Fresh Air Fresh Air

One of the most acclaimed jazz pianists of his generation, Mehldau sits down at the piano, for music and conversation. His album, Your Mother Should Know, interprets songs by The Beatles.

After working as a neurosurgeon for over 40 years, Dr. Henry Marsh was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. The cancer led him to reflect on doctor/patient relationships, his own mortality, and why he'd consider the possibility of hastening the end through medically-assisted death. His new book is And Finally.

Also, we'll hear from actor Lizzy Caplan. In the series Fleishman Is in Trouble, she plays a character who's having questions about her marriage, motherhood, and what happened to her youth and potential.

And David Bianculli will review the new series Shrinking, starring Harrison Ford and Jason Segel.

After losing much of her memory to dementia, one of the things the main character in the novel The Swimmers remembers is being forced into an incarceration camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. Author Julie Otsuka talks about the novel and her own family's experience in Japanese incarceration camps.

Also, we remember Victor Navasky, the longtime editor and eventual publisher of The Nation. He also wrote the book Naming Names, now considered a classic, about the Hollywood 10 and the House Un-American Activities Committee.

David Bianculli reviews the new Netflix mockumentary series Cunk on Earth.

Journalist Jere Van Dyk has spent years in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he got to know leaders of the Haqqani network, responsible for many suicide bombings and kidnappings. His new book is Without Borders.

Also, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead a new anthology of Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Shirley Scott Cookbook sessions.

Phone and electric car batteries are made with cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt Red author Siddharth Kara describes the conditions as a "horror show."

Justin Chang reviews the Belgian film Close.

The series Fleishman Is in Trouble is about marriage, parenthood, and middle age. Lizzy Caplan plays Libby, a mom and journalist who is struggling with identity since moving to the suburbs. Caplan's other films and TV shows include Mean Girls, Party Down, and Freaks and Geeks. She was nominated for an Emmy for her work in the series Masters of Sex. She spoke with Fresh Air's Ann Marie Baldonado.

Also, David Bianculli reviews the series Shrinking, starring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford.