Society & Culture

The U.S.'s first Black national security advisor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs and secretary of state died on Oct. 18. Powell spoke to Fresh Air in 1995 about how the army had shaped his life.

White spent his early childhood in poverty in Baltimore, at times sleeping in abandoned houses. He's now principal tubist in the Santa Fe Symphony and the New Mexico Philharmonic.

Afghan British journalist Najibullah Quraishi has had trouble sleeping for more than two hours a stretch ever since the U.S. withdrew troops from Afghanistan in August and the Taliban came back into power. Quraishi grew up in Afghanistan under Soviet and Taliban rule, and began reporting on the Taliban before the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida attacks and the onset of the U.S. Afghan war. He's currently in Kabul reporting for his upcoming PBS Frontline documentary, Taliban Takeover, (airing Oct. 12) which details life in Afghanistan now.

In 1977, Spong became one of the first American bishops to ordain a woman into the clergy. In 1989, he was the first to ordain an openly gay man. Spong died Sept. 12. Originally broadcast in 1996.

Melvin Van Peebles, who died Sept. 21, was best known for his 1971 film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. He spoke with Fresh Air in 1990. His son Mario, also an actor/director, was interviewed in 2004.

Activist Tarana Burke is the founder of the #MeToo Movement and has worked with Black and brown girls who are survivors of sexual violence. She originated the phrase and concept Me Too in 2006, as a way for victims to share their stories and connect with others. The Me Too hashtag went viral in 2017, in response to the Harvey Weinstein allegations of sexual assault.

In 1991, attorney Anita Hill testified that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her when he was chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and she worked there as an adviser to him. Thirty years later, Hill's new book, Believing, draws on her own experiences, as well as the stories shared with her by victims of sexual harassments and assault.

The soul and R&B legend, who died in 2004, was recently voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1998, Charles came on Fresh Air to promote The Complete Country & Western Recordings: 1959-1986.

Osnos' new book focuses on coal country in West Virginia; hedge fund culture in Greenwich, Conn.; institutional racism in Chicago and why Democrat Joe Manchin holds remarkable sway in the Senate.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead does extensive background research whenever he works on a book. For his latest novel, Harlem Shuffle, that meant learning how stolen items get "fenced."

In 2008, Williams told Terry Gross the story behind the scar on his face. In 2016, he reflected on his troubled past and his lucky breaks. Williams was found dead in his apartment Sept. 6.

In her new book, All That She Carried, historian Tiya Miles tells the story of an enslaved woman who, upon hearing her child was to be sold off, hastily packed her a bag with a few personal items.

Lincoln started out as a nightclub singer, but began performing in a style influenced by the civil rights movement after she met drummer/bebop pioneer Max Roach. Originally broadcast in 1986 and 1987.

Joy Harjo is the first American Indian appointed to the position of U.S. poet laureate. She has a new memoir, Poet Warrior, that’s in part about her family’s history.

To mark the debut of the biopic RESPECT, we listen back to archival interviews with Aretha, as well as with Jerry Wexler, producer of the hit "Respect," and Dan Penn, who co-wrote "Do Right Woman."

The book covers King's Grand Slam and Wimbledon championships, the "Battle of the Sexes," her activism for women's and LGBTQ rights, as well as some joyous and painful chapters in her personal life.

Katori Hall didn't want to gloss over Turner's life in the Tony-nominated musical Tina. Instead, she says, it was important to be "brutally honest" about the pain and trauma Turner has survived.

In the 1960s, Moses led efforts to organize and register Black residents to vote in Mississippi and brought national attention to the state's entrenched white supremacy. Moses died Sunday at age 86.

McCraney's script was adapted into the Oscar-winning film. David Makes Man, now in season 2, begins with a Miami boy whose mother struggles with addiction, and has echoes of McCraney's own childhood.