Fresh Air

Kumail Nanjiani plays Somen "Steve" Banerjee, founder of the male strip club Chippendales, in a new Hulu series. Banerjee was ultimately undone by his own corrupt business practices. "He was the king of a world that wouldn't have him as a member," Nanjiani says. We talk about the challenge of playing an un-funny person, his physical transformation for Marvel: Eternals, and how his childhood in Pakistan informs his comedy.

Michael Cecchi-Azzolina has worked in several high-end New York City restaurants — adrenaline-fueled workplaces where booze and drugs are plentiful and the health inspector will ruin your day. His memoir is Your Table Is Ready.

As the second season of HBO's The White Lotus comes to a close, creator Mike White reflects on how it examines the dark side of sex, and how at its heart is a mix of Laverne & Shirley, Fantasy Island and Survivor.

Also, Ken Tucker shares three songs that grapple with romance.

James Gray's new film, Armageddon Time, was inspired by his childhood in Queens in the 1980s. Though his grandparents had fled antisemitism in Ukraine, his family didn't recognize their own biases against Black people. He talks about his life and the film.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan shares her list for the best books of the year...

Trevor Noah is stepping down as host of The Daily Show after seven years. We'll listen back to portions of two 2016 interviews with Noah, whose newest standup comedy special just premiered on Netflix.

Also, Justin Chang reviews The Eternal Daughter starring Tilda Swinton.

In How the Word Is Passed, author Clint Smith explored U.S. sites that deal with the legacy of slavery. Now, in The Atlantic, he writes about German memorials to the Holocaust.

Nobel Peace Prize-winning Filipina journalist Maria Ressa faced criminal charges in the Philippines after her news organization's reporting angered government officials. She has a new memoir called How to Stand Up to a Dictator.

Critic Maureen Corrigan shares her list of the best books of the year.

Guardian journalist Luke Harding shares his experience reporting from Ukraine. "It's almost impossible to process," he says. "You can see a flourishing city of half a million people with ports, with restaurants, with live music, with culture, coffee — and now it's a ghostly ruin." We talk about how the war might end — and why the West needs to pay attention. Harding's book is Invasion.

James Gray's new film was inspired by his childhood in Queens in the 1980s. Though his grandparents had fled antisemitism in Ukraine, his family didn't recognize their own biases against Black people. He talks about his life and the film.

The hit parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic talks about what made him weird — and bringing "the sexy back" to accordion. The new movie Weird, inspired by the story of his life, is a parody of music biopics.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews Wednesday, an Addams Familiy spin-off.

LA Times columnist Steve Lopez turned the issue of retirement into a reporting project, speaking to geriatric experts, a psychiatrist, a rabbi, plus people who had retired and some who refuse...