Fresh Air

Denis Villeneuve remembers watching the 1984 movie version of Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel Dune and thinking, "Someday, someone else will do it again" — not realizing he would be that filmmaker. He spoke to Sam Briger about shooting Dune in the desert and his love of silent film.Ken Tucker revi...

Paul Giamatti stars in The Holdovers as a pompous and disliked teacher at a boys boarding school in the '70s. He's now up for an Oscar for best actor. Giamatti spoke with Sam Briger about the role and reuniting with director Alexander Payne, 20 years after Sideways.Also, we remember comic and Curb Y...

Why do many Christian nationalists think Trump is chosen by God to lead the country? We talk with Bradley Onishi about the ties between Christian nationalism and political and judicial leaders. Onishi became a Christian nationalist and a youth minister in his teens and then left the church. He is th...

Villeneuve remembers watching the 1984 movie version of Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel Dune and thinking, "Someday someone else will do it again" — not realizing he would be that filmmaker. He spoke to Sam Briger about shooting Dune in the desert, depicting sandworm surfing, and his love of silen...

Busy Philipps plays Mrs. George, a "cool mom" seeking the approval of her teen daughter in the new movie musical version of Mean Girls. Philipps got her start in acting as a teen on the series Freaks and Geeks. She spoke with Ann Marie Baldonado about sexism in Hollywood, collaborating with Tina Fey...

Charan Ranganath recently wrote an op-ed about President Biden's memory gaffes. He says forgetting is a normal part of aging. We also talk about PTSD, how stress affects memory, and what's happening when something's on the tip of your tongue. His new book is Why We Remember. Also, John Powers review...

Mark Ruffalo is nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in Poor Things. He plays a hilarious debauched lawyer who seduces Emma Stone's character. Ruffalo has also appeared in Marvel movies as the Incredible Hulk. For that role he had to act in a motion capture suit. "It's the ...

In his Oscar-nominated biopic Maestro, Bradley Cooper was determined not to imitate the legendary Leonard Bernstein. Instead, the actor worked with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin to find his own rhythm. They spoke with Terry Gross about conducting, Bernstein's legacy, and playing with batons when th...

As Donald Trump seeks to gain the Republican presidential nomination, he faces 91 felony charges across four states and several lawsuits, many with dates in court that run right up to the election. We talk with reporter Alan Feuer, who is part of the team at the New York Times covering Trump's legal...

Lucy Sante has been writing books since the 1980s, exploring everything from photography to urban history. In a new memoir, she shares her story of transition from male to female at 67 years old. "I am lucky to have survived my own repression," Sante says. "I think a lot of people in my position hav...