Places & Travel

Maryam Keshavarz's new film is called The Persian Version. It’s a fiction film, inspired by Keshavarz’s life and her mother’s. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1969. Keshavarz grew up in New Jersey. Like the character in the film, Keshavarz identifies as bisexual, which her parents considered taboo and unacceptable. About half of the Persian Version is the story of Layla’s mother, growing up in an Iranian country village, and being forced to marry her husband at age 13.

Holes spent more than 20 years investigating crimes in California and played a critical role in identifying the so-called Golden State Killer. His book is Unmasked. Originally broadcast Aug. 10, 2022.

Safiya Sinclair, grew up in a Rasta family in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Her father is a reggae singer and guitarist. Her hair was twisted into dreadlocks until she was 19. She came to realize that for her, being Rasta meant living in a cage. It was through reading and writing poems that she came to better know herself and to break out of the cage and enter the larger world.

NY Times reporter Alan Blinder says Saudi Arabia poured hundreds of millions into a pro golf circuit to rival the PGA. The two sides recently announced a joint venture, raising anti-trust issues.

Red Carpet author Erich Schwartzel says that film studios increasingly need Chinese audiences to break even — which can result in self-censorship. Originally broadcast Feb. 21, 2022.

The New Yorker writer says Musk's Starlink satellites are key to providing internet to Ukraine in its war with Russia, giving Musk an influence that's "more like a nation state than an individual."

Joining us today to talk about the life and legacy of the Notorious B.I.G. is journalist Justin Tinsley. He's the author of the book "It Was All A Dream: Biggie And The World That Made Him." In the book, Tinsley explores Biggie's life in the context of not only rap, but the wider cultural and political forces that shaped him, including immigration, Reagan-era politics, the war on drugs and mass incarceration.

R. Eric Thomas Thomas' new book, Congratulations, the Best Is Over!, is about middle age, and what it feels like to go back to the place where you were born — especially when your relationship with that place is complicated.

The U.S. used atomic weapons against Japan 78 years ago. We listen back to archival interviews with psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton and journalists Lesley M.M. Blume and Evan Thomas about the decision.

Comedian Leanne Morgan. Her self-produced comedy special "I'm Every Woman" is now on Netflix.

S.A. Cosby's new novel is called "All The Sinners Bleed." He spoke with our producer, Sam Briger.

"My early '70s New York is dingy and grimy," the Pulitzer Prize-winning author says. Whitehead's sequel to Harlem Shuffle centers on crime at every level, from small-time crooks to Harlem's elite.

Watts, who died July 12, was born in Germany to a Hungarian mother and an African American father. He became famous at age 16 after performing with Leonard Bernstein. Originally broadcast in 1985.

Tonya Mosley is FRESH AIR's new co-host. Her podcast is called Truth Be Told.

We celebrate the former Beatle by listening back to this 1995 interview, in which Starr shared that he made his first drum kit out of "biscuit tins and firewood."

The married British duo Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt — aka Everything but the Girl — have their first album in 24 years. We listen back to a 2018 interview with Thorn.

Author David Grann tells the story of an 18th-century British warship that wrecked along the coast of Patagonia. The survivors sailed thousands of miles to safety, and later faced charges of mutiny.

Linda Simpson performed in and chronicled the drag scene in the '80s and '90s, taking some 5,000 photos of performers. She calls Tennessee's anti-drag legislation "ridiculous."

The New Yorker recently published Mallon's diary excepts detailing life in Manhattan in the '80s. His new novel, Up With the Sun, is based on the life of a little-known actor who was gay and closeted.

After 20 years away from the screen, actor Ke Huy Quan is back in front of the camera in the new film 'Everything Everywhere All At Once,' and he's getting lots of praise for his performance.