Society & Culture

The popular new film 'Crazy Rich Asians' is based on a novel by Kevin Kwan. We talk with him about how crazy rich he may or may not have been.

Aretha Franklin was more than a woman, more than a diva and more than an entertainer. Aretha Franklin was an American institution. Aretha Franklin died Thursday in her home city of Detroit after battling pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type. Her death was confirmed by her publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn. She was 76.

The creator of the AMC comedy talks about strip mall culture, why he likes to write characters who are fools, and explains why he defines success as "just sticking around."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the origins of the term "deep state."

A.C. Thompson warns that white power groups in the U.S. increasingly view themselves as paramilitary organizations. His reporting is featured in a new FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigation.

Bad things happen in Castle Rock, a new Hulu series based on King's fictional town. King spoke to Fresh Air in 1992, 2000 and 2013 about his career writing horror and his fear of losing his mind.

Desiree Akhavan's new film, based on Emily Danforth's 2012 young adult novel, centers on a high school girl who's sent to a Christian conversion center after she's caught kissing her girlfriend.

Michael Arceneaux's new book, I Can't Date Jesus, is a collection of essays about his early years. Beyoncé, he says, taught him a valuable lesson: "Just be yourself and be very good at what you do."

The former YouTube star says he wanted his film, Eighth Grade, to take an "emotional inventory" of what today's adolescents are experiencing. Originally broadcast July 18, 2018.

"Great Britain and the United States are two nations separated by a common language." That's the stock witticism, but if you ask me, it gets things backwards. Great Britain and the U.S. are more like two nations united by a divided language — or more precisely, by their mutual obsession with their linguistic differences. For 200 years now, writers from each nation have been tirelessly picking over the language of the other, with a mix of amusement, condescension, derision and horror.

Growing up in North London in the 1960s and '70s, Viv Albertine never dreamed that one day she'd be a rock star. For one thing, she says, "There [were] just no role models ... I never heard of anyone, any female playing guitar."

Reverend Rob Schenck, a former influential leader of the religious right, who participated in militant anti-abortion protests describes why he parted ways with the religious right. He writes about it in his new memoir 'Costly Grace.'

Comic W. Kamau Bell talks about his new comedy special, searching his ancestry, and raising his bi-racial daughters in the Trump era.

Author Alissa Quart writes that the costs of housing, child care, health care and college are outpacing salaries and threatening the livelihoods of middle class Americans.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha exposed the lead high lead levels in Flint, Michigan's tap water, using the medical records of children with the levels of lead in their blood. The state tried to discredit her research. She persisted.

The singer, songwriter and guitarist underwent surgeries in 1996 and 2013 that affected his throat and voice. He likes his voice better now: "It dropped down lower and feels friendlier."

The women's history scholar, who died June 1, grew up on a remote Australian sheep farm and later went on to write three memoirs, including True North. Conway spoke to Fresh Air in 1989, '94 and '98.

Journalist Howard Bryant discusses the history of social protest among African-American athletes. His new book, The Heritage, traces the tradition back to Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali and others.

Bourdain, who died at 61, traveled the world, sampling local cuisine and meeting people along the way. He told Fresh Air in 2016: "I'm happiest experiencing food in the most purely emotional way."

The former first baseman played on World Series-winning teams with the Cardinals and Mets, and made a memorable appearance on Seinfeld. His new memoir is I'm Keith Hernandez.