Podcast: Fresh Air

We continue our series featuring some of our favorite interviews from 2024, this time with Alex Van Halen and Selena Gomez. Alex Van Halen talks about his life and the career he built with his late brother Eddie, and the formation of their band Van Halen. From growing up as immigrant kids in California, to the wild antics of life on the road as rock stars and some of his stunts, like setting his drums on fire.Selena Gomez talks about her role in the Spanish-language musical film Emilia Pérez, where she stars as the wife of a brutal drug cartel boss. We talk about the evolution of her career, from a Disney kid to a pop star.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Brown won an Emmy for his portrayal of Christopher Darden in The People v. O.J. Simpson, and another for This Is Us. He now appears in the film American Fiction. He spoke with Terry Gross about losing his father, how his feelings about the O.J. Simpson case changed, and prejudice he faced in Hollywood.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ruffalo played a debauched cad in Yorgos Lanthimos' bawdy, dark comedy Poor Things. It was a big departure from his previous work playing real people in dramas like Spotlight or Foxcatcher, or as the Incredible Hulk in the Marvel movies. The Oscar-nominated actor spoke with Sam Briger about these roles, how he got his start in acting, and how a brain tumor changed his life.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jimmy Carter died Sunday at age 100. The 39th president spoke with Terry Gross a few times over the years about growing up on a Georgia farm, entering politics, and his career in human rights and conflict resolution.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In 2021, burnt out from the intensity of her early career, Maggie Rogers considered quitting music entirely. Instead, she took a detour — to Harvard Divinity School, where she earned a master's degree in religion and public life. Her 2024 album is Don't Forget Me. Kathleen Hanna's band Bikini Kill was the epicenter of the riot grrrl feminist punk movement of the '90s. Their song "Rebel Girl" was the anthem. Her memoir this year was about her time in the punk scene, her childhood, and finding joy in expressing anger in public.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This year TV news journalist Connie Chung wrote a new tell-all memoir. It's about breaking into the boys club of her industry, her marriage to Maury Povitch, and the big scoops of her career. The funny and off-the-cuff news icon spoke with Tonya Mosley. Also, jazz historian Kevin Whitehead remembers musicians who died this year.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jeremy Strong is nominated for a Golden Globe for his role as lawyer and political hitman Roy Cohn in The Apprentice. The movie, he says, "explores essentially how Trump was made, and his philosophical moral framework." Strong talks with Terry Gross about playing Cohn and about playing Kendall Roy on HBO's Succession.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The new biopic A Complete Unknown follows a young Bob Dylan as he arrives in New York and changes American folk music forever. Edward Norton plays folk icon Pete Seeger, who had a big impact on Dylan. Seeger was famous for his songs about working people, unions, and social justice. We're revisiting Terry's 1984 interview with Seeger, as well as her 2016 interview with Bruce Springsteen, who was compared to Dylan when he broke onto the scene.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The singer-songwriter and Talking Heads frontman presents some of his favorite holiday music — including songs by The Pogues, James Brown, LCD Soundsystem and Paul Simon. Find his playlist on Apple Music and Spotify. Also, our film critic Justin Chang shares his list of the best movies of 2024.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jon Batiste joins us from the piano and plays some of his favorite Christmas songs. It's part two of our recent session with him. Batiste is the former band leader and music director for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He's won multiple Grammys and an Oscar. Inviting musicians to perform or play recordings of their favorite Christmas songs is a new Fresh Air tradition. It started two years ago, with DJ and co-founder of the Roots, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who put together a playlist of Christmas songs and talked us through his picks.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Award-winning sister-brother duo Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell talk about their songwriting process, her changing voice, and their new album, Hit Me Hard and Soft. Later, Stephen Colbert and his wife Evie McGee Colbert talk about their cookbook of home recipes inspired by their South Carolina roots. It's called Does This Taste Funny?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This month, musician Bonnie Raitt and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola were both honorees of the Kennedy Center for their contributions to American culture. We're revisiting interviews with both of them. First, blues guitarist, singer and songwriter Bonnie Raitt spoke with Terry Gross in 1996 about her early years, finding her blues sound. And Francis Ford Coppola told us in 2016 the story of casting Marlon Brando in The Godfather. And film critic Justin Chang reviews two new movies: The Brutalist and Nickel Boys.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Filmmaker and writer Miranda July, whose novel All Fours is on many best books of the year lists, and was described in the New York Times as "the year's literary conversation piece." July spoke with Terry Gross about issues in the novel, like separating from a spouse you're growing distant from, perimenopause, and having an affair. And jazz historian Kevin Whitehead reviews a newly released recording of a concert he attended in 1978, by pianist Sun Ra and his Arkestra.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A new law gives TikTok a January 19 deadline to sell to a non-Chinese company or face a nationwide ban. Law professor Alan Rozenshtein delves into what this means and whether President-Elect Trump could intervene.David Bianculli reflects on the year in TV.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Grammy Award-winning singer says working with a vocal coach "honestly changed my life." Eilish and her brother/collaborator Finneas talk with Terry Gross about their new album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, voice lessons, and their favorite homework assignment. Also, critic-at-large John Powers shares his highlights of the year — from a documentary to an Olympic moment.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The British actor and singer played abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Harriet, and Aretha Franklin in Genius: Aretha. Now she's defying gravity as Elphaba in Wicked. She spoke with Terry Gross in 2021 about some of her roles and her vocal training. Also, Ken Tucker shares his picks for great Christmas music, and David Bianculli reviews the Amazon Prime series The Sticky.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When Ronny Chieng got a job as a correspondent and then anchor at The Daily Show, he kept the news to himself. "I didn't want to brag," the Malaysia-born comic says. "I just wanted to do the work." Chieng now costars in the series Interior Chinatown, and has a new Netflix comedy special, Love to Hate It.Also, Ken Tucker reflects on the best pop music of 2024.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Pop sensation Elton John wrapped up his farewell tour in 2023, only to pop up in a surprise concert at the October 2024 New York City premiere of the new documentary, "Elton John: Never Too Late." Still, as John reduces his public output — and as that documentary drops on the Disney+ streaming platform — we thought our listeners might like to hear again from the British music legend himself. Weekly bonus episodes like this, curated from our vast archive, are usually only available for our Fresh Air+ supporters. But today, in the spirit of giving, we're making this episode available to all. Not a Fresh Air+ supporter yet? Find out more, and join for yourself, at https://plus.npr.org/freshair. Listen to Elton John in 2013: https://n.pr/3BoEEYT| Listen to Elton John in 2019: https://n.pr/49ssSJG | Listen to 40+ years of Fresh Air's archives at https://FreshAirArchive.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jon Batiste joins us at the piano to play his reimaginings of Beethoven, and more. His new album is called Beethoven Blues.Also, we hear from visual artist Mickalene Thomas. She puts Black women in the front and center of her work. Her latest exhibition, Mickalene Thomas: All About Love, celebrates the women in her life. Book critic Maureen Corrigan shares her picks for the best books of the year.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The British actor and singer played abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Harriet, and Aretha Franklin in Genius: Aretha. Now she's defying gravity as Elphaba in Wicked. She spoke with Terry Gross in 2021 about some of her roles and her vocal training. Also, Ken Tucker shares his picks for great Christmas music, and David Bianculli reviews the Amazon Prime series The Sticky.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy