Fresh Air

Dunst stars opposite her husband, Jesse Plemons, in Jane Campion's Western, 'The Power of the Dog.' She calls it a "cinematic love letter" to their children. Dunst spoke with Terry Gross about how her experience with depression helped her performance in the film, how she uses dreams to deepen her understanding of her characters, and working with Sofia Coppola as a young actor.

David Bianculli reviews 'The Book of Boba Fett' on Disney+.

We talk about classic film noir — movies from the '40s and '50s with doomed characters, sexual heat and double crosses — with Eddie Muller, host of the Turner Classic Movies show Noir Alley and author of Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir.

Film critic Justin Chang reviews the new movie The Tragedy of Macbeth, starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.

Also, Colson Whitehead talks about Harlem, hooligans, race and class in the '60s...

The Foo Fighters frontman (and Nirvana drummer) talks about his journey from playing small punk clubs to giant stadiums in his memoir, The Storyteller. He reflects on how he taught himself drums, his friendship with Kurt Cobain, and reinventing himself after Cobain's death. "I was heartbroken," he says. "I didn't really know if I ever wanted to play music again, until I realized that music was the one thing that had healed me my entire life."

SNL's Cecily Strong co-stars in the Apple TV+ satire series Schmigadoon!. It centers on a couple who gets trapped in a town where people burst into song. We talk with Strong as well as Cinco Paul, the show's co-creator.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a legendary leader in the fight to end apartheid in South Africa, died Sunday at age 90. After Nelson Mandela was elected president in the country's first democratic election, he asked Tutu to chair South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which examined the crimes of apartheid. Tutu preached the healing power of forgiveness. The Nobel Peace Prize-recipient spoke with Terry Gross in 1984 and 1999.

To close out the year, we're listening back to some of our favorite interviews. New York iconoclast and humorist Fran Lebowitz was the subject of Martin Scorsese's Netflix series 'Pretend It's A City.' She talked with Terry Gross about driving a cab in the '70s, her friendship with Scorsese, and being a lifelong germaphobe: "The truth is, if I dropped the Hope Diamond on the floor of a subway car, I'd leave it there...

On the HBO show 'Succession,' Culkin plays one of three siblings vying for control of a media empire. The character, he says, "doesn't really know what [it] means to suffer consequences." Culkin also talks about witnessing child stardom via his brother, 'Home Alone' star Macaulay Culkin.

Penélope Cruz stars in Pedro Almodóvar's new film 'Parallel Mothers.' She plays Janis, a single woman around the age of 40, who unintentionally became pregnant. Cruz spoke with Terry Gross about how emotional the film was to make, and her own experience of becoming a mother.

Also, Justin Chang shares his favorite films of the year.

And Alan Cumming, a Tony Award-winning actor for 'Cabaret,' previously wrote about his childhood in Scotland and his abusive father...

Terry Gross spoke to John Waters in 2004 upon the release of his album 'A John Waters Christmas,' collecting some entertaining and ridiculous Christmas records. Waters is famous for his films 'Pink Flamingos' and 'Hairspray.'

Also, we'll listen to rock historian Ed Ward's 1992 review of the novelty Christmas recordings the Beatles sent their fan club.

Finally, we'll hear the late Susannah McCorkle's 1988 Christmas concert.

HuffPost senior justice reporter Ryan J. Reilly says "sedition hunters" have used videos, social media posts and facial recognition software to identify individuals who participated in the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6. He talks with Terry Gross about the FBI investigation, and the trials of the accused.

Also, Justin Chang reviews the new movie 'The Tragedy of Macbeth,' starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.