Parenting & Families

Poet Maya Angelou has written a new memoir which details her relationship with her son while she worked as a singer and civil rights activist. She discusses the impact of prominent African American leaders like Billie Holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcom X had on her personally and intellectually.

Ellen Willis is a writer for the the New Yorker. Her collection of essays, "Beginning to See the Light: Pieces of a Decade," covers many of the social and political issues of the last ten years. Feminism, rock music, 60s counter-culture and the backlash against it, the changing definitions of "family" amongst the left, religion, and abortion are covered. She also discovers her reconsidering of Judaism and God in general, after a her brother became Orthodox. She joins the show to discuss the book and its subjects.

Susan Strasberg is an actress and the daughter of Lee Strasberg the director of The Actor's Studio who trained such actors as Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Marilyn Monroe in what came to be known as "method acting." Susan Strasberg made her acting debut at 17 as Anne Frank in a Broadway production of "The Diary of Anne Frank." Strasberg has recently written her memoirs, "Bittersweet," which discuss growing up in her eccentric family, her love affairs with figures such as Richard Burton and Warren Beatty, and her daughter, who was born with a

Jan and Stan Berenstain are the creators of the "Berenstain Bears" and the writers and illustrators of the children's books about the bear family. They have been creating animated holiday specials about the Berenstains for NBC, including an upcoming Thanksgiving special. Their most recent Berenstain Bears book, "Bears Christmas Tree," is an adaptation of their animated Christmas special. They have also written a new book geared towards parents, "How to Teach Your Children About Sex Without Making a Fool of Yourself."

Leslie Uggams is an actress and singer known for her roles in the television miniseries "Roots" and "Backstairs at the White House" and the t.v. show "Sing Along with Mitch." She is also well-known for work in musicals and on Broadway. Uggams discusses her career and life including being a child actor, a member of a youth gang, and singing versus acting. Uggams is currently performing in Philadelphia.

Gambian folk musician Bai Konte discusses how he both learned and now teaches the kora, a West African 21-string lute. He performs along with his son Dembo Konte and anthropologists and musicians Marc and Susan Pevar. Filmmaker Oliver Franklin, who made a movie Bai Konte, also joins the conversation.

Morgan and Johanna Sibbett discuss the moral, ethical and legal implications of rational suicide. As a married couple, they have decided such an option would be best if either of them faced terminal illness.

Fresh Air broadcasts a lecture by sociologist Ann Beuf, who looks at how patriarchal traditions have led to a strict division of gender roles within marriage and the family, the legal disenfranchisement of married women, and men's sometimes violent displays of power.

Sociologist Ann H. Beuf explores the reasons for the negative experiences children have in hospitals in her new book, Biting Off the Bracelet. She tells Fresh Air host Terry Gross about how the expectations of hospitalized children often conflict with positive ideas off child rearing.

Christopher Cerf returns to Fresh Air to discuss a book he co-authored about child rearing.

Joan Morris and Bill Bolcom are husband and wife musicians. Joan is a singer and Bill plays the piano. They discuss their life and work together.

Joan Morris and Bill Bolcom are husband and wife musicians. Joan is a singer and Bill plays the piano. They discuss their life and work together.

Joe Burke was an influential popular songwriter. Terry Gross talks about his legacy with his son James Burke and granddaughter Linda Burke, and plays some classic recordings of his songs. This is part one of her interview.

Environmental designer, Irwin Altman discusses how people and their environments are intimately connected and his book "The Environment and Social Behavior."

Tim McGraw has been one of the biggest stars in country music for years, but lately it's an acting role that's getting a lot of attention. He's currently starring with his wife, singer Faith Hill, in the Paramount+ Western TV series 1883.

"My career has been up and down, and I like it much better being up," Liotta says. He plays a corrupt NYC police lieutenant on the NBC series Shades of Blue. Originally broadcast Jan. 12, 2016.

Novelist Judith Viorst has written humorous books for children and for adults and is also a contributing editor to Redbook. Viorst spent years studying at the Psychoanalytic Institute in Washington, D. C. before writing her new book, "Necessary Losses." The non-fiction work's subject is coping with loss.

"People see you onstage and, yeah, I'd want to be that guy," Springsteen says. "I want to be that guy myself very often." His one-man show returned to Broadway this week. Originally broadcast in 2016.