Fresh Air

40 people rely on water from the Colorado River, but overuse and global warming have combined to create a water emergency. Tough choices must be made soon, or farms and cities will face critical shortages. We talk with ProPublica investigative reporter Abrahm Lustgarten.
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Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a recording by pianist Mal Waldron.

40 million people rely on water from the Colorado River, but overuse and global warming have combined to create a water emergency. Tough choices must be made soon, or farms and cities will face critical shortages. We talk with ProPublica investigative reporter Abrahm Lustgarten.
million
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a recording by pianist Mal Waldron.

The British writer, who died Sept. 22, wrote a trilogy of critically acclaimed historical novels on the life of Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's most trusted advisors. Mantel was the first woman to win the Man Booker Prize twice. She spoke with Terry Gross in 2012.

Also, Ken Tucker reviews a new collection of unreleased demos by Lou Reed recorded when he was a fledgling singer songwriter, before he led the Velvet Underground.

In her new book, By Hands Now Known, civil rights lawyer and professor Margaret Burnham reports on little-known cases of racial violence in the Jim Crow era, including crimes that went unreported and murderers who were never punished. Over 15 years, the project's researchers have chronicled roughly 1,000 murders.

David Bianculli reviews 11 Minutes, a documentary about the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Writer John Vercher trained in mixed martial arts as a young man. His novel, After the Lights Go Out, centers on a veteran MMA fighter who is experiencing memory loss, severe mood swings and tinnitus. The book is also about the fighter's biracial identity.

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Less is Lost by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Andrew Sean Greer.

The FX/Hulu series Reservation Dogs follows four teens on an Oklahoma Indian reservation who are frustrated and alienated, caught between what's left of traditional Native culture on the reservation and the broader pop culture. We talk with co-creator and showrunner Sterlin Harjo about his own upbringing in Indian Territory and how he was inspired by the storytellers in his family.

Ken Tucker reviews some previously unreleased early Lou Reed demos...

Science writer Mary Roach (Stiff, Gulp) explores scenarios where animals are the ones committing "crimes" — and how society deals with it. We talk about bear attacks, drunk elephants, and monkey thieves. Her book is Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law.

Justin Chang reviews the Marilyn Monroe biopic, Blonde.

Washington Post reporter Brady Dennis warns our aging infrastructure systems weren't built to withstand the stresses of climate change: "There is a certain amount of suffering that we can't avoid."

Edward Enninful grew up in Ghana, assisting his seamstress mother in her dressmaking shop. "For me, fashion was always such an inclusive, beautiful thing," he says. We talk about making the fashion industry more diverse, the famous "all Black" issue of Vogue Italia, and modeling as a teen. Enninful's memoir is A Visible Man.

And David Bianculli reviews Reboot on Hulu.

Geoffrey Berman served as U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. In his memoir, Holding the Line, he describes how the Dept. of Justice demanded he use his office to aid the Trump administration. "The Department of Justice has to remain independent of politics," Berman says. "It's supposed to be unbiased. And what happened was President Trump treated the Department of Justice like his own personal law firm, and he put people in charge there who did his bidding."