Fresh Air

The first volume of Kaoru Takamura's 1997 eccentric crime thriller has just been translated into English. Inspired by a real-life case, Lady Joker reveals its world in rich, polyphonic detail.

Julie Lythcott-Haims's new book, Your Turn: How to Be an Adult, is a handbook on adulthood. Her 2017 memoir, Real American, is the story of her coming to terms with her biracial identity.

Tharp talks about choreographing through lockdown. Kevin Whitehead reviews Hasaan Ibn Ali's newly unearthed 1965 album. Gates Jr. talks about his new book and PBS series, The Black Church.

Erdrich's novel, The Night Watchman, is based on her grandfather's role in resisting a Congressional effort to withdraw federal recognition from her family's tribe. Originally broadcast March 4, 2020.

Kate Winslet plays a small-town lead detective who's haunted by an unsolved case — and by her own past — in this excellent series. Mare of Easttown is both a mystery story and a character study.

Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr. lost a close friend from college to police violence. His podcast explores different aspects of the movement for Black lives — including Tejan-Thomas Jr.'s personal history.

Empire of Pain author Patrick Radden Keefe says the Sackler family has "thrown a lot of energy" into trying to thwart his reporting about the family's involvement in the opioid crisis.

When he was 12, Gates made a bargain with Jesus in an attempt to save his mother's life. He talks about how that altered his own life, and his new book and PBS series, The Black Church.

Dawnie Walton's sly narrative is a story about music, race and family secrets that spans five decades, centering on an interracial rock duo who strike it big in the early '70s.

Odom Jr. landed his first Broadway role at 16, and later starred as Aaron Burr in Hamilton. Now he's up for two Oscars, one for his role as Cooke in One Night in Miami.