Fresh Air

Topics from the Most Recent Show

• Different Year, Same 'Marienbad'
  When it came out in 1961, Alain Resnais' <em>Last Year at Marienbad</em> perplexed and excited audiences with its surrealistic storytelling. John Powers has a review of the film's Criterion Collection re-release.
• Mellencamp Muses About Mortality, 'Love'
  John Mellencamp joins Terry Gross to talk religion, politics and his album <em>Life, Death, Love and Freedom.</em> And he performs solo acoustic versions of four songs from the album from his Indiana home studio.
• The Crackdown In Iran, As Seen From Europe
  Journalist Christopher Dickey provides a European perspective on the continuing crackdown on protesters in Iran following the recent election.
• Roya Hakakian: An Iranian-American Perspective
  Author and activist Roya Hakakian offers her take on political upheaval in her native Iran. Hakakian emigrated from Iran to the United States in 1985, seeking political asylum.
• 'Family': Fundamentalism, Friends In High Places
  In the book <em>The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power,</em> author Jeff Sharlet examines the power wielded by the secret Christian group known as The Family or The Fellowship.
• From 'Public Enemies' - 'Goodbye Mr. Dillinger'
  This lush, good-looking crime flick doesn't really have a theme, and it never quite sparks to life. But it's got lots of incidental pleasures &mdash; Johnny Depp's spirited performance chief among them.
• Assessing The State Of The (Republican) Nation
  <em>Washington Post</em> reporter Dan Balz sizes up the state of the Republican party &mdash; including how the GOP is preparing for 2012 and how it has been affected by recent sex scandals.
• Overview Of Recent Supreme Court Rulings
  Journalist and lawyer Adam Liptak covers the Supreme Court for <em>The New York Times.</em> He gives us a roundup of this year's most important decisions &mdash; some of which were left for the final hours before summer recess.
• Patterson Hood: Drive-By Boss Does 'Murder'
  Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Patterson Hood's new album <em>Murdering Oscar and Other Love Songs</em>. It's Hood's second solo album featuring songs from the early 90's as well as some more recent ones, all of them have been freshly recorded over the past few years.
• Helping Journalists Beat Post-Traumatic Stress
  With such a high-stakes, high-stress lifestyle, many journalists return from war zones with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Anthony Feinstein is one of those working to help them overcome the emotional aftereffects of covering conflict.
• Former Hostage On Protecting Journalists
  Journalist &mdash; and former hostage &mdash; Chris Cramer talks about how his experience as a captive during the 1980 London Iranian Embassy siege evolved into an effort to protect journalists in hostile conditions.
• From 'Hurt Locker' - 'Dude Has A Cell Phone'
  Filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow knows how to get under your skin and control your responses &mdash; as she does in her latest feature, the Baghdad-set war movie <em>The Hurt Locker.</em> David Edelstein has a review.
• Remembering The King Of Pop, Michael Jackson
  <em>Fresh Air</em> TV critic David Bianculli remembers pop icon Michael Jackson, who died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 50.
• Gabriel Byrne Gives The Listening 'Treatment'
  Actor Gabriel Byrne may play a therapist on TV, but he's never actually been to therapy himself. Instead, he prepared for his role on HBO's <em>In Treatment </em>by drawing on his experience as observer.
• New Biography Examines Rumsfeld's 'Rules'
  Journalist Bradley Graham discusses the successes and failures of former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld. Graham is the author of <em>By His Own Rules</em>, a lengthy new biography of Rumsfeld.