Society & Culture

Ever since he was a little boy, Yannick Nézet-Séguin knew he wanted to be a conductor. He likens the feeling to something "almost like a religious call." "Making music in the group is what animates me," he says.
Now 44, Nézet-Séguin is the music director of New York's Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra, two of America's most storied musical institutions.

Comic Rob Delaney is co-creator and co-star of the comedy series Catastrophe, about 2 people who decide to marry after their wild fling leaves her pregnant. Delaney talks about being funny, even when life isn't.

Gates says white supremacy was born in the years after the Civil War, as white Southerners looked for ways to roll back the newly acquired rights of African-Americans. His new book is Stony the Road.

The former U.S. poet laureate, who died March 15, was a prolific writer as well as a conservationist and a conscientious objector during World War II. He spoke to Fresh Air in 2008.

As a teen, Heidi Schreck debated the Constitution in competitions. As an adult, she saw how it shortchanged the women in her family. Her play, What the Constitution Means to Me, will run on Broadway.

AIDY BRYANT is a cast member on 'Saturday Night Live' and star of the new comedy series 'Shrill' based on Lindy West's book about identifying as fat and feminist.

Dr. Thomas Boyce, an emeritus professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, has treated children who seem to be completely unflappable and unfazed by their surroundings — as well as those who are extremely sensitive to their environments. Over the years, he began to liken these two types of children to two very different flowers: dandelions and orchids.

Pamela Adlon talks about directing and writing Better Things. It's the first season without co-creator Louis C.K. After he admitted the allegations of sexual misconduct were true, Adlon severed ties with him.

Filmmaker Yoruba Richen's documentary, The Green Book: Guide to Freedom, tells the story of the manual that helped African-Americans find safe places to stay, eat, shop and do business on the road.

In his 14 years co-hosting MythBusters, Adam Savage performed experiments that fell squarely into the category of: Kids, do not try this at home! The Discovery show tested out the validity of myths, legends and movie scenes — whether that meant creating a flying guillotine, or escaping a car submerged in water. Now Savage is encouraging kids to join him in his experiments, in his new Science Channel show, MythBusters Jr.

Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft talks about what her mother went through while making the 1954 film. The movie was produced by Sid Luft, who was Lorna's father and Garland's husband at the time.

Dreyer gets the final say over questions related to grammar, style and clarity at Random House. Now he's sharing his writing advice in the new book Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style.

Growing up, Bridgett M. Davis' mother booked and banked bets from their home in Detroit. She writes about her experience — and the role of "the numbers" in the black community — in her memoir.

Stephanie Land's new memoir is about what it's like to work hard, but still live below the poverty line. It's also about how she went back to college, and became a writer.

Will Hunt's curiosity took him to the subways of New York City, the catacombs of Paris, underground cities in Turkey, and the inner recesses of caves where ancient societies practiced religious rituals.

As host of the PBS series Finding Your Roots, Gates tells celebrities about their family history. He reflects on his own history and some of the more controversial aspects of DNA testing.

For about 48 hours in December, Kevin Hart was slated to host the 2019 Academy Awards. Then Hart was called out for homophobic jokes and tweets he made in 2010, and the Academy asked him to apologize.

Hart insisted that he already had apologized. Finally, after some back and forth, Hart stepped down from hosting, saying he didn't want to be a distraction.

Almost 10 years ago, journalist Hillary Frank was pregnant and planning to give birth without medication or surgery — but things didn't go according to her plan.

Oz, who died Dec. 28, co-founded Peace Now, a group that calls for negotiations with Palestinians and the creation of a Palestinian state. He spoke to Fresh Air in 1988, 1991 and 2004

Seven-year-old Jakelin Caal died in U.S. custody in December. Linguist Geoff Nunberg says her death might have been prevented had border agents spoken the Mayan language Q'eqchi'.