Best Of: Making ‘La Bola Negra’ / 'New Yorker' cartoonists lament their kitchens

Spanish filmmakers Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (Los Javis) turned an unfinished play by a gay poet murdered during Spain's Civil War into a sweeping epic. La Bola Negra tells the story of three generations of gay men. They spoke with Tonya Mosley about the making of the film. Also, New Yorker cartoonists Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein talk with Terry Gross about their embarrassment and shame over their kitchens.Their new graphic book is The Two Saddest Kitchens.Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air ArchivesSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Nobel Prize-winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Klara and the Sun is now a feature film, directed by Taika Waititi. The story is set in a future time, where children no longer go to school; instead they learn on devices, isolated from each other. The story is narrated by a human-like robot, who serves as one child's "artificial friend." Ishiguro spoke with Terry Gross in 2021, at the time of publishing. Also, Justin Chang reviews La Bola Negra. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

From Virginia to Kansas, the battle over data centers has reached the ballot box this midterm election. Communities are voting on whether to limit or ban the massive facilities being built to power AI – and the fight crosses party lines. Both Democrats and Republicans are accusing their opponents of being too eager to welcome billions of dollars in tech investment without considering the costs. Darrell West, a researcher at the Brookings Institution, has been studying the backlash. He says it's become something much bigger. "The data center fight is no longer just about data centers. It's about AI and its possible impact on people." Communities want to know what they'll have to give up, and who gets to decide.Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air ArchivesSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Jordan Neely, a Black unhoused man in crisis, was frightening fellow passengers on the New York City Subway. A white former Marine named Daniel Penny put Neely into a chokehold, killing him. Journalist Anand Giridharadas investigates the incident, and what it reveals about American society in Man in the Mirror. He spoke with Tonya Mosley. John Powers reviews the Thomas Mann film Fatherland.Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air ArchivesSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi — known as "Los Javis" — have turned four pages of an unfinished play by Federico García Lorca into a sweeping epic about three generations of gay men in Spain. They spoke with Tonya Mosley about making La Bola Negra, their creative partnership, and art as a weapon against fascism. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air ArchivesSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

New Yorker cartoonists Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein confess to the horrors lurking behind their kitchen cabinets and refrigerator doors – and the comedy they find in their anxiety. They spoke with Terry Gross about their new book, The Two Saddest Kitchens. Katzenstein also talks about his graphic memoir about living with OCD.Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air ArchivesSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Singer, songwriter, and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello helped define the sound of neo-soul, blending funk, jazz, and R&B into music that was unmistakably her own. Now, on her new album, Synonym, she's taking familiar duets and turning them into something unexpected.  In the hit horror/comedy series Widow's Bay, Betty Gilpin plays a new bride in 1700s New England who finds herself caught in a terrifying satanic curse. She talks about why she’s drawn to weird "anti-algorithm" projects. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews some newly released recordings by Stevie Wonder for the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hall of Fame songwriter Jimmy Webb talks about writing some of the 1960s songs he’s best known for: “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Wichita Lineman,” and “MacArthur Park.” Now 80, he’s got a new album of unreleased songs titled Yours for the Taking. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2004. Also, Justin Chang reviews the new film Possible Love, South Korea’s official Oscar submission for Best International Feature.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and curated playlists of archive interviews. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

"There's an understandable pull in my industry to make things that are kind of like a gleaming vanilla car commercial, like super safe, super familiar, appeal to the masses. And [then there are] people that are out there who are like, I'm actually going to go the other way,” she tells Fresh Air’s Ann Marie Baldonado. Gilpin won an Emmy for her guest role in the horror-comedy Widow’s Bay, and now she currently stars in the noir series The Lowdown. She talks about growing up with actor parents, aging out of archetypal roles, and the 105% it takes to play Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” on Broadway. Also, John Powers reviews the documentary Once Upon a Time in Harlem.Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air ArchivesSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Ahead of the midterms, we talk with two election experts about President Trump’s efforts to interfere with voting. Richard Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project, and Pennsylvania’s lead election official, Al Schmidt. Both are hoping the states, the courts and the public will ensure free and fair elections. They spoke with Fresh Air's Dave Davies.Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air ArchivesSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy