Journalism & Photojournalism

Writer Michael Lewis was given unusual access to the president for six months for an article for Vanity Fair. Lets tells Fresh Air that he found a "weird disjuncture between his powers and his powerlessness."

In this week's New Yorker, the journalist details how the electoral climate since the Citizens United ruling in 2010 has negatively affected the Obama campaign's appeal to Democratic donors. Mayer tells Fresh Air that Obama has to make a "terrible choice between his principles and politics."

Journalist Seth Rosenfeld spent three decades pursuing government documents about the FBI's undercover operation in Berkeley, Calif., during the student protest movements in the '60s. His new book details how the FBI "used dirty tricks to stifle dissent on campus" and influenced Ronald Reagan's politics.

"We've had time to act — and essentially we haven't acted," says science journalist Michael Lemonick. He describes the threats posed by climate change in his new book, Global Weirdness: Severe Storms, Deadly Heat Waves, Relentless Drought, Rising Seas, and the Weather of the Future.

Writer and humorist David Rakoff, who died Thursday at the age of 47, wrote with a perfect balance of wit and gravity about the cancer that would ultimately take his life. Fresh Air remembers Rakoff with excerpts from two interviews in 2001 and 2010.

Moran believes that most women who don't want to be called feminists don't understand what feminism is. Her new book How to Be a Woman is a funny take on housework, high heels, body fat, abortion, marriage and, of course, Brazilian waxes.

She's never been heard on the show, but producer Melody Kramer has created a singular voice for Fresh Air online and in social media. Today we send her off, affectionately, to medical school and the next phase of her career.

College is now four times more expensive than it was 3 decades ago, pushing student loan debt over $1 trillion. A key reason for this growth is the competition among schools for status and prestige, says Kevin Carey, education policy director at the New America Foundation.

Anne-Marie Slaughter left her position as the State Department's director of policy planning to spend more time with her children. Slaughter, now a Princeton professor, details what needs to change both in workplaces and in society to create equal opportunities for all working women.

The evangelical radio host recently made national news for leading an attack against Mitt Romney's openly gay national security spokesman, who later resigned. But Fischer's viewpoints on abortion, gay marriage, education and taxes have been influencing his listeners long before this.

Tom Philpott, who covers food and the agricultural industry for Mother Jones, joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross for a wide-ranging discussion about health and other issues affecting the meat industry.

Louisiana imprisons more people per capita than any other state or country in the world. One out of every 86 adults in the state is behind bars. Times-Picayune reporter Cindy Chang says the state's correctional system has created financial incentives for local sheriffs to keep prisons full.

Yemen is now considered to be "the greatest external threat facing the U.S. homeland in terms of terrorism," says investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill.

Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Horst Faas, who captured iconic moments during the Vietnam War, has died. In 1997, he talked to Terry Gross about covering the conflict. "Being in Vietnam and being around a major story of the time was always a great shot of adrenaline," he said.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, the New York City Police Department transformed itself into an aggressive domestic intelligence unit and monitored hundreds of Muslims in their mosques, workplaces and schools. Journalist Matt Apuzzo, who helped uncover the story, just won a Pulitzer Prize.

The CBS News correspondent who became famous for his two-fisted interview style and hard-hitting interviews with politicians, celebrities and newsmakers died Saturday. He was 93. Fresh Air remembers Wallace with excerpts from a 2005 interview.

New York Times correspondent Jeffrey Gettleman will receive a George Polk Award this week for being the first to report that the militant Islamist group al-Shabab had prevented starving people from leaving Somalia. He details how he got the story.

Journalist Peter Beinart supports Israel but thinks the Jewish settlements in the West Bank are compromising Israel's commitment to democracy. He has proposed a boycott of goods made in those Jewish settlements.

Peter Beinart's new book, The Crisis of Zionism, argues that Israel cannot be a true democratic state as long as there are settlements in the West Bank and calls for a boycott of goods made in those settlements. Gary Rosenblatt, publisher of The Jewish Week of New York, disagrees with this argument.

The popular MSNBC host talks about her start in broadcasting, her life and her new book Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, in which she argues that America's national defense has become disconnected from public oversight.