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.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Jobs' Biography: Thoughts On Life, Death And Apple

After Steve Jobs was diagnosed with cancer, he asked Walter Isaacson to write his biography. The new book tells the personal story of the man behind the personal computer — from his childhood in California to his thoughts on family, friends, death and religion.

Steve, Myself And i: The Big Story Of A Little Prefix

The "i" prefix began as an abbreviation for the word "Internet," but ended up being much more than that. "By the time i- was fleshed out, Apple had transformed itself from a culty computer-maker to a major religion," says linguist Geoff Nunberg.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Going Under The 'Boardwalk' With Michael Shannon

The actor plays a righteous federal agent who succumbs to all sorts of temptations on the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire. To build the character of Nelson Van Alden, he says, he worked out an elaborate back story about the agent's childhood.

'Deadly Monopolies'? Patenting The Human Body

In a new book, medical ethicist Harriet Washington details how genes and tissues are increasingly being patented by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Those firms, she argues, are focused more on their profits than on the medical needs of patients.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Fresh Air Weekend: MacFarlane, Zombies, 'Snatchers'

Seth MacFarlane talks about his hit TV shows and his new album; writer Colson Whitehead discusses his post-apocalyptic zombie novel Zone One and Maureen Corrigan revisits the sci-fi classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Friday, October 21, 2011

'Margin Call': A Movie Occupied With Wall Street

This fiscal thriller, starring Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto and Demi Moore, is set during one day in 2008, as a group of brokers try to prevent their firm from going belly up. David Edelstein says that given the headlines, the film's timing couldn't be better. (Recommended)

Jimmy Fallon's Giant List Of 'Thank You Notes'

Fallon is thankful for slow walkers, people named Lloyd and the word "moist." The comedian and host of Late Night collects more than 100 nuggets of gratitude in his book Thank You Notes. He talks with Terry Gross about giving thanks and doing impressions.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Poet Marie Howe On 'What The Living Do' After Loss

"Poetry holds the knowledge that we are alive and that we know we're going to die," poet Marie Howe tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. One of Howe's most famous poems, "What the Living Do," was recently included in The Penguin Anthology of 20th-Century American Poetry.

Shelby Lynne: A 'Revelation' With An Exceptional Voice

Lynne's new album Revelation Road contains both a torchy pop ballad and a startlingly direct song about her parents' murder-suicide. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the album is an excellent showcase for Lynne's sharp songwriting and fantastic voice.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

A 'Zone' Full Of Zombies In Lower Manhattan

Colson Whitehead's new novel Zone One is a post-apocalyptic tale of a Manhattan crippled by a plague and overrun with zombies. He explains that he created the novel, in part, to pay homage to the grimy 1970s New York of his childhood.

Justice Stevens Reflects On The Court And Its Chiefs

After 35 years as a Supreme Court justice, John Paul Stevens retired last year. His newly released memoir is about his time on the bench and the five Supreme Court chief justices he personally knew. He details his views of those justices and how his viewpoints on various issues evolved over the years.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

'Turkish Freakout': A Musical Turkish Delight

Milo Miles reviews a compilation of overseas grooves that carry on psychedelic styles long after they were dropped in the U.S.

The Man Who Tracks Viruses Before They Spread

Nathan Wolfe travels to the viral hot spots of the world, where viruses first jump from animals to humans. The scientist spends his days tracking emerging infectious diseases before they turn into global pandemics.

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Sad Lesson Of 'Body Snatchers': People Change

Science-fiction writer Jack Finney would have turned 100 this month. Critic Maureen Corrigan says he had a knack for tapping into our shallowly buried psychological anxieties. At its core, Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers is about how our loved ones inevitably change — and it is as sad as it is scary.

Seth MacFarlane: TV's 'Family Guy' Makes Music, Too

MacFarlane is best known for creating the animated TV shows Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show. But he's also a singer whose new album features songs from the Great American Songbook.

Pages

Arts & Culture

NPR

A Read Down Memory Lane: Lessons From Your Former Self

Writings from childhood — cards, stories and other notes — can hide for decades, like time capsules tucked away in boxes, old bedrooms, attics and journals. Writer Jim Sollisch talks about how old thank you notes from his youth foreshadowed his adult life.

Food

NPR

Inside A Tart Cherry Revival: 'Somebody Needs To Do This!'

The revival is partly based on the humble sour fruit's growing reputation as a superfood. And in Michigan, a scientist is on a quest to introduce a whole new world of hardier, tastier tart cherries by breeding American trees with ancestral varieties from Eastern Europe.

Politics

NPR

Srinivasan's Confirmation First For D.C. Circuit In 7 Years

The partisan war over judicial nominees has accelerated in recent years. It took nearly a year to win Senate confirmation for Sri Srinivasan to the important federal appeals court for the District of Columbia, though he had no formal opposition.

Technology

NPR

3-D Printer Makes Life-Saving Splint For Baby Boy's Airway

A 3-D printer is being credited with helping to save an Ohio baby's life, after doctors "printed" a tube to support a weak airway that caused him to stop breathing. The innovative procedure has allowed Kaiba Gionfriddo, of Youngstown, Ohio, to stay off a ventilator for more than a year.

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Fresh Air from WHYY

Arts & Culture

A Read Down Memory Lane: Lessons From Your Former Self

Food

Inside A Tart Cherry Revival: 'Somebody Needs To Do This!'

Politics

Srinivasan's Confirmation First For D.C. Circuit In 7 Years

Technology

3-D Printer Makes Life-Saving Splint For Baby Boy's Airway

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