767 episodes

Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.Subscribe to Fresh Air Plus! You'll enjoy bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening - all while you support NPR's mission. Learn more at plus.npr.org/freshair

Fresh Air Fresh Air

    • Arts
    • 4.3 • 33K Ratings

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Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.Subscribe to Fresh Air Plus! You'll enjoy bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening - all while you support NPR's mission. Learn more at plus.npr.org/freshair

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    How Cars Became A Gendered Technology

    How Cars Became A Gendered Technology

    Author Nancy Nichols says that for men, cars signify adventure, power and strength. For women, they are about performing domestic duties; there was even a minivan prototype with a washer/dryer inside. Her book is Women Behind the Wheel: An Unexpected and Personal History of the Car.

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    • 45 min
    Oregon's Drug Decriminalization Experiment

    Oregon's Drug Decriminalization Experiment

    In 2020, Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved to decriminalize possession of small amounts of hard drugs, and mandate more spending on drug treatment and social services. But 3.5 years of frustration, with overdose deaths and open air drug use, has turned public opinion around, and lawmakers have restored criminal penalties. We'll speak with New Yorker contributing writer E. Tammy Kim, who traveled through the state speaking with activists, treatment providers, police, lawmakers and drug users about the experience, and the ongoing debate over how to respond to America's drug crisis.

    Also, Kevin Whitehead remembers classical and pop singer Sarah Vaughan on the 100th anniversary of her birth.

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    • 45 min
    Climate-Driven Migration In America

    Climate-Driven Migration In America

    ProPublica reporter Abrahm Lustgarten says in the coming decades it's likely tens of millions of us will relocate to escape rising seas, punishing heat, floods and wildfires due to global warming. He says nine of the ten fastest growing regions of the country are on the front lines of the most severe and fast-changing climate conditions. His book is On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America.

    Ken Tucker has high praise for Tierra Whack's new album, World Wide Whack.

    For sponsor-free episodes of Fresh Air — and exclusive weekly bonus episodes, too — subscribe to Fresh Air+ via Apple Podcasts or at https://plus.npr.org/freshair

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    • 45 min
    Sleater-Kinney

    Sleater-Kinney

    Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker co-founded the band Sleater-Kinney together 30 years ago, and became an important part of the 1990s feminist punk scene in Olympia, Washington. Rolling Stone once called Sleater-Kinney the best American punk rock band ever. Brownstein and Tucker just released their 11th album, called Little Rope. While they were working on the record, Brownstein's mother died in a car accident. They spoke with Ann Marie Baldonado about how the grief affected the album, and what it's like to make music together for decades.

    Also, David Bianculli reviews the Netflix series 3 Body Problem.

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    • 47 min
    Betty Friedan's Warning Was Right, 43 Years Later (Fresh Air+)

    Betty Friedan's Warning Was Right, 43 Years Later (Fresh Air+)

    Though political debate around abortion access remains as active as ever, prominent feminist activist Betty Friedan had an inkling that debate might continue when she appeared on Fresh Air in 1981. We listen back to a few surprisingly relevant sections of Terry's interview with the author of The Feminine Mystique and The Second Stage. Hear the full Betty Friedan interview: https://n.pr/3Txb9cm. Listen to all 40+ years of Fresh Air at https://FreshAirArchive.org. Not a Fresh Air+ supporter yet? Find out more, and join for yourself, at https://plus.npr.org/freshair.

    Best Of: The Life Of A Nun / A Foster Parent On Loving & Letting Go

    Best Of: The Life Of A Nun / A Foster Parent On Loving & Letting Go

    Catherine Coldstream spoke with Terry Gross about her years as nun in a Carmelite monastery. She talks about what drew her to the vocation, what it was like to live a silent and obedient life, and why she ran away. Her memoir is called Cloistered.

    Maureen Corrigan reviews Percival Everett's new novel, James. It's a reimagining of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

    When Mark Daley and his husband became foster parents to two brothers, they fell in love with the children right away. But they also knew that their family could change at any moment. Eventually, the boys were reunified with their biological parents. Daley's memoir is Safe: A Memoir of Fatherhood, Foster Care, and the Risks We Take for Family.

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    • 48 min

Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5
33K Ratings

33K Ratings

AbbyNemo ,

Terry Gross

Have always loved Terry Gross’ interviews. Can’t do without her. Always prepared and her soothing voice is incomparable. Wish she were my BFF. What a gem!

NikitaSamuelle ,

Great show, but poorly edited as podcast

I was very excited to have access to Fresh Air as a podcast since I'm usually working when the show airs. The interviews are great, but the editing has been disappointing. Segment changes are choppy and episodes often end mid-sentence. The Ken Burns segment of March 15 was a particular disappointment, ending less than 10 minutes into the episode. I love the show! I just hope the editing improves.

UPenn years with Terry ,

Terry Gross from UPenn early 1980s

Just want to say I knew Terry Gross when she had a head of wild red hair, and we brought sack lunches to talk with her at noon times on Penn campus. She was so nervous 😄 and look at the track record since. Sooo proud of her, now producing 😊 Thank you for all the years of prepping, reading, researching that are your life work.
Patsy Thompson, Houston TX.

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