Movie critic David Edelstein reviews Greg Mottola's new film Adventureland coming-of-age tale that's "quiet and forlorn, yet still somehow light on its feet."
Tonight NBC devotes its entire prime-time schedule to a sendoff of ER, the medical drama series that has been running on the network since 1994. Critic David Bianculli wonders what comes next.
Author, doctor and bioethicist Robert Martensen has treated an estimated 75,000 patients in the emergency room and the ICU. In his new book, A Life Worth Living Martensen presents case studies that illustrate the problems and complexities of American health care system
By refusing to serve up even one likable main character, Zoe Heller's new novel raises implicit questions about readers' expectations about fiction. Reviewer Maureen Corrigan calls The Believers a "smart, caustic novel."
Long a standout purveyor of rootsy, direct "heartland" rock, Mellencamp is in the midst of a folksy, pessimistic streak on his new album. He speaks to host Terry Gross about the spare sound and dark themes of Life, Death, Love and Freedom.
Journalist Seymour Hersh reports that a major change in American policy toward Syria is underway. It's part of a broader strategy to bring peace to the Middle East and counter the influence of Iran.
The term "populist" has been heavily used by the media lately, most often coupled with "rage," but also with "AIG" and "pitchfork." Linguist Geoff Nunberg examines the roots of the term as well as its current usage.
In Ramin Bahrani's new film, Goodbye Solo, a Senegalese immigrant cabdriver tries to save an elderly passenger who he suspects is suicidal. Reviewer David Edelstein calls it a "film of overflowing humanism."
John Hope Franklin died March 25 at the age of 94. As a historian, scholar, and activist Franklin advanced African-American causes throughout his career. Fresh Air remembers the historian and scholar with an interview from 1990.
Colin Hanks currently stars in The Great Buck Howard as the assistant to a washed-up mentalist. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his role in the film and his career in acting.
Dr. Michael Grodin discusses his experiences treating Tibetan monks who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. Many of the monks were imprisoned or tortured because of their resistance to the Chinese presence in Tibet, and now some of them experience "flashbacks" while meditating.
Dan Auerbach, the singer-guitarist for the Akron, Ohio-based rootsy blues-rock duo The Black Keys, broadens his style on his new solo album to include folk, country and even psychedelic elements. Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review.
Years before the current economic crisis, former derivatives trader Frank Partnoy warned about the dangers of tricky financial trading. He joins Fresh Air to explain how we got where we are.
Violence caused by Mexican drug cartels is spilling over the border into the United States. New York Times journalist Randal C. Archibold reports that home invasions and shootings related to the Mexican drug trade are spreading as far north as Canada.
Alejandro Junco de la Vega is the publisher of Mexico's most influential newspaper conglomerate. He discusses the rise of drug-related violence in Mexico and at the Mexican-US border.
Actor Jason Segel stars as an obnoxious best man in the new "bromantic" comedy I Love You Man. Segel also wrote and starred in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
Two albums featuring the late rock 'n' roll icon have been released — Memorial Collection and Down the Line: Rarities. Rock historian Ed Ward considers Holly's music and tragic death.
Critic-at-large David Edelstein considers Paul Rudd's search for "bromance" in I Love You Man and the spy-romance of Julia Roberts and Clive Owen in Duplicity.
