Segments by Date

John Powers reviewed "The Wizard Of The Kremlin," now in theaters.

Caputo, who died May 7, wrote the acclaimed 1977 memoir A Rumor of War, about leading a Marine platoon during the Vietnam war. He went on to a career in journalism. Originally broadcast in 2005.

Attenborough began hosting and producing nature documentaries for the BBC in the 1950s. He spoke to Terry Gross in 1995 about about traveling the world to film Life on Earth.

Former national security official Rush Doshi says President Trump's sky-high tariffs on Chinese goods sparked a clash in which China prevailed. We look at the current state of U.S.-China relations.

Boots Riley's new film is "I Love Boosters." It opens in theaters on May 22.

Maureen Corrigan reviewed two novels by 'Pemi Aguda and Elizabeth Strout.

Tech reporter JOANNA STERN. She’s chief technology analyst for NBC news. Her new book is called I am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to do (almost) Everything. It chronicles the experiment she tried throughout most of 2025, handing over every task, large and small, to AI - if AI was capable of doing it. From reading her mammogram and ultra sound, to folding her t-shirts, responding to her email and texts, serving as her therapist, and helping her write her book.

TV critic DAVID BIANCULLI reviews “Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure,” a special celebrating Sir David Attenborough’s contributions to the history of nature documentaries. It premiered May 6 on PBS. Attenborough turned 100 May 8th.

Ann Marie Baldonado interviews Will Sharpe who stars in the new limited series "Amadeus"

David Bianculli reviewed "This Is A Gardening Show."

Film critic JUSTIN CHANG reviews Silent Friend, a century-spanning film about humanity’s relationship with the plant world.

Enter Me

Producer JEFFREY SELLER. He produced Rent with his business partner. Seller's own company produced Hamilton. He also was a producer of Lin Manuel Miranda’s first musical, In the Heights – as well as the satirical adult puppet musical, Avenue Q, and the revival of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, starring Josh Groban. Seller grew up without much money in a neighborhood outside Detroit that was nicknamed Cardboard Village, because the houses were so cheap and shoddy. Seller is the author of the memoir Theater Kid.

TV critic DAVID BIANCULLI reviews the latest adaptation of William Golding's classic novel Lord of the Flies. It's the first adaptation for television and it is presented by Netflix and the BBC.

(1.) Journalist GEORGE PACKER is a staff writer at The Atlantic. His new article is titled The Venture-Capital Populist: How David Sacks and the New Tech Right went Full Maga and Captured Washington.” He writes about how and why many Silicon Valley leaders have become identified with the Right, with President Donald Trump and MAGA. These tech billionaires are now often referred to as oligarchs, because of their money, power, and access to the White House. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

Legal scholar KIMBERLE WILLIAMS CRENSHAW. She coined the expressions: critical race theory and intersectionality. She wanted those expressions to help describe racial and gender discrimination in America. Her new memoir is called Backtalker: An American Memoir. (INTERVIEW BY TONYA MOSLEY) (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

(1.) Scottish writer DOUGLAS STUART. His debut novel Shuggie Bain won the Booker Prize in 2020. His other novel is Young Mungo. His latest, John of John, is about a son dealing with the weight of his father’s expectations on a remote Scottish island. Both father and son are concealing their sexualities. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW)

Critic-at-large JOHN POWERS reviews The Devil Wears Prada, 2 starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep.

We remember conductor, composer and musician MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS. He was a longtime music director of The San Francisco Symphony, known for his innovation, his ability to translate classical music for the general public, and for fostering contemporary music. He founded the New World Symphony for young players. He got his musical inheritance from his grandparents, who were stars of the Yiddish theatre. Tilson died last week at age 81. He had battled brain cancer since 2022. (THESE INTERVIEWS ARE REBROADCAST. THEY ORIGINALLY AIRED ON SEPTEMBER 27, 1995 and MARCH 28, 2012.)

Book critic MAUREEN CORRIGAN recommends three new novels: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, American Fantasy by Emma Straub, and Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel.