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.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Habits: How They Form And How To Break Them

Every habit-forming activity follows the same behavioral and neurological patterns, says New York Times business writer Charles Duhigg. His new book The Power of Habit explores the science behind why we do what we do — and how companies are working to use our habits to market products to us.

Dierks Bentley's 'Home' Is Full Of Country Struggles

Bentley has been releasing albums for a decade and has achieved substantial success. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the singer's latest album, Home, is an attempt to raise his profile to a new level, with mixed results.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Fresh Air Weekend: 'Being Flynn,' Barry Blitt

Writer Nick Flynn was working in a homeless shelter in his 20s when his father — an alcoholic and self-proclaimed writer who left when Flynn was a baby — showed up as a client. Also, cartoonist Barry Blitt talks about his latest creation: an illustrated children's book about George Washington.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Frank Calabrese Jr. On Opening His 'Family Secrets'

Frank Calabrese Jr. has written a memoir about bringing down his father's murderous Chicago crime family. In Operation Family Secrets, Frank details how he helped the FBI convict his father of several murders by wearing a hidden wire and taping his father's conversations.

'The Lorax': A Campy And Whimsical Seussical

The animated feature, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, is based on the classic Dr. Seuss environmentally themed children's book and stars the voices of Ed Helms, Danny DeVito and Zac Efron. Critic David Edelstein says the movie is far from the best Seuss adaptation.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Putin Biography Chronicles Rise Of A 'Street Thug'

Media suppression, corruption and murder have marked the regime of Vladimir Putin, who is running for his third term as president in Russia's election next week. His rise to power is spelled out in journalist Masha Gessen's new book, The Man Without a Face.

It's High-Concept, But Will It Keep You 'Awake'?

The new NBC drama stars Jason Isaacs as a man who survives a terrible car accident with either his wife or child. He's living one existence, and dreaming the other — but which is real? It's a lot of work for the viewer, but critic David Bianculli has faith in the show's creators.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Man Working To Reverse-Engineer Your Brain

Our brains are filled with billions of neurons. Neuroscientist Sebastian Seung explains how mapping out the connections between those neurons might be the key to understanding the basis of things like personality, memory, perception, ideas and mental illness.

'Being Flynn': When Dad Needs To Take Shelter

Writer Nick Flynn was working in a homeless shelter in his 20s when his father — an alcoholic and self-proclaimed writer who left when Flynn was a baby — showed up as a client. His story is now a movie called Being Flynn, starring Paul Dano and Robert De Niro.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

One Year Later, 'Inside Japan's Nuclear Meltdown'

A small group of engineers, soldiers and firemen risked their own lives to help prevent a complete meltdown after the quake and tsunami hit. Investigative reporter Dan Edge chronicles the aftermath of the disaster in a new Frontline documentary.

Monday, February 27, 2012

China On The Court: NBA Meets The 'Brave Dragons'

A new book follows an American basketball veteran as he coaches a struggling Chinese pro basketball team. Pulitzer Prize winner Jim Yardley has a courtside seat from which to observe China's frantic capitalist expansion and its ambivalent fascination with all things American.

'Tinderbox': How The West Fueled The AIDS Epidemic

Journalist Craig Timberg, the former Johannesburg bureau chief for The Washington Post, says international AIDS organizations working in Africa went off in the wrong direction in fighting the spread of HIV across the continent.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Fresh Air Weekend: Catherine Russell, Bret McKenzie

The standards singer's new solo album, Strictly Romancin', explores the ups and downs of love. Russell sings several tracks from the record during this interview and performance. Also, Bret McKenzie, who wrote five songs in the recent Muppets movie.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Barney Rosset: A Crusader Against Censorship Laws

The book publisher who championed the works of beat poets and Samuel Beckett, and who defied censors with the publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover and Tropic of Cancer, died Tuesday at age 89. Fresh Air remembers Rosset with excerpts from a 1991 interview.

Dustin Lance Black: Telling The Story Of 'J. Edgar'

The recent film portrays former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover as a man who had to keep his sexual orientation a secret — while collecting other people's secrets to use against them. Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black explains how he researched the film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio.

Pages

Arts & Culture

NPR

Two New Stories With A New-Wave Vibe

The Truffaut borrowings are explicit in Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha, while Richard Linklater's Before Midnight takes its cues from Eric Rohmer's gentle but expansive talkfests. In both films, conversation is a centerpiece as characters navigate relationships.

Food

NPR

A Seat At The Table With The 'Queen Of Creole Cuisine'

Leah Chase's restaurant in New Orleans has served the likes of Thurgood Marshall, Sarah Vaughn and Duke Ellington. Now the legendary chef has earned the Ella Brennan Lifetime Achievement in Hospitality Award. Host Michel Martin speaks with Chase about her latest accomplishment.

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Fresh Air from WHYY

Arts & Culture

Two New Stories With A New-Wave Vibe

Food

A Seat At The Table With The 'Queen Of Creole Cuisine'

Politics

Analysis: Republicans' Immigration Bill Could Come At Expense Of Democrats' Visa Bill

Technology

Viewers To Decide If Amazon's Sample Shows Make The Cut

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