Fresh Air

We remember Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press in 1971, in hopes they would help end the Vietnam War. He died last week at the age of 92. We'll listen to our 2017 interview with him. "I identify more with Chelsea Manning and with Edward Snowden than with any other people on earth," he told Dave Davies. "We all faced the same question which is, who will put this information out if I don't?" Also New York Times correspondent Charlie Savage shares a story about Ellsberg continuing to battle government secrecy when he was 90.Also, David Bianculli reviews the new reality TV competition show Morimoto's Sushi Master on the Roku channel.

Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson explains how the debates over teaching race, racism, gender identity and sexuality have put pressure on teachers who were already overworked and underpaid.Kevin Whitehead reviews composer and saxophonist Henry Threadgill's new album and book.

Gottlieb, who died last week at age 92, edited Joseph Heller, Toni Morrison, John le Carré and, for more than 50 years, Robert Caro. He went on to become editor of The New Yorker. We'll listen to our recent interview with Gottlieb, and we'll hear some of our interview recorded in 2000 with Gottlieb and musical theater expert Robert Kimball. They co-authored a book on some of the best lyricists of the last century.Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Brandon Taylor's, The Late Americans, and Andre Dubus III's novel, Such Kindness.

Author Evan Thomas tells the story of American leaders wrestling with the terrifying dilemmas of nuclear weapons and of determined Japanese leaders confronting the humiliating prospect of defeat. His book is Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II. John Powers reviews the novel Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck.

In Black Folk, Award-winning historian Blair LM Kelley portrays generations of Black workers — Pullman porters, domestic laborers, USPS employees, COVID-19 essential workers — whose work has been vital to the nation's prosperity. Ken Tucker reviews Janelle Monáe's new album, The Age of Pleasure.

Kwame Alexander's new memoir is Why Fathers Cry at Night. It started as a book of love poems, but ended up being a book of essays and poems about falling in love, the end of his two marriages, raising two children. He is best known for his children's books, including The Undefeated, which won the Caldecott Medal.Also, we'll hear from chef Lidia Bastianich. She's won James Beard Awards, hosted a long-running TV series, and written cookbooks. She'll talk about how she built her career after fleeing the chaos in Europe with her family following World War II.

We're revisiting Terry Gross's 2009 interview with musician John Mellencamp. He's got a new album called Orpheus Descending out this month. Mellencamp's big hits in the 1980s included "Jack and Diane" and "Small Town." Film critic Justin Chang reviews Wes Anderson's new movie, Asteroid City, and David Bianculli reviews the new season of the Netflix anthology series Black Mirror.

Artificial intelligence experts recently signed an open letter warning that A.I. could destroy humanity. New York Times technology reporter Cade Metz explains why we are at a turning point with this technology.

Tupac Shakur — who was killed at 25 in 1996 — would have turned 52 this year. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was an activist and a central figure in the Black Panthers. Author and historian Santi Elijah Holley's new book, An Amerikan Family, follows the Shakur family tree and their work in the Black Liberation Movement.John Powers reviews the final season of the British detective series Endeavour.

"You don't hear about enslaved people at Mass or in Sunday school," says author Rachel Swarns. Her new book tells the story of 272 enslaved people sold in 1838 to help save what is now Georgetown University.

Cooper was birdwatching in Central Park in 2020 when a white woman falsely accused him of threatening her. The video went viral. His memoir, Better Living Through Birding, chronicles life as a Black birder, gay activist and Marvel comic book writer and editor. Cooper now hosts a National Geographic birdwatching show.

Succession creator, showrunner and head writer, Jesse Armstrong has been reluctant to reveal much about creating the characters, their motivations and plotlines in the past — but now that the series is over, he's ready to talk. Also with us is executive producer Frank Rich, who was instrumental in getting the series made. Maureen Corrigan recommends two new suspense novels that overturn the age-old "woman-in-trouble" plot: My Murder and Beware the Woman.Also, we'll hear from actor Elliot Page. He's best known for his roles in Juno, Inception and X-Men. In 2020, he came out as a trans man — and soon after his character on Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, also transitioned. Page's new memoir is called Pageboy.

Songwriter Cynthia Weil, along with her writing partner and husband Barry Mann, wrote the 1960s hits You've Lost that Loving Feeling, Uptown, On Broadway, and We've Got to Get Out of This Place. We'll listen to our 2000 archival interview with them. She died last week at 82. Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews Past Lives.

On Feb. 14, 2018, David Hogg was in his AP Environmental Sciences class at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., when he heard gunshots. It was the beginning of one of the deadliest school shootings in American history. 17 people were murdered. Hogg is a co-founder of the youth-led gun reform movement March for Our Lives. He talks about advocacy, finding common ground with opponents and the importance of making time for joy amid the pain. Also, Ken Tucker reviews new albums by Jason Isbell and Rodney Crowell.

For much of his life, the Canadian actor (Juno, X-men, The Umbrella Academy) experienced gender dysphoria that made him extremely uncomfortable in his own body. "It's like a constant noise," he says. His new memoir is called Pageboy.Maureen Corrigan reviews two suspense novels: My Murder by Katie Williams and Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott.

Constitutional lawyer and Brennan Center for Justice President Michael Waldman says there's a growing divide between the electorate and the Supreme Court: "the country is moving in one direction ... the Court is moving fast in another direction." His book is The Supermajority.

The much-anticipated series finale of HBO's Succession answered one big question — who would succeed media mogul patriarch Logan Roy — but we still have more: Was Kendall going to jump into the river? Why did we keep seeing Logan in the bathroom? Why was the presidential election left unresolved? Creator Jesse Armstrong and executive producer Frank Rich answer all in this wide-ranging interview.

As controversy swirls around revelations of gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas, we'll speak with award-winning filmmaker Michael Kirk. His PBS/FRONTLINE documentary is Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court.Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Arturo O'Farrill's new album, Legacies. Also, we talk with medical anthropologist Theresa MacPhail about allergies. If it seems like your seasonal allergies are getting worse over time, you're probably not wrong. Allergies have risen dramatically in recent years, both in the U.S. around the world. MacPhail's book is Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World.

Writer John Vercher trained in mixed martial arts as a young man. His novel, After the Lights Go Out, centers on a veteran MMA fighter who is experiencing memory loss, severe mood swings and tinnitus. The book is also about the fighter's biracial identity. TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new PBS American Masters documentary, Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock 'n' Roll.

Kwame Alexander's new book, Why Fathers Cry At Night, started as a book of love poems, but ended up being a book of essays and poems about falling in love, the end of his two marriages, raising two children and one of them leaving home and cutting ties. We'll talk about that, and about being a son of a Baptist minister. Alexander is best known for his children's books, including The Undefeated and the Newberry Medal-winning book The Crossover, which has been adapted into a Disney+ series, on which he's a writer and executive producer.