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Fresh Air

Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries. Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including weekly bonus episodes and curated playlists of archive

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Steve Buscemi
Nov 2026 · 1 book
Cover of Just Kids
Just Kids
Patti Smith
“I remember Reading in Patty Smith's book, Just Kids”
American socialism past & present, with historian Jill Lepore
Nov 2026 · 5 books
Cover of These Truths: A History of the United States
These Truths: A History of the United States
Jill Lepore
“Her books include The New York Times bestsellers. These truths a history of the United States”
Cover of We the People: A History of the US Constitution
We the People: A History of the US Constitution
Jill Lepore
“and We the People a History of the US Constitution, which won a twenty twenty six Pulitzer Prize”
Cover of The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State
The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State
Jill Lepore
“Her latest The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State is about how AI is affecting politics and government”
Cover of Das Kapital
Das Kapital
Karl Marx
“While he's in prison. This Milwaukee socialist named Victor Berger brings him a copy of Marx's Das Capital”
Cover of The Other America
The Other America
Michael Harrington
“he really became famous in the early nineteen sixties. After he released a book called The Other America”
How much money would it take to feel financially secure?
Nov 2026 · 1 book
Cover of Nine Lives: How What We Have Shapes Who We Are
Nine Lives: How What We Have Shapes Who We Are
Mona Chalabi
“For her new book, Tin Lives. How what we have shapes who we are”
‘Wild Horse Nine’ filmmaker Martin McDonagh
Nov 2026 · 6 books
Cover of Darkness Becomes Bright
Darkness Becomes Bright
Emily Ogden
“if I were rash enough to speak for Poe I think he might give Emily Ogden's slim, strange new book. Darkness becomes bright, his blood red waxen seal of approval”
Cover of A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet
Arthur Conan Doyle
“published his first Sherlock Holmes adventure, a study in Scarlet in eighteen eighty seven”
Cover of The Facemaker
The Facemaker
Lindsey Fitz Harris
“Her nonfiction book, The Facemaker, about pioneering World War One plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, was one of my top books of the year in twenty twenty two”
Cover of Sleuth Hound
Sleuth Hound
Lindsey Fitz Harris
“In her new book, Sleuth Hound Fitz Harris delves into the story of two doctors”
Cover of The Purloined Letter
The Purloined Letter
Edgar Allan Poe
“as Poe's detective story, The Purloined Letter suggests, Sometimes telling details hide in plain sight”
Cover of Ten Lives
Ten Lives
Mona Chalabee
“Her new book, Ten Lives, explores why financial security can feel so elusive”
Best Of: John Turturro / Jordan Firstman on ‘Club Kid’
Nov 2026 · 1 book
Cover of The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man
The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man
David W. Maurer
“He gave me a a book called Wiz Mob. by uh the fellow who wrote the big con that the sting is based on”
Novelist Min Jin Lee on the promise and perils of Western education
Nov 2026 · 3 books
Cover of Pachinko
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee
“best known for the novel Pachinko”
Cover of American Hagwon
American Hagwon
Min Jin Lee
“For her latest novel, American Hogwan, she interviewed people in South Korea, Australia, and the US”
Cover of Bible
Bible
Various
“diaspora obviously is the Greek word that comes in the Bible to describe Jews who are expelled from a region”
Jordan Firstman captures the highs and lows of being a ‘Club Kid’
Nov 2026 · 2 books
Cover of Pachinko
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee
“Novelist Min Jin Lee's last book Pachinko sold more than five million copies”
Cover of American Hagwon
American Hagwon
Min Jin Lee
“Her new novel, American, is about whether education can provide salvation”
The skyrocketing cost of elder care
Nov 2026 · 1 book
Cover of The Moomins
The Moomins
Tove Jansson
“Finnish artist Tova Janssen and her children's classic The Mumans”
John Turturro could pick your pocket (if he wanted to)
Nov 2026 · 3 books
Cover of The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man
The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man
David W. Maurer
“he gave me a a book called Wiz Mob. by uh the fellow who wrote the big con that the sting is based on”
Cover of The Moomins
The Moomins
Tove Jansson
“Finnish artist Tova Janssen and her children's classic The Mumans”
Cover of Clockers
Clockers
Richard Price
“you're in Clockers. Which is adapted from the His novel”
Best Of: Making ‘La Bola Negra’ / 'New Yorker' cartoonists lament their kitchens
Oct 2026 · 3 books
Cover of The Two Saddest Kitchens
The Two Saddest Kitchens
Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein
“Their new graphic memoir, The Two Saddest Kitchens Reveals it all in words and illustrations”
Cover of Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
Roz Chast
“Ras Chas last joined us after the publication of her graphic memoir, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant”
Cover of Everything Is an Emergency
Everything Is an Emergency
Jason Adam Katzenstein
“Jason Adam Katzenstein is the author of the twenty twenty memoir in Words and Pictures titled Everything Is an Emergency”
Kazuo Ishiguro on ‘Klara and the Sun’
Oct 2026 · 3 books
Cover of The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro
“Nobel Prize winning novelist Kazuo Ishuguro is known for his books Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go”
Cover of Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro
“Nobel Prize winning novelist Kazuo Ishuguro is known for his books Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go”
Cover of Klara and the Sun
Klara and the Sun
Kazuo Ishiguro
“His futuristic novel, Clara and the Sun, also has been adapted into a new film”
Who benefits when massive AI data centers come to town?
Oct 2026
How the killing of Jordan Neely on the NYC subway divided America
Oct 2026 · 3 books
Cover of The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy
The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy
Anand Giridharadas
“Now as Americans prepare to vote in the midterm elections, his new book Man in the Mirror. Hope, struggle, and belonging in an American city. Asks a question that goes far beyond that subway car”
Cover of Mephisto
Mephisto
Klaus Mann
“Many of whom had been down with the Nazis. including Erica's ex husband, a slippery eel, who was the model for the cynical actor in Klaus's novel Mephisto”
Cover of The Magic Mountain
The Magic Mountain
Thomas Mann
“Because Thomas Mann was famous for turning out long novels. His greatest, The Magic Mountain, runs over seven hundred pages”
Los Javis filmmakers fight fascism and homophobia with ‘La Bola Negra’
Oct 2026 · 1 book
Cover of The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy
The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy
Anand Giridharadas
“His new book, Man in the Mirror. Looks at the twenty twenty three death of Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neeley”
'New Yorker' cartoonists confess to nightmare kitchens
Oct 2026 · 5 books
Cover of The Two Saddest Kitchens
The Two Saddest Kitchens
Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein
“Their new graphic memoir, The Two Saddest Kitchens, Reveals it all in words and illustrations”
Cover of Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant
Roz Chast
“Ras Chas joined us after the publication of her graphic memoir Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant”
Cover of Everything Is an Emergency
Everything Is an Emergency
Jason Adam Katzenstein
“Jason Adam Katzenstein is the author of the twenty twenty memoir in Words and Pictures titled Everything Is an Emergency”
Cover of Seven Stories About Tammy
Seven Stories About Tammy
Elizabeth McCracken
“The work that kicks off this series is called Seven Stories About Tammy by celebrated writer Elizabeth McCracken”
Cover of The Best American Short Stories 2025
The Best American Short Stories 2025
Various
“as well as in the twenty twenty five anthology of the best American Short Stories”
Best Of: Meshell Ndegeocello / Betty Gilpin
Oct 2026 · 1 book
Cover of All the Women in My Brain and Other Concerns
All the Women in My Brain and Other Concerns
Betty Gilpin
“She's also author of an extremely funny and insightful collection of essays called All the Women in My Brain and Other Concerns”
Platinum songwriter Jimmy Webb
Oct 2026 · 3 books
Cover of Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting
Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting
Jimmy Webb
“And it bothers me a little bit because when I was writing my book on songwriting, Toon Smith I actually for the first time analyzed some of my songs and I was really shocked and appalled”
Cover of The Two Saddest Kitchens
The Two Saddest Kitchens
Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein
“Their new book is The Two Saddest Kitchens”
Cover of Everything Is an Emergency: An OCD Story in Words and Pictures
Everything Is an Emergency: An OCD Story in Words and Pictures
Jason Adam Katzenstein
“And Katzenstein will talk about his graphic memoir about living with OCD”
Betty Gilpin is seeking anti-algorithm, weird roles – and it's working
Oct 2026 · 1 book
Cover of All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns
All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns
Betty Gilpin
“She's also the author of an extremely funny and insightful collection of essays called All the women in my brain and other concerns”
Election experts share concerns about the midterms
Oct 2026 · 1 book
Cover of A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy
A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy
Richard L. Hasen
“A real right to vote. how a constitutional amendment can safeguard American democracy. Now in paperback”
David Treuer traces America's relationship with violence back to the frontier
Oct 2026 · 7 books
Cover of The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee
David Treuer
“His acclaimed book, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, challenged that narrative”
Cover of The Savage Mind: An American Legacy
The Savage Mind: An American Legacy
David Treuer
“Now in his new book, The Savage Mine, An American Legacy, Troyer turns his attention to the country itself”
Cover of Rez Life: An Indian's Journey Through Reservation Life
Rez Life: An Indian's Journey Through Reservation Life
David Treuer
“But like I did write a book about reservations called Res Life that came out some years ago”
Cover of The Last of the Mohicans
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
“They've read Less than Mohicans”
Cover of Beloved
Beloved
Toni Morrison
“People interpret often interpret beloved as basically Uh Uh A window onto the ravages of race based slavery”
Cover of Sula
Sula
Toni Morrison
“And so they treat they treat beloved and, you know, Sulla and Song of Solomon to a lesser extent”
Cover of Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon
Toni Morrison
“And so they treat they treat beloved and, you know, Sulla and Song of Solomon to a lesser extent”
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