Hua Hsu won the Pulitzer Prize for Stay True, his memoir about identity, musical obsessions and the sudden tragic murder of a close friend. Originally broadcast Oct. 18, 2022.
LaKeith Stanfield plays a young man who achieves his dreams and goals — only to have them descend into nightmares. While the ending of this Apple TV+ series underwlems, the acting keeps you watching.
A story about a fictional famed Irish poet named Phil McDaragh who deserts his sick wife and two young daughters — a betrayal that reverberates into his granddaughter's life.
Coaxing great ideas out of pop stars is familiar territory for Ronson, but his instrumental score for the film, co-composed with Andrew Wyatt, was his first such project — and he admits that making it work meant stifling some of his usual instincts.
The Fraud is a work of historical fiction centering on the real-life Victorian Era Tichborne trial – and one of the trial's witnesses, a formerly enslaved man from Jamaica.
Face to Face is a neatly turned Danish thriller whose protagonists — different in each season — attempt to solve a murder over the course of eight half-hour episodes.
Bamford has been part of five different 12-step programs, including groups for overeaters and sex and love addicts. In her new memoir, she jokes about anxiety, depression and the desire to fit in.
In 2010, Jay-Z spoke to Fresh Air about growing up in a housing project in Brooklyn, watching crack cocaine transform his neighborhood and finding his identity in a recording studio.
André Benjamin spoke to Fresh Air in 2006 about his music and his Outkast persona: " André 3000 ... just goes there and has a ball; André Benjamin is the person that goes to Whole Foods."
RZA got his first set of turntables when he was 11. He went on to co-found Wu-Tang Clan, the platinum-selling group whose name was inspired by martial arts movies. Originally broadcast in 2005.
Two of De La Soul's founding members, David "Trugoy" Jolicoeur and Vincent "Maseo" Mason, spoke to Fresh Air in 2000 about their 1989 debut, 3 Feet High and Rising, and their ironic, playful style.
Beastie Boys Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz and Adam Yauch — aka Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA — started a punk band in New York City in the 1980s, before moving into hip-hop. Originally broadcast in 2006.
"I call it reality-based rap," Ice-T says of the gangster rap genre. His '92 hit "Cop Killer" was controversial; he later played a police detective in Law and Order: SVU. Originally broadcast in 1994.
Latifah established herself as a rap star with her 1989 debut album, All Hail the Queen. In this 1999 interview, she talked about giving herself her name, and why she decided to pursue acting.
LL Cool J made his recording debut in 1984 when he was 16. He's then, since won two Grammys, had several platinum recordings and starred in NCIS: Los Angeles. Originally broadcast in 1997.
Rodgers' "Good Times" guitar groove was later sampled in the Sugar Hill Gang's 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight," widely considered the first crossover hip-hop song. Originally broadcast in 1996.
McDaniels co-founded Run-D.M.C., the first rap group to have their videos played on MTV, to earn a platinum record and to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Originally broadcast in 1997.
Melle Mel was the rapper on the 1982 hit "The Message." He spoke to Fresh Air in 1998 about the early days of rap, music with a social message and how the genre and his life had changed.
DJ Kool Herc is considered the first DJ to isolate the breaks —the most danceable beats in a record — and repeat them, to keep the dancers going. Originally broadcast in 2005.
Grandmaster Flash was one of the first DJs to make successful records. In 2002, he spoke to Fresh Air about how he discovered that he could use turntables as instruments.
