Fresh Air

A global pandemic, school shootings, climate change, war: Children and teenagers are experiencing and being treated for unprecedented levels of anxiety and depression. We talk with founding president of the Child Mind Institute, Dr. Harold Koplewicz, about screen time, suicidal ideation, and testing for ADHD. His latest book is Scaffold Parenting: Raising Resilient, Self-Reliant, and Secure Kids in an Age of Anxiety. Also, Justin Chang reviews the film La Chimera.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Retired point guard Sue Bird holds the record for most career assists in the WNBA, with 3,234 over the course of her 19-season professional career. She's also won four WNBA championships, five Olympic gold medals and two NCAA championships. She spoke with Terry Gross about playing overseas in Russia, staying cool under pressure, and her pump-up song for games.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

If you've ever wondered how directors convince stars to appear in their films, or what they do when an actor committed to a lead role suddenly starts throwing up roadblocks, you can ask Ed Zwick. He's a writer, director and producer who's been making TV and movies for decades. His new memoir is Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood. Also, we'll hear from Eugene Levy. He's appeared in dozens of films, including four satirical movies by Christopher Guest, which he co-wrote. He also starred in the hit comedy series Schitt's Creek. Levy currently stars in The Reluctant Traveler, a series in which he visits distant lands and tastes exotic foods that aren't exactly in his comfort zone.David Bianculli will review the new documentary about Paul Simon.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Beyoncé's highly anticipated country album, Cowboy Carter, is out today. One of the musicians on it is fiddle and banjo player Rhiannon Giddens. We'll listen to our 2010 in-studio performance with the group she was part of then, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. They played string band and jug band music of the '20s and '30s, music most people associate with a white southern tradition. But the members of the Carolina Chocolate Drops are Black. They saw themselves as part of a little known Black string band tradition— forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass.John Powers reviews A Gentleman in Moscow, starring Ewan McGregor, which begins streaming today on Paramount+. David Bianculli reviews the new Apple TV+ documentary about Steve Martin.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/freshairLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Reporter Jake Adelstein's memoir, Tokyo Vice, is about covering the organized crime beat in Japan. The MAX series (based on the book) is now in its second season. Adelstein spoke with Dave Davies in 2009. Also, Justin Chang reviews the remake of the '80s film Road House.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Marijuana has been legalized in some states, but ProPublica's Sebastian Rotella says there's still a thriving illicit market in the U.S., dominated by criminals connected to China's authoritarian government.Also, John Powers reviews the Romanian film Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Christine Blasey Ford describes what it was like to come forward and testify that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school. Her 2018 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee threatened to derail his confirmation, but Kavanaugh succeeded in being becoming a supreme court justice. Ford still requires security for protection. After mostly avoiding the media, she's written a memoir. It's called One Way Back.Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Percival Everett's new book, James, which reimagines The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of Finn's enslaved companion. Finally, we say goodbye to producer Seth Kelley.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

NPR Politics correspondent Sarah McCammon grew up in a white evangelical church that taught her to never question her faith. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her upbringing, how her faith was tested, and her decision to leave the church. She now reports on the Christian right and their support of Donald Trump. McCammon's book is The Exvangelicals. Also, Justin Chang reviews The Shadowless Tower. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jenny Slate talks about childbirth and motherhood, the subjects of her new comedy special, Seasoned Professional. She'll do the voices of some of her animated characters, including Marcel from her Oscar-nominated film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.Also, we hear from comic/actor Julio Torres. Growing up in El Salvador as a gay atheist he says he felt like an alien. Then he literally was labeled an "alien" when he came to the U.S. on a student visa. He's drawn on those experiences to write, direct and star in the new satirical film Problemista.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Michael Cecchi-Azzolina has worked in several high-end New York City restaurants — adrenaline-fueled workplaces where booze and drugs are plentiful and the health inspector will ruin your day. His memoir is Your Table Is Ready. Also, Terry shares a remembrance of revered magazine editor William Whitworth. David Bianculli reviews Restless Dreams, a documentary about Paul Simon.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We talk with Peter Pomerantsev, whose new book, How to Win an Information War, is about the man he describes as the "forgotten genius" of propaganda. Throughout WWII, Sefton Delmer ran propaganda campaigns for the British against Hitler's regime. Some of those efforts bordered on pornography. We'll also talk about witnessing Putin's use of disinformation when Pomerantsev worked in Russia, and his work as the co-founder of a project documenting Russian war crimes in Ukraine.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Schitt's Creek star Eugene Levy visits distant lands and tastes exotic foods as the host of the Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler. Levy describes it as a show about "a guy traveling who doesn't love to travel."Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Adelle Waldman's new novel, Help Wanted, and David Bianculli reviews a TV show about the Lincoln assassination called Manhunt.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The comic/actor returns. Now she has a 3-year-old daughter, who she sings to in the voice of her character Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. Slate spoke with Terry Gross about finding comedy in her feelings, divorce, and growing up in a haunted house. Her new stand-up special on Amazon Prime Video is Seasoned Professional.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Comic, actor and filmmaker Julio Torres came to the U.S. from El Salvador in his 20s. His new film, Problemista, draws from his personal experience struggling to get a visa. "This movie deals with the problem of immigration, but I think of it as a very silly, happy and joyful movie," he says. Torres talks with Terry Gross about his love of difficult people, collaborating with his mom, and getting started in stand-up. 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/freshairLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy