Fresh Air

Princeton African American Studies professor Imani Perry says the South can be seen as an "origin point" for the way the nation operates. Her book, South to America, reflects on the region's history and traces the steps of an enslaved ancestor. "The South in some ways becomes the repository for the nation's sins, right?" she says. "And then it allows the rest of the country to conceive of itself as relatively pristine." South to America won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 2022...

Equal sports opportunities for women was mandated 50 years ago by title IX legislation. Champion runner Lauren Fleshman explains why getting access to a sports world built by men, for men and boys isn't working for girls and women. Her book, Good For a Girl, is a feminist critique of the sports world and a memoir about her own running career...

We remember novelist Russell Banks, whose working-class background inspired much of his work. His best known novels were adapted into films, including Affliction, The Sweet Hereafter, and Continental Drift. We'll listen back to portions of our interviews with him.

Also, we're revisiting our interview with photographer
Larry Sultan, whose photographic memoir of growing up in California in the '50s and '60s is the basis of a new Broadway show starring Nathan Lane...

Journalist Anshel Pfeffer says the Israeli prime minister has a "strange detachment" when it comes to social issues — which opens the door for conservative members of his coalition to make changes.

Taffy Brodesser-Akner says the start of middle age hit her "like a truck." As her friends got divorced and began dating again, she was inspired to write a novel — which she's adapted for the screen. Fleishman is in Trouble is on FX/Hulu.

Also, Raw Deal author Chloe Sorvino talks about the state of the meat industry.

Champion distance runner Lauren Fleshman says 50 years after Title IX legislation, the sports world is still built for mens' bodies. She's now an activist seeking to change that by addressing important sex-based differences. We'll talk about her famous "Objectify Me" Nike campaign, inclusivity for transgender athletes, and how breasts, hips and menstruation shouldn't be treated as an impediment to athletic performance. Her book is Good for a Girl.

Jonathan Escoffery grew up in Miami, the son of Jamaican immigrants. In a world where identity was linked to race, he says it was often confusing to figure out where he fit in. His new book of stories is If I Survive You.

Also, Ken Tucker reviews SZA's new album, SOS.

We talk about the January 6th Committee's work with Luke Broadwater, who covers Congress for the New York Times. He was in the Capitol the day of the assault, and has reported on the Committee's work from the beginning.

John Powers reviews Noah Baumbach's film adaptation of Don DeLillo's White Noise.

The list of authors Robert Gottlieb has edited include Joseph Heller, Toni Morrison, John Le Carré, Katharine Graham, Bill Clinton, Nora Ephron and Michael Crichton...

We remember one of the creators of the Philly Sound: songwriter, arranger and producer Thom Bell. He died late last month, at the age of 79. He was a classically trained pianist whose inventive R&B arrangements included horns, strings, oboe, timpani, and more. Among the songs he arranged were "Drowning in the Sea of Love" by Joe Simon, and "Backs Stabbers" by the O'Jays. He also wrote and arranged for the Stylistics, the Spinners, and the Delfonics...

NYT journalist Luke Broadwater says the committee hired a former news producer to hit Trump where it hurt: "His whole career was built on television, and they were able to use that very medium against him."