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Fresh Air Weekend: Actor John Lithgow; The tumultuous life of Stephen Sondheim

John Lithgow attends the Broadway opening night for Giant on March 23, 2026, in New York.
CJ Rivera
/
Invision/AP Photo
John Lithgow attends the Broadway opening night for Giant on March 23, 2026, in New York.

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

From 'The Old Man' to 'Giant,' John Lithgow is still going strong: Lithgow, 80, plays an intelligence agent in the FX action series The Old Man, and he's currently starring in the Broadway production of Giant, about a troubling side of children's author Roald Dahl.

'Art Isn't Easy' author offers new insights into Stephen Sondheim's life and music: Biographer Daniel Okrent discusses Sondheim's approach to writing music and lyrics, his often toxic relationship with his mother and his work with mentors and collaborators.

You can listen to the original interviews here:

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