Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 59 days 1 hour 40 minutes
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.
We talk with 'New Yorker' writer John Colapinto, author of 'This Is the Voice,' about how voices work, how they evolved in our prehistoric ancestors, how babies learn to vocalize words of their parents' languages so quickly, and what makes voices sexy or authoritative. Colapinto's own vocal injury led him to explore this subject.
Also, we remember legendary broadcaster Larry King. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1982.
News of the World' is a Western set five years after the end of the Civil War. It stars Tom Hanks as a former Confederate captain who travels from one small poor Texas town to another, reading aloud from newspapers to townspeople who gather, paying ten cents apiece to be informed and entertained by these stories. We talk with director Paul Greengrass, who also directed Hanks in 'Captain Phillips.'
Maureen Corrigan reviews 'Aftershocks,' by Nadia Owusu...
Journalist Evan Osnos talks about President Biden's long career in the Senate, how personal tragedy changed him, and some of the political missteps he made along the way. Osnos' biography is 'Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now.' (Interview was recorded before the election in Oct. 2020)
Also, we remember late musician Howard Johnson, who made a place for tuba in jazz, working with Charles Mingus, McCoy Tyner, Gil Evans and others...
Paleoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman says the concept of "exercise" is a relatively new thing. His new book, 'Exercised,' examines why we run, lift and walk for a workout, when our ancestors didn't. We'll also talk about how sitting and slouching affect our health.
Also, Kevin Whitehead reviews the digital album 'Some Kind of Tomorrow,' recorded over Zoom.
Trump called climate change a hoax. Biden calls it an existential threat. 'Washington Post' journalist Juliet Eilperin talks about how Biden might reverse his predecessor's environmental policies.
John Powers reviews the Polish thriller film 'Spoor.'