South Africa

Invictus director Clint Eastwood and star Morgan Freeman — who was Nelson Mandela's pick to portray him — talk about telling the story of one pivotal public gesture the former South African president made shortly after his election, hoping to make a big statement that would help ease decades of racial bitterness and injustice in his nation.

Combat photographer Joao Silva is at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he's recovering after losing his legs in an explosion in October. Greg Marinovich is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who was shot four times while covering conflicts. Silva and Marinovich talk about life as war photographers with Fresh Air's Terry Gross.

South African trumpeter and band leader Hugh Masakela has released more than 30 albums since his American debut in 1961. The concept behind his latest album, Jabulani, is deceptively simple. It's a collection of South African wedding songs with Masakela remembers vividly from his youth.

Nadine Gordimer has always incorporated political themes into her novels, but her latest work turns its sights toward the domestic sphere. In No Time Like the Present, a South African activist couple struggles to find happiness in a world of their own making.

Penny Penny put down his broom and picked up a mic for his 1994 debut, now reissued.

Nadine Gordimer has written about the agonies of apartheid in her novels and short stories. She died Sunday at the age of 90. In 1989, she spoke with Terry Gross during a visit to the U.S.

Trevor Noah, talks about taking over the Daily Show from Jon Stewart, growing up in South Africa the son of a black mother and a white father under apartheid when mixed marriage was illegal, and adapting his stand-up comedy to American audiences.

E. T. Mensah, who died 20 years ago, played highlife, an offshoot of jazz that for years was the most popular style of music in southern Africa. Milo Miles reviews a new anthology of Mensah's music.

Trevor Noah talks about growing up in Apartheid-era South Africa. His mother was black; his father white, and at the time Noah was born it was illegal for such couples to have intimate relations. His memoir is titled Born a Crime.

The reissued album features the sound of the South African musician once known as Dollar Brand. Critic Kevin Whitehead says: "When Abdullah got a-rumbling, his piano was like a force of nature."

Charlize Theron talks about preparing for her role as former Fox news host Megyn Kelly, and about growing up in South Africa during Apartheid.

"This climate that we're in right now with our polarizing political views in this country, it was very similar in South Africa," the star of The Old Guard says. Originally broadcast Dec. 16, 2019.

Masekela, who died in 2018, was a symbol of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement. He performed around the world, including at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Originally broadcast in 1988.

The South African leader was key to the anti-apartheid movement. He chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and preached forgiveness. Tutu died Dec. 26. Originally broadcast in '84 and '99.

Journalist Justice Malala explains how Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk kept the country on a path to peace after the 1993 assassination of Chris Hani. His book is The Plot to Save South Africa.