Ashley Brown

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with actress Laverne Cox about her new memoir Transcendent.

Former first lady Jill Biden is shedding new light on one of the biggest decisions her husband made as president: to drop out of his own reelection campaign. In this episode of NPR’s Newsmakers, Biden sits down with host Scott Detrow to discuss her new book, View from the East Wing: A Memoir. She opens up about the infamous 2024 presidential debate that doomed President Joe Biden’s campaign -- when his performance so concerned those in his inner circle, Biden says her husband was checked by doctors after leaving the stage -- and the personal and political toll of the months that followed. She also reveals Joe Biden “truly changed his mind” on pardoning their son Hunter, who was convicted on federal gun and tax charges in 2024. She says it was then-candidate Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Hunter’s criminal cases that eventually led her husband to pardon their son, who faced prison time. NPR's Newsmakers is where you'll find NPR's biggest interviews. We post new episodes as soon as they're available -- any day of the week. Follow or subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you watch or listen to podcasts so you always get the latest episode as soon as possible. You can also find Newsmakers on the NPR app. Newsmakers relies on supporters who value independent journalism and a free press. Join NPR+ today to support our work and get perks from the podcasts you trust. Go to plus.npr.org.

Former first lady Jill Biden reflects on the end of her husband's 2024 campaign and her time in the White House with NPR's Scott Detrow, which she details in her new memoir, View From the East Wing.

What were the broken promises of the 1979 Iranian Revolution? NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with reporter Yeganeh Torbati about the new book she co-authored, Stolen Revolution.

NPR's Juana Summers speaks with R&B musician Leon Thomas, who describes his new EP Pholks as a collaboration of polymaths inspired by multi-talented artists like Prince and Quincy Jones.

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Sophy Romvari about her first feature-length film, Blue Heron, and the ways memory can change and be changed by time and the artistic process.

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder about season 5 of their Emmy-winning HBO Max comedy, Hacks.

NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with NASA's Kelsey Evans Young, the Artemis science flight operations lead, about the rigors of space and the lunar slingshot to get home.

A four-astronaut crew is going on the first mission to send humans around the moon in more than 50 years. NPR's Scott Detrow visited with the crew while they were still training in Houston.

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with costume designer Ruth E. Carter, who is now nominated for the fifth time for an Academy Award, about her career and work on the movie Sinners.