Rick Famuyiwa's new film is about a black high-school student who's into 90s hip hop and Japanese comic books. He calls Dope a celebration of kids whose interests don't fit into pop-culture norms.
Critic David Bianculli says the commentary, questioning and ridicule of Jon Stewart, Larry Wilmore, John Oliver and Bill Maher help keep news outlets — and news-makers — honest.
The main character in Vendela Vida's new novel is alone in Morocco when her bag with her passport and credit cards is stolen. Vida says The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty was inspired by her own travels.
Jerry Douglas, considered by many to be the best dobro player in the world, brings his instrument to the studio and talks about his new album, The Earls of Leceister, a tribute to Flatt and Scruggs.
As a biracial child growing up in Philadelphia, writer Mat Johnson identified as black â but looked white. His new novel is about a man who returns to his hometown after inheriting a run-down mansion.
Terell Stafford and his quintet bring a warm and hefty tone to a tribute album honoring the late Philadelphia horn player Lee Morgan. Kevin Whitehead says the new album is risky — but successful.
Gimble, who died Saturday at the age of 88, spent years playing fiddle with the Texas Playboys. He was regarded by critics as one of the best to ever pick up a bow. Originally broadcast April 9, 2010.
The Texas-raised singer connects to R&B music from the past — and challenges himself to give it an updated sound — in his new album. Critic Ken Tucker says Bridges' album packs an emotional punch.
In 1922, seven states drew up a plan for dividing the waters of the Colorado River. But they overestimated how much water the river could provide — and now 40 million Americans face a water crisis.
Mike Cummings and Jorja Leap are working with men in Los Angeles — many of whom are former gang members — to help them find something that was missing from their lives as they grew up: fatherhood.
In his new book, Scott Sherman describes how bottom-line business logic nearly gutted New York's preeminent public library. Maureen Corrigan calls it a "slim, smart book" full of colorful characters.
The art world is "fertile ground for criminals," says art scholar Noah Charney. In his new book, The Art of Forgery, he traces a tradition of fakes and forgeries that dates back to the Renaissance.
In his first novel, The Meursault Investigation, Kamel Daoud retells The Stranger from an Arab perspective. John Powers says Daoud's retelling will forever change the way you read the Camus classic.
Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's film Me and Earl and the Dying Girl won the audience award and the grand jury prize at Sundance. He talks about how losing his dad shaped his approach to the film.
The composer, conductor, teacher and music historian who coined the term Third Stream for his synthesis of jazz and classical music, died Sunday in Boston from complications of leukemia. He was 89.
Several months ago, the White House contacted the comedian to see if he'd be interested in having the president as his guest. "I just didn't think that it would ever happen," Maron says.
Director Pete Docter had the idea for this movie a little over five years ago after he saw his own 11-year-old daughter become sad and tried to imagine how the world looked through her eyes.
Screenwriter Oren Moverman talks with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the film's depiction of the Beach Boy's troubled life. We'll also listen back to an interview Gross recorded with Wilson in 1988.
When Apatow was a teen he landed interviews with an impressive roster of comics for his high school radio show. Sick in the Head is a collection of those conversations, and more recent ones as well.
Ballers feels like the football equivalent of the hip-hop world of Empire, and The Brink is reminiscent of Dr. Strangelove, but has its own modern take on the nonsense of war.
