Gretchen Morgenson, financial reporter and business columnist for The New York Times, talks about efforts in Congress to regulate credit default swaps, which helped crash the banking system.
Author Larry Tye discusses Satchel Paige, a negro league pitcher who helped integrate baseball by touring the country and playing exhibition games with white players.
Georgetown law professor Adam Levitin joins Fresh Air to discuss the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which President Obama recently signed into law.
American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato released a dazzling CD of Handel arias — Furore, a collection of set-pieces from operas and oratorios in which Handel's characters experience flights of passion.
Seventy-two-year-old actor David Carradine was found dead in his hotel room in Bangkok. He was best known for his role in Kill Bill: Vol 1, Kill Bill: Vol. 2 and the Kung Fu TV series.
In Chandler Burr's You or Someone Like You, the wife of a powerful Hollywood executive unexpectedly finds herself at the helm of a popular book group. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls it a "smart novel" that offers "a very tough reflection on the idea of 'group-ness' itself"
Actress Cloris Leachman, best known as nosy neighbor Phyllis on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, has penned her autobiography, Cloris, with husband George Englund. Leachman recently competed on Dancing with the Stars, and appears in the new film Inglorious Basterds.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg has made a living out of parsing phrases. His new book, The Years of Talking Dangerously, analyzes the buzzwords, stock phrases and metaphors that were made popular during the Bush administration's tenure.
New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins has been covering clashes pitting Taliban militants against the Afghan and Pakistani governments; he joins Fresh Air to talk about recent developments in the region.
After 16 years as the host of the Late Night show, Conan O'Brien moves his act an hour earlier. TV critic David Bianculli reviews O'Brien's premiere as host of The Tonight Show.
From FDR's "New Deal" and LBJ's "Great Society" to Barack Obama's effort to create a "New Foundation", politicians (and their speech writers) have long used words to brand their ideas. Geoff Nunberg reflects on the politics of political phrasing.
The Godfather of Punk has released a new album called Preliminaires, featuring standards like "Autumn Leaves" and "How Insensitive," as well as an original song inspired by Louis Armstrong.
It's a double feature from critic David Edelstein, who says Pixar's sublime new film Up reaches heavenward, while Sam Raimi's deliciously gory Drag Me to Hell crawls in the opposite direction.
Wall Street Journal columnist Scott McCartney says summer travel will be cheaper this year. McCartney pens the Journal's weekly column "The Middle Seat."
Mark Kurlansky's The Food of a Younger Land presents a marvelous history of America's gastronomical oddities and antiques; a remembrance of tastes and customs past. Maureen Corrigan has a review.
Rock critic Ken Tucker looks back on American Idol's most recent season, when Adam Lambert and Kris Allen vied for the top spot. He says the wrong aspiring idol won.
When Rocco Mediate, a low-ranking journeyman golfer, challenged Tiger Woods to a sudden-death playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open, it became the subject of the new book Are You Kidding Me?
Our critic at large returns with the second part of his report from this year's Cannes Film Festival, including his impressions of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and the South Korean vampire flick Thirst — both due out in the United States later this summer.
In his new book Are You Kidding Me? journalist John Feinstein chronicles the dramatic showdown that occured at the 2008 U.S. Open when Rocco Mediate, a pro-golfer with a ranking of 158th, challenged Tiger Woods to a sudden-death playoff.
