{"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":"Remembering symphony conductor Michael Tilson Thomas","slug":"remembering-symphony-conductor-michael-tilson-thomas","published_at":"2026-05-01T16:30:01+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fresh-air-214340/remembering-symphony-conductor-michael-tilson-thomas","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fresh-air-214340","url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/01/nx-s1-5807652/remembering-symphony-conductor-michael-tilson-thomas","audio_url":"https://prfx.byspotify.com/e/play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/npr.simplecastaudio.com/49850946-31c1-4953-8129-0d718420c400/episodes/d31573bc-2eea-4a1a-a371-088899832832/audio/128/default.mp3?awCollectionId=49850946-31c1-4953-8129-0d718420c400&awEpisodeId=d31573bc-2eea-4a1a-a371-088899832832&feed=jBsBZBHh&t=podcast&e=nx-s1-5807652&p=381444908&d=2699&size=43191154","summary":"We remember conductor, composer and musician Michael Tilson Thomas, who died April 22 at age 81. He was a longtime music director of The San Francisco Symphony, known for his innovation, his ability to translate classical music for the general public, and for fostering contemporary music. He founded the New World Symphony for young players. He got his musical inheritance from his grandparents, who were stars of the Yiddish theatre. When he was a kid, his grandmother took him on stage and pointed up to the last row in the balcony, telling him: “Up there are the cheapest seats and in those seats are the people who love the show the most. Whatever you’re doing you must remember that it must reach those people.” He spoke with Terry Gross in 1994 and 2012. John Powers reviews ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2.’ Correction: A previous version of this episode incorrectly said that both Anne Frank and Audrey Hepburn were born in Holland. Anne Frank was born in Germany, and Audrey Hepburn was born in Belgium. 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":"We remember conductor, composer and musician Michael Tilson Thomas, who died April 22 at age 81. He was a longtime music director of The San Francisco Sym…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2699,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fresh-air-214340/episodes/remembering-symphony-conductor-michael-tilson-thomas/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/remembering-symphony-conductor-michael-tilson-thomas.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}