FEED - Fresh Air

McPherson never thought he'd make a Christmas album. Then, he says, "I got a bug in my ear." He and his band perform live in studio from Socks, and McPherson talks about growing up on a cattle farm.

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Fresh Air's book critic recommends the ten best books of the year, including The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai's sweeping story about the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.

Autonomous vehicles could be the "most disruptive technology to hit society worldwide since the advent of the motor car," says former New York City traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz.

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Cooper learned to sing, direct and talk deeply for A Star Is Born. James Beard award-winning food writer and chef Samin Nosrat demystifies great tastes in her Netflix series, Salt Fat Acid Heat.

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Sheldon Harnick, John Russell and Steve Young discuss "industrial musicals," Broadway-style productions written and performed at the behest of corporations. Originally broadcast Nov. 5, 2013.

Natalie Portman plays a young Christian woman who is propelled to pop stardom following a mass shooting. Critic John Powers says Vox Lux is inventive — and exasperating.

In her four-part show, James Beard award-winning food writer and chef Samin Nosrat travels the globe, talking to home chefs to learn more about the four essentials of great food.

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Best known for his roles in Manchester by the Sea and Lady Bird, Hedges stars as a teenager in rehab for opioid addiction in Ben is Back. He's also nominated for a Golden Globe for Boy Erased.

The new season of the Emmy Award-winning series finds Midge Maisel mired in personal crises, even as her comedy career is on the rise. David Bianculli says The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel remains a winner.

Hudson lived a double life as a Hollywood heartthrob and a closeted gay man. Biographer Mark Griffin says Hudson's death from AIDS in 1985 was a turning point in public awareness of the epidemic.

Werner named his new album after his state of mind when he's improvising. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Werner's piano sings with the voice of experience.

In Breaking News, Alan Rusbridger reflects on the blockbuster stories he helped publish over the course of his 20-year tenure running the British newspaper The Guardian.

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Nosrat says there are four elements in cooking, and if you understand how they work, you can make delicious food. She travels the world to learn more about those elements in her new four-part show.

Cooper makes his directorial debut with a remake of the classic film about a doomed love affair. He hope his version presents a fuller portrait of the iconic characters.

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Malek explains how he came to embody Queen's iconic lead singer in Bohemian Rhapsody. John Powers reviews Insurrecto, by Gina Apostol. Daniel Davis explains new developments in immunology.

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Jay, who died Sunday, was an avid scholar of con games and could make cards disappear and reappear in ways that seemed impossible. He spoke to Fresh Air in 1987, 1998 and 2002.

Critic Justin Chang says the immaculate staging of Alfonso Cuarón's new film is both an asset and a liability: "There's something curiously showy about the unshowiness of Roma."

(Image credit: Alfonso Cuarón/Netflix)

When Jonathan Santlofer's wife died five years ago, he was thrown into a "fugue state" of grief. Sketching her portrait from old photographs has helped him stay close to her.

(Image credit: Courtesy of Jonathan Santlofer )

Helen Schulman splices together an old-school family drama with high-tech fantasy in her new novel, a rich, closely observed story about regrets and risk-taking in the Internet age.

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Gina Apostol's dizzying new novel begin in present-day Manila before diving into the late 19th century — and the tortuous relationship between the U.S. and the Philippines.

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