"Every now and then you bump up against a part that presses you to the wall of your ability," Hawke says of his Oscar-nominated stint as lyricist Lorenz Hart. Originally broadcast Nov. 13, 2025.
Del Toro's Frankenstein, which reimagines Mary Shelley's 1818 Gothic novel, has been nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Originally broadcast Oct. 23, 2025.
In the new film "Islands" out this week, a washed-up tennis pro gives lessons at a fancy hotel in the Canary Islands. But when he meets an elegant woman with an unlikable husband, things take a noir-ish turn. Our critic at large, John Powers, says the plot may sound familiar, but "Islands" takes you places you don't expect.
A former microbiologist and Golden Gloves boxer, Wilson is also one of the more distinctive new sounds in country. He's broken through not with huge record sales but via viral clips on social media.
Writer George Saunders is a Buddhist whose practice informs his work, most notably his 2017 novel, "Lincoln In The Bardo," which won the Booker Prize. Saunders' new novel, "Vigil," also explores the Buddhist concept of the Bardo. Our book critic Maureen Corrigan has a review.
In his 2019 book "Catch And Kill," journalist Ronan Farrow documented a pattern in which Lauer pursued women on staff at NBC over the course of decades. One of those women was Brooke Nevils, who was in her late 20s and working with former "Today" show co-anchor Meredith Vieira on NBC's coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. According to her account, first reported by Farrow, one night after drinks with colleagues at a hotel bar, she went to Lauer's room. There, she says, he sexually assaulted her, an allegation Lauer denies.
President Trump calls global warming "a hoax." As the U.S. faces more severe storms and extreme weather events, the New York Times' David Gelles describes what this means for climate change policy.
Jason Zengerle writes, Carlson had the highest-rated show in the history of cable news. And when he was abruptly fired from Fox in 2023, it was widely assumed he would fade from relevance. He did for many Americans, especially liberals, but he didn't go away. After leaving Fox News in 2023, he debuted a new streaming show on the social media platform then known as Twitter - now X - and launched the Tucker Carlson streaming network. Zengerle writes, the people still paying attention to him now are getting an even more extreme version of him than the one they saw on Fox News.
In Fear and Fury, historian Heather Ann Thompson revisits Bernhard Goetz's shooting of four Black teens — and explains how the incident reshaped criminal justice, national policy and media coverage.
Brooks is the subject of a new two-part HBO documentary, Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! TV critic David Bianculli reviews the documentary, plus we listen back to archival interviews with Brooks.
Sound of Falling weaves together the experiences of four generations of women living in the same rural stretch of northern Germany, and the secrets that have accumulated over that time.
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Quiara Alegria Hudes, writer of "In The Heights," "Water By The Spoonful" and the memoir "My Broken Language." She recently published her first novel, "The White Hot"
n 2020, celebrated Irish writer John Banville metaphorically killed off Benjamin Black, the pen name under which he had been writing crime novels. Banville said he no longer felt he needed the pseudonym. So over the last few years, his crime series starring the Dublin coroner simply known as Quirke has been reprinted with Banville's name on the cover instead of Black's. The final novel in that series has just been reissued. Book critic Maureen Corrigan has a review and an appreciation.
As protestors clash with some 3,000 federal immigration agents in the Twin Cities, we look at the legal issues with law professor Emmanuel Mauleón and Brennan Center for Justice's Elizabeth Goitein.
poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths. Her new memoir is called "The Flower Bearers." It's in part about the day she married Salman Rushdie, which is also the day her dearest friend suddenly died. Eleven months later, Rushdie was stabbed multiple times and nearly killed while he was being interviewed onstage. She also writes about her mental health issues, her late best friend and her childhood.
Heather McGhee, author of 2021's The Sum of Us, discusses the economic cost of racism, the importance of community organizing and the "zero-sum lie" that progress for some means loss for others.
Weir was 16 in 1963 when he ran into Jerry Garcia at a music store in Palo Alto. They decided to start a band, which evolved into the Grateful Dead. Weir died Jan. 10. Originally broadcast in 2016.
Kilgore, who died Jan. 7, was a talented interpreter of American popular song. We'll remember her by listening back to her in-studio concerts with pianist Dave Frishberg from 1995 and 1999.
Julian Barnes. His new book, "Departure(s)," is part fiction, part memoir. The memoir portion is about being diagnosed with a rare but treatable blood cancer six years ago. His 80th birthday is Monday. An earlier book, "Levels Of Life," is about grief and the death of his wife of nearly 30 years.
Viewers without any Star Trek expertise can enjoy the new adventures out of context. But there are echoes and Easter eggs throughout this Paramount+ series, for those who catch them.
