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.
Somini Sengupta, international climate reporter for The New York Times, discusses the dire consequences of rising temperatures, such as drought, famine, disease, war and increased migration.
The singer-songwriter-producer just released OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES. Rock critic Ken Tucker finds an undercurrent of serenity in the organized chaos of SOPHIE's playful brand of noise pop.
The romantic comedy based on Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel has been saddled with cultural and commercial expectations. Critic Justin Chang was happy to find the film doesn't collapse under the weight.
When Karen Piper was 6, her family moved to the Mojave Desert. In A Girl's Guide To Missiles she describes how her parents designed weapons, but she didn't understand how it all connected to war.
Early in his career, clarinetist Andy Biskin worked as an assistant to the folklorist Alan Lomax. Biskin's new album features new settings of songs drawn from Lomax's The Folk Songs of North America.
What I love most about Wilson's writing is that he'll start off with these goofy, almost sitcom-type contrived premises and from there create stories that knock you out with the force of their emotional truth. That distinctive sweet-tart flavor of Wilson's writing is triple-concentrated in his new short story collection, Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine.
In his autobiography, Siren Song, Stein writes about how he started out in the music business as a teen before going on to sign groundbreaking artists like Talking Heads, Madonna, Ice-T and k.d. lang.
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."
In 1979, a black police officer named Ron Stallworth successfully infiltrated a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Director Spike Lee presents his story with humor and honesty in BlacKkKlansman.
How the Trump administration radicalized ICE - a talk with FRANKLIN FOER about how Trump has installed ideologues with a deep understanding of the law enforcement machinery they now control.
Jennifer Fox's new film The Tale is based on her experience of being sexually abused by her running coach when she was 13 years old. But it took her decades to realize what she believed was a relationship of love was really child sexual abuse.
New York Times correspondent David Kirkpatrick says the Obama White House watched Arab democracy fall, and now the Trump administration is embracing Egypt's autocratic president.
The quintet known as The Internet emerged from the Los Angeles music collective Odd Future. Ken Tucker says their fourth album offers "music for modern lovers who are too smart to settle for less."
Julian Adler, co-author of Start Here, and Judge Victoria Pratt discuss alternatives to jail, including community service, social services and even personal essays.
With the Breaking Bad spinoff about to begin its fourth season, Fresh Air presents archival interviews with star Bob Odenkirk, co-creator Peter Gould and actors Giancarlo Esposito and Jonathan Banks.
Better Call Saul acts as both a sequel and a prequel to AMC's series about the crystal meth trade. Critic David Bianculli says the show remains "as delightful as ever" in its fourth season.
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.
A veteran of World War II, Bowers bought a gas station on Hollywood Boulevard in 1946 and began arranging trysts for stars. A new documentary that's "as sympathetic as it is lurid" tells his story.