Fresh Air

Samberg, Taccone And Schaffer: Three's Not A Lonely Island

editor — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:57:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKQ6nINAeq8

Cécile McLorin Salvant: Making Old Songs New Again

Kevin Whitehead — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:43:00 +0000

Singer Cécile McLorin Salvant was born in Miami to French and Haitian parents, and started singing jazz while living in Paris. Back in the U.S., she won the Thelonious Monk vocal competition in 2010. The 23-year-old's first album, WomanChild, is now out — and few jazz debuts by singers or instrumentalists make this big a splash.

Salvant's unusual material sets her apart as much as her chops do. The most recent non-original tune on her nervily accomplished debut is by Fats Waller.

In 'TransAtlantic,' The Flight Is Almost Too Smooth

Maureen Corrigan — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:42:00 +0000

Here we go into the wild blue yonder again with Colum McCann. In his 2009 novel, Let the Great World Spin, McCann swooped readers up into the air with the French aerialist Philippe Petit, who staged an illegal high-wire stunt walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. Strictly speaking, Let the Great World Spin was not a Sept. 11 novel, and yet almost everyone rightly read it as one, since McCann's tale commemorated the towers at the literal zenith of their history.

WWII 'Deserters': Stories Of Men Who Left The Front Lines

editor — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:42:00 +0000

Few citizens are more honored than military veterans, and there's particular reverence for those who defeated the Nazis in World War II. Like any war, however, World War II was complicated and traumatic for those on the ground, and not a few deserted from the front lines.

In a new book, The Deserters, journalist Charles Glass tells the stories of three very different men whose lives dramatize how the strain of war can push a soldier to the breaking point — and how the line between courage and cowardice is never simple.

Fresh Air Weekend: Rogen, Goldberg, '20 Feet From Stardom' And 'Much Ado'

editor — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 13:03:00 +0000

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

Whedon's Touch Finds A Match With 'Much Ado'

David Edelstein — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:31:00 +0000

One word sums up my reaction to Joss Whedon's film of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing: Huzzah!

Here is the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer — and the director of The Avengers — working with American TV actors who have little or no training in verse-speaking. Who could have predicted such a team would produce the best of all filmed Shakespeare comedies?

No, not the best filmed Shakespeare; there are plenty of more exciting Hamlets and Henry Vs and Richard IIIs.

Mantel Takes Up Betrayal, Beheadings In 'Bodies'

editor — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:26:00 +0000

This interview was originally broadcast on Nov. 26, 2012.

This year, Hilary Mantel made history when she won a Man Booker Prize for her novel Bring Up the Bodies, which is out now in paperback.

John Oliver: Topical Comedy With A Crisp Accent

editor — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:36:00 +0000

This interview was originally broadcast on Jan. 5, 2010.

With Daily Show host Jon Stewart on leave for the summer, comedian John Oliver has stepped in to host the show that's become his television home base.

Oliver relocated from the U.K. in 2006 to become the "Senior British Correspondent" on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

Israeli Writer Yoram Kaniuk, 83, On Pain And Peace

editor — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:58:00 +0000

Born in Israel in 1930, Yoram Kaniuk wrote novels and articles that explored war, the Holocaust, Israel, and the prospect of peace for Israelis and Palestinians. He was an outspoken proponent of the need for Israelis and Palestinians to understand that both groups of people deserve sovereignty.

"Both sides are right, and both sides are so strong about the rightness," he told Fresh Air's Terry Gross in August 1988.

Florida-Grown Fiction: Hiaasen Satirizes The Sunshine State

editor — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:55:00 +0000

As a columnist for the Miami Herald and a prolific novelist of books such as Strip Tease, Lucky You and Star Island, Carl Hiaasen has a subject: Florida. Hiaasen grew up in the state during the 1950s and has lived and worked there his entire life, watching it morph from a rural backwater with abundant natural beauty and resources to one struggling with the effects of development and tourism.

Florida's population has more than quintupled since Hiaasen was a boy.