Fresh Air

The late British singer Dusty Springfield was best-known for her seemingly effortless singing and distinctive voice. She had many hits in the 1960s in England and the U.S. We listen back to a 2002 interview with her longtime friend and manager Vicki Wickham, who co-wrote a biography of her. There's a new anthology that collects Springfield's singles for Atlantic Records.

Also, we remember the venerable actor Hal Holbrook...

Less than three weeks into the new Biden administration, the infectious disease expert is encouraged by the president's approach to the pandemic. "Science [is] going to rule," Fauci says. He talks about what he learned from the AIDS epidemic that he's applying to the current pandemic, the problem with achieving herd immunity through infection, and the new mutations of COVID-19.

Also, podcast critic Nick Quah reflects on the era of Trump podcasts.

'New York Times' reporter Jim Tankersley talks about Biden's $1.9 trillion rescue plan for the economy amid the pandemic. For much of his reporting career, Tankersley has focused on the declining middle class — and what the country can do about it. His 2020 book on the subject is 'The Riches of This Land.'

Also, John Powers reviews 'The Copenhagen Trilogy' by Tove Ditlevsen.

Russell Shorto's grandfather was a mob leader in the industrial town of Johnstown, Pa. He writes about the family havoc that resulted from his grandfather's operation in the new memoir, 'Smalltime.'

Ellen Harper runs the Folk Music Center in Claremont, Calif., and her son Ben Harper is a Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter. Ellen Harper's new memoir 'Always a Song' tells her story of the '50s and '60s folk music revival and her experience raising three biracial children, mostly as a single mom. They talk about growing up surrounded by folk music luminaries.

German journalist Kai Strittmatter says the Chinese state has amassed an astonishing amount of data about its citizens, which it uses to punish people for even minor offenses. We talk about facial recognition, a citizen point system, and the widespread use of barcodes. Strittmatter's new book is 'We Have Been Harmonized.'

Justin Chang reviews the serial killer thriller film 'The Little Things,' starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto...

Azaria plays a colorful baseball announcer in the IFC comedy series 'Brockmire.' All 4 seasons are now available for streaming. Azaria spoke with 'Fresh Air' about sobriety, his flamboyant character in 'The Birdcage,' and why he doesn't voice the Indian American convenience store owner Apu on 'The Simpsons' anymore.

Also, Justin Chang reviews the serial killer thriller film 'The Little Things,' starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto.

'Washington Post' reporter Craig Timberg suggests some in the QAnon movement will become even more extreme now that Trump, their "messiah," has left office. "There is a real danger that what we'll see is a somewhat smaller but maybe more fervent and maybe more hateful and maybe more stealthy remnant that remains a force in our political life for years to come," Timberg says...

Journalist Jon Fasman says local police departments are able to use very powerful surveillance tools, often with little oversight. Fasman talks about license plate readers, predictive policing, facial recognition software and more. "The question is: Is it worth the cost to our privacy and liberty to implement this technology? And if so, what limits are we willing to set? What penalties do we want for failing to observe these limits?" Fasman's book is 'We See It All...

We get an inside look at the negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders during the Clinton administration that held real promise for a peace agreement — before an assassin's bullet changed everything. We talk with filmmaker Dror Moreh about his documentary, 'The Human Factor, and with Dennis Ross, President Clinton's point man in the effort.