Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

'Underground Railroad' Director Barry Jenkins Sees Film As An 'Empathy Machine': Jenkins says filming his new series about an enslaved girl who escapes from a plantation was the most difficult project of his career — and one that made him feel closer to his own ancestors.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 'Notes On Grief' Is A Raw Elegy For Her Father: Adichie writes she "came undone" when she learned of her dad's death. Critic Maureen Corrigan says her new book is a charged account of his passing — and also a narrative of mourning in the time of pandemic.

Novelist Francisco Goldman Revisits His Difficult Childhood In 'Monkey Boy': The son of a Jewish father and a Guatemalan mother, Goldman grew up mostly in working class suburbs of Boston. His new novel draws on his own experiences, including being physically abused by his dad.

You can listen to the original interviews and review here:

'Underground Railroad' Director Barry Jenkins Sees Film As An 'Empathy Machine'

Novelist Francisco Goldman Revisits His Difficult Childhood In 'Monkey Boy'

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