Fresh Air

Tahmima Anam's new novel is about a married couple, Cyrus and Asha, who found a social media platform that customizes ceremonies and rituals for people who aren't religious. The platform's success turns the husband into a messiah figure — even though it was his wife who designed it. We talk with Amam about how her real life boardroom experience helped inspire the novel.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the comedy series 'Schmigadoon!'

Six-time All Star C.C...

We revisit our 2016 interview with culinary icon Anthony Bourdain. He hosted the CNN series 'Parts Unknown' which took audiences to countries all over the world. He spoke with 'Fresh Air' about his breakout book, 'Kitchen Confidential,' and why he didn't think of himself as a journalist. Bourdain died in 2018 by suicide while filming in France. 'Roadrunner,' a new documentary about his life and tragic death, is now in theaters...

'New York Times' reporter Ivan Penn unpacks the debate over infrastructure: Do we go big and fund huge wind and solar farms with new transmission lines, or go local, with rooftop solar panels, batteries and micro-grids?

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews a reprint of Gloria Naylor's landmark novel, 'The Women of Brewster Place.'

The six-time All Star pitched for the Yankees and the Indians over the course of his 19-year career. He also struggled with alcoholism. Sabathia reflects on baseball and sobriety in the memoir, 'Till the End.'

Justin Chang shares his favorite picks from the Cannes Film Festival, which he screened from L.A. Also, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead celebrates the centennial of two early electric guitarists, George Barnes and Mary Osborne.

In their new book, 'New York Times' reporters Cecilia Kang and Sheera Frenkel examine the problems Facebook created and the problems it's facing. We talk about disinformation, hate speech, and how CEO Mark Zuckerberg knew the "Stop the Steal" private groups were planning a riot on the capitol but decided against warning the president. "Facebook knew the potential for explosive violence was very real [on Jan 6]," Kang says.

Tahmima Anam's new novel is about a married couple, Cyrus and Asha, who found a tech startup. It's a social media platform that customizes ceremonies and rituals for people who aren't religious. The platform's success turns the husband into a messiah figure — even though it was his wife who designed it. We talk with Amam about how her real life boardroom experience helped inspire the novel, the allure of rituals, and her childhood growing up in many different countries.

Ashley C. Ford's father was incarcerated when she was too young to remember, and she was 30 when he got out. For many of those years, no one told her what his crime was. When she was in her teens, not longer after she'd been raped by a boyfriend, she was shocked to learn her father had been convicted of rape. Her memoir is 'Somebody's Daughter.'

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a newly released recording of a 1969 Sarah Vaughan concert...

Kaling's Netflix show, 'Never Have I Ever,' is based on her own experiences as a nerdy, confident teen who pined for a boyfriend. The second season drops next week. She spoke with Terry Gross in 2020 about the series, how being a diversity hire at 'The Office' inspired her movie 'Late Night,' and how the grief of losing a parent has impacted her as a mother.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the music documentaries 'Summer of Soul' and 'McCartney 3-2-1.'

When Yutico Briley was 19 years old, he was sentenced to 60 years in prison for an armed robbery he said he didn't commit. After serving 7 years of his sentence, Briley heard criminal justice reporter Emily Bazelon on 'Fresh Air' and wrote to her about his case. Bazelon started corresponding with him and doing some research, and found flaws in his defense and trial representative of larger problems in the justice system...

The Comstock Act, which passed in 1873, virtually outlawed contraception. In 'The Man Who Hated Women,' author Amy Sohn writes about the man behind the law — and the women prosecuted under it.

John Powers reviews the detective drama 'Unforgotten' on PBS.