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Prince Wanted To 'Break The Mold Of The Memoir,' Says His Co-Writer
The musician left behind an unfinished memoir when he died in '16. Dan Piepenbring, his co-writer, struggled to make The Beautiful Ones happen in Prince's absence. Originally broadcast Oct. 28, 2019.
Dispatches From A 'Dopesick' America
Author Beth Macy's book, 'Dopesick,' takes an intimate look at cops, judges, drug dealers, young heroin users and their long-suffering parents, doctors and health activists struggling to fight the opioid epidemic.
Patton Oswalt: Falling In Love Again Was Like 'Getting Hit By Lightning Twice
Standup comic Patton Oswalt on life and comedy in the Trump era, and the sudden death of his wife last year which he talks about in his new special, Annihilation.
'I Am Full Of Contradictions': Novelist Amy Tan On Fate And Family
Growing up as a first-generation Chinese-American in Northern California, novelist Amy Tan found herself pulled by two different notions of fate: Her mother was guided by beliefs in curses and luck, while her father, a Baptist minister, was guided by Christian faith.
Manic And Depressed, 'I Didn't Like Who I Was,' Says Comic Chris Gethard
Gethard's one-man show Career Suicide, which debuts Saturday on HBO, is a comedy about "suicide, depression, alcoholism and all the other funniest parts of life." Originally broadcast Oct. 24, 2016.
For Richard Ford, Memoir Is A Chance To 'Tell The Unthinkable'
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist revisits the lives and deaths of his parents in his new memoir, Between Them. "As much as they loved me, an only child, they loved each other more," he says.
George Saunders Re-Imagines A President's Grief With 'Lincoln In The Bardo'
Willie Lincoln was only 11 when he died in February 1862 of typhoid fever. The Lincolns' third son was said to be their favorite, and after Willie was interred in a borrowed mausoleum in Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, his father, Abraham Lincoln, returned to that cemetery several times. Newspapers reported that the president visited the crypt to open his son's coffin and hold his body. It's that image, of Lincoln cradling the corpse of his beloved son in a Pietà pose, that inspires George Saunders' first novel, called Lincoln in the Bardo.
Remembering Bharati Mukherjee, An Indian-Born American Writer
Mukherjee, who died Saturday in Manhattan, grew up in India, Switzerland and England. Her work explores the thoughts and experiences of immigrants from many countries. Originally broadcast in 2002.
Marc Maron: A Life Fueled By 'Panic And Dread'
The comedian turned his life around when he started "WTF with Marc Maron" out of his garage in 2009. He has parlayed the popularity of the podcast into a new television show called Maron.
Maria Bamford: A Seriously Funny Comedian.
The comedian's routines tackle some of the really serious problems she has: OCD, bipolar disorder, suicidal thoughts. But you have to laugh, because she's that funny. Bamford talks to Fresh Air's Terry Gross about her parents and her Web-only programs.