{"podcast":{"title":"Fresh Air","slug":"fresh-air-214340","podcast_index_feed_id":214340,"rss_url":"https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml","website_url":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444908/fresh-air","image_url":"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/09/23/fresh-air_tile_npr-network-01_sq-9b42f217746df08ce5a26c500024dd979ff94178.jpg?s=1400&c=66&f=jpg","author":"NPR (podcasts@npr.org)","episode_count":300,"summary":"Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries. Subscribe to Fresh Air Plus! You'll enjoy bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening - all while you support NPR's mission. Learn more at plus.npr.org/freshair And subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Fresh Air Weekly, to get interview highlights, staff recommendations, gems from the archive, and the week's interviews and reviews all in one place. Sign up at www.whyy.org/freshair","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T08:21:33.528133+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fresh-air-214340"},"episode":{"title":"Playwright Anna Deavere Smith turns to her family’s history for inspiration","slug":"playwright-anna-deavere-smith-turns-to-her-family-s-history-for-inspiration","published_at":"2026-06-25T18:50:12+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fresh-air-214340/playwright-anna-deavere-smith-turns-to-her-family-s-history-for-inspiration","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fresh-air-214340","url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/25/nx-s1-5870956/playwright-anna-deavere-smith-turns-to-her-familys-history-for-inspiration","audio_url":"https://prfx.byspotify.com/e/play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/npr.simplecastaudio.com/49850946-31c1-4953-8129-0d718420c400/episodes/163e2e74-d836-44e1-a110-faaf7f3e998a/audio/128/default.mp3?awCollectionId=49850946-31c1-4953-8129-0d718420c400&awEpisodeId=163e2e74-d836-44e1-a110-faaf7f3e998a&feed=jBsBZBHh&t=podcast&e=nx-s1-5870956&p=381444908&d=2754&size=44067614","summary":"For more than 50 years, Anna Deavere Smith has pioneered a type of theater built from real people's words, interviewing hundreds of Americans and then performing their words verbatim. Now she's telling a story from her own family with ‘Basil Biggs.’ It’s about her great-great-grandfather, a free Black man, who reburied the Union dead at Gettysburg and prepared the ground for Lincoln's most famous speech. Smith spoke with Tonya Mosley about how ‘Finding Your Roots’ led her to this story and why she sees herself as an Americanist. 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","meta_description":"For more than 50 years, Anna Deavere Smith has pioneered a type of theater built from real people's words, interviewing hundreds of Americans and then per…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2754,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fresh-air-214340/episodes/playwright-anna-deavere-smith-turns-to-her-family-s-history-for-inspiration/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fresh-air-214340/playwright-anna-deavere-smith-turns-to-her-family-s-history-for-inspiration.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}