Fresh Air

Artificial intelligence experts recently signed an open letter warning that A.I. could destroy humanity. New York Times technology reporter Cade Metz explains why we are at a turning point with this technology.

Tupac Shakur — who was killed at 25 in 1996 — would have turned 52 this year. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was an activist and a central figure in the Black Panthers. Author and historian Santi Elijah Holley's new book, An Amerikan Family, follows the Shakur family tree and their work in the Black Liberation Movement.

John Powers reviews the final season of the British detective series Endeavour.

"You don't hear about enslaved people at Mass or in Sunday school," says author Rachel Swarns. Her new book tells the story of 272 enslaved people sold in 1838 to help save what is now Georgetown University.

Cooper was birdwatching in Central Park in 2020 when a white woman falsely accused him of threatening her. The video went viral. His memoir, Better Living Through Birding, chronicles life as a Black birder, gay activist and Marvel comic book writer and editor. Cooper now hosts a National Geographic birdwatching show.

Succession creator, showrunner and head writer, Jesse Armstrong has been reluctant to reveal much about creating the characters, their motivations and plotlines in the past — but now that the series is over, he's ready to talk. Also with us is executive producer Frank Rich, who was instrumental in getting the series made.

Maureen Corrigan recommends two new suspense novels that overturn the age-old "woman-in-trouble" plot: My Murder and Beware the Woman...

Songwriter Cynthia Weil, along with her writing partner and husband Barry Mann, wrote the 1960s hits You've Lost that Loving Feeling, Uptown, On Broadway, and We've Got to Get Out of This Place. We'll listen to our 2000 archival interview with them. She died last week at 82.

Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews Past Lives.

On Feb. 14, 2018, David Hogg was in his AP Environmental Sciences class at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., when he heard gunshots. It was the beginning of one of the deadliest school shootings in American history. 17 people were murdered. Hogg is a co-founder of the youth-led gun reform movement March for Our Lives. He talks about advocacy, finding common ground with opponents and the importance of making time for joy amid the pain...

For much of his life, the Canadian actor (Juno, X-men, The Umbrella Academy) experienced gender dysphoria that made him extremely uncomfortable in his own body. "It's like a constant noise," he says. His new memoir is called Pageboy.

Maureen Corrigan reviews two suspense novels: My Murder by Katie Williams and Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott.

Constitutional lawyer and Brennan Center for Justice President Michael Waldman says there's a growing divide between the electorate and the Supreme Court: "the country is moving in one direction ... the Court is moving fast in another direction." His book is The Supermajority.

The much-anticipated series finale of HBO's Succession answered one big question — who would succeed media mogul patriarch Logan Roy — but we still have more: Was Kendall going to jump into the river? Why did we keep seeing Logan in the bathroom? Why was the presidential election left unresolved? Creator Jesse Armstrong and executive producer Frank Rich answer all in this wide-ranging interview.