Terry Gross

Actress Taraji P. Henson, who stars as Shug Avery in the new film adaptation of the musical "The Color Purple."

Lear, who died Dec. 5, used humor to address racism and politics. Terry Gross spoke with Lear in 2014; Good Times actor Esther Rolle in 1983; and All in the Family director John Rich in 2006.

New York Times reporter Charlie Savage says Trump has a plan — and potentially the backing — to purge the federal bureaucracy, which he disparages as "a deep state that's filled with villains."