Fresh Air

Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought, reflects on his difficult childhood in Philly, his decades-long friendship with Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, and 50 years of hip-hop. Trotter's new memoir is The Upcycled Self.

Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews Rob Reiner's new HBO documentary about Albert Brooks.

Sofia Coppola's new movie is about the relationship between Priscilla and Elvis Presley -- from Priscilla's point of view. The two met when she was 14 and he was 24. Coppola makes films about the internal lives of young women, including The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, and Lost in Translation, which she won an Oscar for in 2003. This fall she published her first book, Archive, which covers her career in film...

David Byrne talks about his life and music. The Talking Heads movie Stop Making Sense – which many people consider the best concert film ever made – has been restored and remastered for its 40th anniversary.

Also, we'll talk about the capabilities and consequences of facial recognition technology with New York Times tech reporter Kashmir Hill. Her book is called Your Face Belongs to Us.

We remember actor Matthew Perry, who died last week at age 54. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2007 about auditioning to play Chandler Bing on Friends, and how overnight fame changed his life. And we'll listen back to our 2003 interview with his Friends co-star, Lisa Kudrow, about her time on the show.

Justin Chang reviews Priscilla, directed by Sofia Coppola.

New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti says prior to Oct. 7, Israel's leadership was focused on an attack by Iran and its proxies —not Hamas. "They were ... myopic about what the true threat was."

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the Netflix miniseries adaptation of All the Light We Cannot See.

It's the 40th anniversary of Talking Heads' masterpiece concert film, Stop Making Sense. A24 remastered and rereleased the movie, bringing it to new audiences and longtime fans. Talking Heads frontman David Byrne returns to Fresh Air to speak with Terry Gross about songwriting, dancing, and yes, the big suit.

The former Illinois congressman reflects on confronting the "fanaticism of the hardcore" of the GOP. Kinzinger served on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol. His book is Renegade.

Historian Tanisha Ford tells Tonya Mosley the story of Harlem activist Mollie Moon, credited with raising millions to build economic and racial equality in the U.S. Ford's new book is Our Secret Society.

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Alice McDermott's new novel, Absolution.

Werner Herzog talks with Terry Gross about the curiosity that's fueled his career. The filmmaker and writer is drawn to extremes: extreme characters, extreme settings, extreme scenarios. His new memoir is Every Man for Himself and God Against All.

Ken Tucker reviews the new album from The Rolling Stones.

In Past Lives, Greta Lee stars as a playwright caught between two men she loves...

The author of such spy novels as The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Night Manager is the subject of a new documentary by Errol Morris called The Pigeon Tunnel. It features the final interviews with le Carré who died in 2020. It details his life as a writer and his earlier work as a spy for Britain's domestic and foreign intelligence services. We'll listen back to the interviews Terry Gross recorded with him in 1989 and 2017...