A John Prine Appreciation

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1. 

   8 Oct 2026 · 44 min

   Veteran White House reporter April Ryan’s ‘Blacklash’

   Ryan has spent decades pressing presidents for answers. She talks about access, power, race and how asking questions put her in President Trump's crosshairs. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her book, Notes on a Blacklash . Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new CBS legal drama set in Silicon Valley, Cupertino . 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

2. 

   7 Oct 2026 · 45 min

   How Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brought the culture wars to the military

   New York Times military and Pentagon reporter Greg Jaffe says Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has disproportionately blocked promotions of Black and women senior officers, and he’s also been purging the military of transgender people. “Usually Secretaries of Defense do everything they can to protect the military from our divisive politics and those culture wars,” Jaffe tells Dave Davies. “Hegseth was really the first Secretary of Defense I've seen in my lifetime who invited that into the Pentagon, and made it a central plank of his identity and leadership.” Subscribe to our free weekly…

3. 

   7 Oct 2026 · 44 min

   ‘Showbiz!’ entertainer Murray Hill became what he didn’t see

   Murray Hill's character on HBO’s Somebody Somewhere , Fred Rococo, is a soil scientist trans man who hosts a queer cabaret. “[He] is me dialed down to like a 2,” he tells Terry Gross. In real life, Murray has hosted drag king shows, queer cabarets, burlesque shows and performed his own act. He spoke with Terry Gross about finding and building his community, forgiveness, and how anti-trans rhetoric and policy has affected him. His new memoir is Showbiz! My Life as a Middle-Aged Man . Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the…

4. 

   5 Oct 2026 · 45 min

   Michael Douglas

   Michael Douglas is one of the most recognizable actors of our time, but in 1987, many still knew him as Kirk Douglas's son. That year, he starred in Fatal Attraction and Wall Street , and his role as Gordon Gekko won him the Oscar for Best Actor. "When I went up and received my Oscar for Wall Street , I thanked my father because I finally felt I was out of his shadow. And those two pictures in that year was when I finally felt I was my own man,” he tells Tonya Mosley. Behind the accolades, Douglas was struggling –- drinking heavily and using cocaine. In his new memoir, One Helluva Ride ,…

5. 

   3 Oct 2026 · 49 min

   Best Of: Kyle MacLachlan / Inside the ‘romance scam’

   Kyle MacLachlan was just 23 when he auditioned for Lynch's adaptation of Dune . The two would go on to work together on the cult classics Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks . “The worlds that [Lynch] creates are real in his mind — they exist,” he tells Terry Gross. MacLachlan's new memoir is Fictional Selves . Also, Wired reporter Andy Greenberg describes the story he broke about a cyber crime operation in Southeast Asia that entraps computer engineers into defrauding victims around the world of billions of dollars. And book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Min Jin Lee’s new novel, American Hagwon .…