Fresh Air

Journalist Will Sommer went to road shows and spoke to believers and their families while investigating QAnon. His book, Trust the Plan, makes the case that there are more conspiracy theories to come.

In Tár, Cate Blanchett plays a charismatic orchestra conductor who uses her power to take sexual advantage of young women she's mentoring. "For me, it was never really about classical music," director Todd Field says. "And it was about ... how do you look at power and why does power exist? And it's not a uni-directional situation. Nobody holds power alone. There's a complicity in it." Tár is nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Director...

We talk about a small group of unelected officials who make important decisions that affect our lives, all the time. New York Times reporter Jeanna Smialek covers the Federal Reserve, which manages the nation's money supply, and is currently struggling to get inflation down by raising interest rates. Smialek says the Fed wields enormous influence, and is growing more powerful as it responds to national crises, including the financial meltdown and the pandemic. Her new book is Limitless...

Quan starred in the '80s films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies as a kid, before quitting acting. Now he's up for an Oscar for the first major acting job he's had in decades for the role of Waymond in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Justin Chang reviews the Irish film The Quiet Girl.

We'll talk with New Yorker staff writer Michael Schulman about his new book, Oscar Wars. It's about the ongoing conflicts surrounding race, gender, and representation in Hollywood, as well as earlier conflicts dating back to the founding of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Also, we'll hear from comic and podcaster Marc Maron...

We remember two accomplished performers from different fields: Sharp-witted comedian Richard Belzer, probably best-known for playing the dramatic role of Detective John Munch on Law & Order, and major-league catcher and Hall of Fame broadcaster Tim McCarver.

Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews Hello Tomorrow! starring Billy Crudup.

Guardian journalist Shaun Walker talks about Yevgeny Prigozhin, the tough-talking convict-turned-businessman who recruits soldiers from Russian prisons to fight in Ukraine. "It's just so out of the realms of fantasy that this former convict is going to fly around prisons in his helicopter and offer people salvation for fighting for him at the front, and then lead these battalions of prisoners to their almost certain death," He says. "It's so dystopian that it's really hard to believe...

From relentless campaigning to snubs and speeches, the Academy Awards have often reflected a cultural conflict zone. Michael Schulman sifts through the controversies in his new book, Oscar Wars.

Also, Kevin Whitehead shares a remembrance of Burt Bacharach.

Dr. Farzon Nahvi spent the early months of the pandemic as an emergency room physician in Manhattan. He talks about trying to improvise treatments during that time. His new book is Code Gray.

Also, David Bianculli reflects on 10 years of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

For President's Day, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Robert Caro about the life of Lyndon Johnson. To understand his subject, Caro moved to the Texas Hill country to meet friends and associates of Johnson from his early years. At age 87, Caro is still working on the last volume of his Johnson biography.