The Details Of Yearning

Dubbed a country singer by virtue of her Nashville base, Rose sounds more like a pop vocalist on The Stand-In. Drawing inspiration from Roy Orbison, Carlene Carter and countless others, Rose knows it takes an assured performer to sell the notion of vulnerability over the long haul.

Godwin's 'Flora': A Tale Of Remorse That Creeps Under Your Skin

The latest novel from three-time National Book Award finalist Gail Godwin takes inspiration from Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. Both stories take place in isolated old houses, and both revolve around mental contests between a governess character and her young charge.

Linney Mines 'The Big C' For Serious Laughs

On Showtime's dark comedy series, Laura Linney plays a terminally ill cancer patient. The actress's own father died from lung cancer while the series was being made; her mother was a cancer nurse when Linney was young. These experiences, she says, inform her performance.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Criminologist Believes Violent Behavior Is Biological

In a new book, The Anatomy of Violence, Adrian Raine argues that violent behavior has a biological basis just like depression or schizophrenia. This raises questions about treatment, accountability and punishment, including the death penalty.

Two Indie Directors Go Confidently Mainstream

Jeff Nichols and Ramin Bahrani made names with small, low-budget movies: Nichols with Take Shelter and Bahrani with Man Push Cart. Both have now directed big-budget films with big stars: Nichols' Mud features Matthew McConaughey, and Bahrani's At Any Price stars Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Fresh Air Weekend: David Sedaris And Matthew Weiner

The best-selling author's diaries have been his jumping-off point for the personal essays in his collections, including his latest, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls. The creator of the acclaimed AMC series talks about Don Draper as an aging existentialist looking for meaning in a chaotic world.

Friday, April 26, 2013

'Guilt Trip': Streisand On Songs, Film And Family

Singer, actor, writer, director and producer Barbra Streisand plays a well-meaning if overbearing Jewish mom in The Guilt Trip. The star says her own mother both encouraged her talents and was jealous of them.

'Horrific' And 'Surreal': The Words We Use To Bear Witness

After more than a week of gruesome media coverage, linguist Geoff Nunberg takes a close look at the words we use to describe events that mesmerize and horrify, that sensitize and desensitize, that transfix and repel us at the same time.

A Conversation With Country Superstar George Jones

The country singer, known for "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and many other hits, died Friday at age 81. Fresh Air remembers Jones with excerpts from a 1996 conversation with Terry Gross about his autobiography, his addictions and his perspective on his celebrated but troubled marriage to Tammy Wynette.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

'Equilaterial': Martians, Oil And A Hole In The Desert

Ken Kalfus' new novel about an astronomer obsessed with attracting the attention of Martians appears at first to be an homage to the scientific romances of H.G. Wells and the lost-world sagas of H. Rider Haggard. As the novel develops, however, its unique social commentaries emerge.

'Let's Explore': David Sedaris On His Public Private Life

The best-selling author and humorist has kept journals for 36 years. Those diaries have been the jumping-off point for the personal essays that appear in his collections, including Me Talk Pretty One Day and now Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls.

Pages

Arts & Culture

NPR

Christine Ha: From MasterChef To Home Kitchen

When Christine Ha won MasterChef in 2012, she blew the reality TV show judges away with her Vietnamese influenced cooking. But what really impressed viewers was that she had total control in the kitchen, even though she's blind. Host Michel Martin speaks to Christine Ha about her new cookbook Recipes from my Home Kitchen.

Food

NPR

Growing Vegetables From Seeds Take Root For Many Gardeners

More and more gardeners are bypassing the local nursery and instead starting their veggies from seed. Seeds are often cheaper and they give growers a bigger choice of varieties. At a community garden in Venice, Calif., students learn the ins and outs of gardening from scratch.

Politics

NPR

Decades Of History Behind IRS Flap

Host Michel Martin looks into why some non-profits are tax exempt, and how something like the recent IRS flap could happen. She speaks with David Cay Johnston, a columnist for Tax Analysts and reporter Brentin Mock of Colorlines.com.

Technology

NPR

Yahoo To Buy Tumblr In An Attempt To Revitalize Itself

Yahoo is expected to announce Monday that it's acquiring the social media site Tumblr, in a deal The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets are reporting to be worth about $1.1 billion. Some analysts are calling the acquisition an effort by Yahoo to be "cool and relevant" again.

Visit:	4000 Brandywine Street, NW
Write:	4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016-8082
Call:	(202) 885-1200
Toll Free:	(855) 885-8830

Fresh Air from WHYY

Arts & Culture

Christine Ha: From MasterChef To Home Kitchen

Food

Growing Vegetables From Seeds Take Root For Many Gardeners

Politics

Decades Of History Behind IRS Flap

Technology

Yahoo To Buy Tumblr In An Attempt To Revitalize Itself

Download the program guide

Subscribe to our podcasts

Find transcripts

Theme





When you give to WAMU, your tax-deductible membership gift helps make possible award-winning programs such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered, The Diane Rehm Show, The Kojo Nnamdi Show, and other favorites.