Terry Gross

Critic Ken Tucker selects his top albums of the year.

British MC and actor Riz Ahmed is used to rapping and reciting lines, but he had to learn a new form of communication for his latest film. In Sound of Metal, Ahmed plays a drummer who goes deaf. To prepare for the role, Ahmed immersed himself in deaf culture and worked with a deaf advocate to learn American Sign Language.

Le Carré, who died Dec. 12, worked for MI5 and MI6 early in his career and later drew on that experience in thrillers like The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Originally broadcast in 1989 and 2017.