Skip to main content

Segments by Date

Recent segments within the last 6 months are available to play only on NPR

Select Topics

Select Air Date

to

Select Segment Types

Segment Types

22,126 Segments

Sort:

Newest

21:33

Did The Fed Help Banks While Ignoring The Risks?

The Federal Reserve shrugged off warnings and let banks pay shareholders billions of dollars in dividends last years, despite warnings from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. ProPublica investigative reporter Jesse Eisinger says banks should have been forced to set aside the money as a rainy-day cushion.

Interview
43:17

Habits: How They Form And How To Break Them

Every habit-forming activity follows the same behavioral and neurological patterns, says New York Times business writer Charles Duhigg. His new book The Power of Habit explores the science behind why we do what we do -- and how companies are working to use our habits to market products to us.

Interview
05:44

'The Lorax': A Campy And Whimsical Seussical

The animated feature, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, is based on the classic Dr. Seuss environmentally themed children's book and stars the voices of Ed Helms, Danny DeVito and Zac Efron. Critic David Edelstein says the movie is by far the best Seuss adaptation.

Review
05:19

It's High-Concept, But Will It Keep You 'Awake'?

The new NBC drama stars Jason Isaacs as a man who survives a terrible car accident with either his wife or child. He's living one existence, and dreaming the other -- but which is real? It's a lot of work for the viewer, but critic David Bianculli has faith in the show's creators.

Review
44:05

Putin Biography Chronicles Rise Of A 'Street Thug'

Media suppression, corruption and murder have marked the regime of Vladimir Putin, who is running for hi third term as president in Russia's election next week. His rise to power is spelled out in journalist Masha Gessen's new book, The Man Without a Face.

Interview
18:34

The Man Working To Reverse-Engineer Your Brain.

Our brains are filled with billions of neurons. Neuroscientist Sebastian Seung explains how mapping out the connections between those neurons might be the key to understanding the basis of things like personality, memory, perception, ideas and mental illness.

Neuroscientist Sebastian Seung
51:10

One Year Later, 'Inside Japan's Nuclear Meltdown.'

A small group of engineers, soldiers and firemen risked their own lives to help prevent a complete meltdown after the quake and tsunami hit. Investigative reporter Dan Edge chronicles the aftermath of the disaster in a new Frontline documentary.

Interview
06:03

China On The Court: NBA Meets The 'Brave Dragons.'

A new book follows an American basketball veteran as he coaches a struggling Chinese pro basketball team. Pulitzer Prize winner Jim Yardley has a courtside seat from which to observe China's frantic capitalist expansion and its ambivalent fascination with all things American.

Review
08:01

25 Years Later, 'The Singing Detective' Still Shines.

The British musical private-eye drama, which first aired in 1986, starred Michael Gambon as a novelist hospitalized with a horrible skin condition who tries to write a Hollywood screenplay in his mind. David Bianculli explains why the miniseries is "TV's most polished, audacious masterpiece."

Commentary
06:11

'Wanderlust': A Zany Blast From The Communal Past.

In the new comedy Wanderlust, an unemployed Manhattan couple (Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston) stumble into a hippie farming commune. David Edelstein says the movie features a "tribe of marvelously inventive comic actors doing a fair amount of inspired improvisation."

Review
10:52

Barney Rosset: A Crusader Against Censorship Laws.

The book publisher who championed the works of beat poets and Samuel Beckett, and who defied censors with the publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover and Tropic of Cancer, died Tuesday at age 89. Fresh Air remembers Rosset with excerpts from a 1991 interview.

This interview was originally broadcast on Apr. 9, 1991.

Obituary
18:44

Understanding The Impact Of Citizens United.

James Bopp is the lawyer who first represented Citizens United in the case that ended up in the Supreme Court, which ruled that corporations and unions could give money to political committees active in election campaigns. That decision and subsequent lower court decisions have led to SuperPACs, which allow corporations, unions and individuals to make unlimited contributions, pool them together, and use the money for political campaigns.

Interview
32:02

Examining The SuperPAC With Colbert's Trevor Potter.

Republican and Democratic SuperPACs, empowered by the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, can collect unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations and unions. Potter became a celebrity when he signed on as Stephen Colbert's lawyer and advised the satirical TV host on how to create his own SuperPAC.

Interview
05:05

After 'Putin's Kiss,' A Young Girl's Change Of Heart.

An absorbing new documentary by Danish director Lise Birk Pedersen charts four years in the life of Masha Drokova, who became famous as the girl who publicly kissed Vladimir Putin. Critic John Powers says it "offers a fresh glimpse into how Putin's Russia actually works."

Review
44:27

How Companies Are 'Defining Your Worth' Online.

Advertisers collect information with every digital move people make. They then target ads based on that information. Communications scholar Joseph Turow worries that advertisers will use such data to discriminate against people and put them into "reputation silos."

Interview

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Advertisement

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue