Terry Gross

A 91-year-old billionaire sits atop a global media empire, while his adult children vie to control the family company in the next generation.

It sounds like the plot of the HBO series Succession, but New York Times journalist Jim Rutenberg says the real-life drama involving Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch and his children, Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence, rivals anything a screenwriter could dream up.

The British singer/guitarist talks about his formative years, and about pioneering a new musical genre that blended rock with traditional music of the British isles. Thompson's new memoir is Beeswing.

The comic, actor and writer opens up about his name, his family tree and his sexual orientation in a new HBO special. "The more honest I am, the freer I am," Carmichael says.

Williams was a dazzling player and a favorite at Fresh Air. She died March 10 at 73. We'll listen back to her 1997 performance and interview.

NYT's Shane Goldmacher says Trump doles out endorsements to Republican candidates to elevate allies, punish enemies and make the 'Big Lie', that the 2020 election was stolen, into a party litmus test.

Gottfried was known for his unusual voice and cranky stage persona — which made him a perfect fit to play the evil parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin. He spoke with Fresh Air in 1992.

Falling in love at 72 — over email — sounds like the plotline of a romantic comedy. But that's exactly what happened to writer Delia Ephron. Along with her late sister Nora Ephron, Delia co-wrote the '90s classic You've Got Mail. Against all odds, Delia found herself in a familiar cinematic situation.

When the COVID crisis hit in 2020, the federal government needed far more N95 masks and other protective equipment than it had — so it began awarding contracts to companies promising to provide them, often at a steep mark-up. J. David McSwane, a ProPublica reporter and author of the new book Pandemic, Inc: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick, says a shocking number of those companies had no experience in providing medical equipment.

As a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1995 until 2001, Molly Shannon became famous for playing Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher. That should have felt like a triumph, but instead, she felt depressed. Shannon's mother, along with her 3-year-old sister and a cousin, died decades earlier, when her father, who had been drinking, crashed the family car into a pole. For years, the memory of her mother and sister propelled her forward in her career. Her new memoir Hello, Molly! recounts the tragic as well as the wonderful turning points in her life.

The Nobel Prize-winning novelist explains how he honed his craft earlier in his career. His book, Klara and the Sun, is set in the future and has an A.I. narrator. Originally published March 17, 2021.