History

In The Secret War Against Hate, Steven J. Ross details the racist, anti-Semitic groups that sprang up in the latter half of the 20th century — and the spy network that worked to bring them to justice.

A new documentary about Paul McCartney, his life after the breakup of The Beatles and the formation of his band Wings is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The film was made by our guest, Morgan Neville. He also directed documentaries about Fred Rogers, Anthony Bourdain and Orson Welles, as well as many prominent musicians, and has won an Oscar, Emmy and Grammy. Morgan Neville spoke with FRESH AIR's Ann Marie Baldonado.

Meyers, who died March 7, helped shape Tex-Mex music with the '60s band Sir Douglas Quintet and then with the Texas Tornados. His signature sound was on the vox organ. Originally broadcast in 1990.

Bryan Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and the founder of the Legacy Sites. He wrote the introduction to a new companion book called "The Legacy Sites: A History Of Racial Injustice."

ward winning British author FRANCIS SPUFFORD. His books have won the Costa Book Award, The Ondaatje Prize and have been long listed for the Booker Prize.They include Cahokia Jazz - a 1920’s noir crime novel set in an alternate American history where a sovereign majority indigenous nation-state thrives in the middle of the United States, and Golden HIll a novel set in 18th century New York. Spufford’s new novel, called Nonesuch, takes place in London during the war as the city must try to survive the Blitz - the 8-month bombing campaign led by the Nazis that killed over 40,00 British.

Before the captivity narrative about a Mexican woman abducted by the Apache in the mid-1800s; before the storyline about Geronimo's surrender; before the torrent of details about the life and peoples on the borderlands between present-day Mexico and the U.S.; there's this first sentence:

In the beginning, things appear. Writing is a defiant gesture we’ve long since gotten used to: where there was nothing, somebody put something, and now everybody sees it. For example, the prairie.

My guest is the author Rhae Lynn Barnes. In the late 1800s, as professional minstrel shows were becoming obsolete, amateur blackface shows became one of the most popular forms of entertainment, and that's where Barnes' focus is. The new book "Darkology" uncovers the hidden history of blackface.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham talks about Trump's impact on democracy. Meacham's latest book is a collection of speeches, letters and other original texts from 1619 to the present.

Author Chris Jennings talks the apocalyptic religious views that fueled the standoff between federal agents and the family of Randy Weaver — and the use of force rules that made it so deadly.

filmmaker Julia Loktev. Her latest film, "My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air In Moscow," is a 5 1/2-hour documentary structured in chapters, following a close-knit group of independent Russian journalists and activists during 2021 and early 2022 as the Russian government branded reporters foreign agents in the months leading up to and just after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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.

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.

New York Times financial columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin draws parallels between the stock market crash of 1929, which led to the Great Depression, and today's economic uncertainty.

Some books give Smith's birthdate as Dec. 8, 1925, but more recent sources cite 1928 as his birth year. Regardless, the late musician always delivered the goods, even as the beats behind him changed.

Ben Stiller on hsi new documentary "Stiller and Meara: Nothing Is Lost". The film is about his parents, comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.

Documentary producer and director Ken Burns came to prominence 35 years ago with The Civil War, a massively popular multi-part nonfiction series on PBS. His latest effort is a six-part series called The American Revolution.

Burns' PBS documentary includes the perspectives of women, Native Americans, and enslaved and free Black people — all of whom were initially excluded from the declaration "all men are created equal."

HBO premieres a documentary film called "My Mom Jayne." It marks the directorial debut of "Law & Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay, who sets out in the film to learn about her mother, who died in a car accident when Mariska was 3. Her mother was Jayne Mansfield, the famous movie star of the 1950s and '60s. Our TV critic David Bianculli says that "My Mom Jayne" turns out to be much more intimate and full of genuine surprises than he expected.

Wilson, who died at age 82, was the creative force behind The Beach Boys. He wrote and produced many hits, including "Good Vibrations" and "God Only Knows." Originally broadcast in '88 and '98.

Our film critic Justin Chang says the documentary drama hybrid "Caught By The Tides" is one of the best and most unusual new movies he's seen this year. It's the latest from the acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke, and it draws from footage that he began shooting in 2001 to tell a story of two lovers who separate and reunite over roughly two decades.