What The Color Blue Tells About Black History

Author Ricky Riccardi says Louis Armstrong's innovations as a trumpeter and vocalist helped set the entire soundtrack of the 20th century. His new book about Armstrong's early life is Stomp Off, Let's Go. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Research shows we're spending more time alone than ever before. Atlantic writer Derek Thompson says all this "me time" has a profound impact on our relationships and politics. Also, David Bianculli reviews the documentary Without Arrows.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Award-winning author and scholar Imani Perry traces the history and symbolism of the color blue, from the indigo of the slave trade, to Coretta Scott King's wedding dress, to present day cobalt mining. Her new book is Black in Blues. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Questlove's documentary, Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music, airs tonight on NBC. It highlights some of the show's most iconic musical performances and comedy sketches — from break-out stars to lip-syncing controversy. Our TV critic David Bianculli reflects on the documentary, and then Questlove joins Terry Gross to talk about some of the highlights. Also, Ken Tucker reviews Ringo Starr's new country album, Look Up.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jesse Eisenberg talks about writing, directing and starring in the film A Real Pain. Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin play cousins who go to Poland on a Jewish Heritage Tour. One of the stops is the Majdanek death camp. He spoke with Terry Gross about questions the film raises. Also, we hear from Pamela Anderson. In the new film, The Last Showgirl, she stars as a veteran Vegas dancer who must face the end of her legendary show. She talked with Tonya Mosley about her big career comeback.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Filmmaker and painter David Lynch died January 15 at age 78. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1994 about making his surrealist first movie, Eraserhead, leaving things up for interpretation, and where he finds inspiration. Also, we'll hear from Isabella Rossellini who starred in Lynch's Blue Velvet as a nightclub singer, and Nicolas Cage, who worked with him in Wild At Heart. And our TV critic David Bianculli shares an appreciation. Also, Justin Chang reviews the new film supernatural thriller Presence.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Bloomberg investigative reporter Zeke Faux says the Trump family's new crypto businesses have earned them tens of millions, while raising questions about political influence and ethics. Also, we remember Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, playwright and screenwriter Jules Feiffer.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Pamela Anderson's role as a lifeguard on Baywatch made her a global sex symbol in the '90s. But she longed to be taken seriously as a performer and person. "I've always been carrying this secret. I feel like I've known I was capable of more, but I didn't know what," she says. She now stars in The Last Showgirl. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her career comeback, crafting her persona, and ditching makeup.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Eisenberg's film, A Real Pain, follows two cousins on a Jewish heritage tour of Poland, which includes a stop at the Majdanek death camp. Eisenberg spoke with Terry Gross about tragedy tourism, and his own relationship to Judaism. The "Hebrew school dropout" says the suburban bar mitzvah scene made his 12-year-old stomach turn.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

NYT columnist and sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom and scholar Eddie Glaude Jr. reflect on the struggle for civil rights and what it means to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the same day that President Donald Trump is sworn into office. "Perhaps the juxtaposition of seeing Donald Trump preside over the official state memorialization of Martin Luther King will remind us of our responsibility to remembering King as he actually was ... as he was a philosopher, an organizer of the people," Cottom says.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy