Fresh Air

Rita Moreno moved to the U.S. mainland from Puerto Rico as a child. She says her 'West Side Story' role is "the only part I ever remember where I represented Hispanics in a dignified and positive way." Moreno is an EGOT, a winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

Film critic Justin Chang reviews the film adaptation of the musical 'In the Heights...

We remember actor Clarence Williams III, best known for playing Linc Hayes, one of three hippie undercover cops on the TV series 'The Mod Squad' from 1968 to 1973.

Also, Stephen Colbert begins taping the 'The Late Show' in front of a live audience again on Monday. We hear his interview with Terry about doing the show from home taping during the pandemic. "I got into show business in a way to not be alone. Like a lot of comedians, I'm a bit of a broken toy," Colbert says...

New York Times investigative reporter Michael Schwirtz gained access to the dashboard of DarkSide, a ransomware operation that's pulled in more than $90 million since it began last August. Schwirtz talks about DarkSide's business model, its customer support system to help the hackers it enables, and help the victims learn how to use Bitcoin to pay the ransom.

On the morning of Feb. 20, 1962, about 100,000 spectators gathered in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to witness the launch of the Friendship 7, the United States' first mission to put an astronaut in orbit around the Earth. Historian Jeff Shesol says there was real fear that astronaut John Glenn wouldn't survive the day. We talk with Shesol about the early days of NASA, and how the Cold War pushed the U.S. space program to its limits. His book is 'Mercury Rising...

When Daisy Hernández was 5, her aunt in Colombia came down with a mysterious illness that caused her large intestine to swell. Hernandez details her aunt's story — and her own — in a new memoir.

Moreno moved to the U.S. mainland from Puerto Rico as a child. She says her 'West Side Story' role is "the only part I ever remember where I represented Hispanics in a dignified and positive way." We talk about some of the racism and sexism she experienced in Hollywood, her relationship with Marlon Brando, and why she's happier than ever now at 89 years old. Moreno is an EGOT, a winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

In 1990, Yusef Salaam was one of the five boys wrongly convicted in the so-called Central Park jogger case. Salaam spent nearly seven years behind bars and wasn't exonerated until 2002, when a serial rapist confessed to the crime. Salaam tells his story in his memoir 'Better, Not Bitter.'

Also, Kevin Whitehead reviews 'Black to the Future' by Shabaka Hutchings and the Sons of Kemet...

We hear from songwriter, arranger and producer Thom Bell. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Philadelphia International Records. Among the songs he arranged were Joe Simon's "Drowning in the Sea of Love," and "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays. Bell is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He also wrote and arranged for The Stylistics, The Spinners, and The Delfonics. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2006...

'Time' investigative correspondent Simon Shuster says that Andriy Derkach, a seven-term member of the Ukrainian parliament, and widely believed to be a Russian agent, gave misleading information to Rudy Giuliani to discredit Biden during the 2020 campaign. Derkach and Giuliani are both under investigation by federal prosecutors in the U.S.

Carol Anderson says the Second Amendment was designed to ensure slave owners could quickly crush any rebellion or resistance from those they'd enslaved. "One of the things that I argue throughout this book is that it is just being Black that is the threat. And so when you mix that being Black as the threat with bearing arms, it's an exponential fear," she says. "This isn't an anti-gun or a pro-gun book. This is a book about African Americans' rights." Anderson's new book is 'The Second...