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Fresh Air Weekend: Rapper-Turned-Director Boots Riley; The Flint, Mich., Water Crisis

In 2014, Flint, Mich., changed its water source from the Great Lakes to the nearby Flint River. Tests later revealed elevated levels of lead in the water coming from the river.
Carlos Osorio
/
AP
In 2014, Flint, Mich., changed its water source from the Great Lakes to the nearby Flint River. Tests later revealed elevated levels of lead in the water coming from the river.

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:

Boots Riley Mines His Experiences As A Telemarketer In 'Sorry To Bother You': The social satire takes aim at corporations that underpay and exploit workers. This is Riley's first film — he has a long career as a rapper — and his band, The Coup, plays on the film's soundtrack.

Amy Adams Gives An Unforgettable Performance In HBO's 'Sharp Objects': A new miniseries adapted from Gillian Flynn's novel stars Adams as a newspaper reporter who returns to her small hometown to investigate the disappearance of one girl and the murder of another.

Pediatrician Who Exposed Flint Water Crisis Shares Her 'Story Of Resistance': After warning of elevated lead levels in her patients in Flint, Mich., Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha faced a backlash: "The state said that I was an unfortunate researcher, that I was causing near-hysteria."

You can listen to the original interviews here:

Boots Riley Mines His Experiences As A Telemarketer In 'Sorry To Bother You'

Amy Adams Gives An Unforgettable Performance In HBO's 'Sharp Objects'

Pediatrician Who Exposed Flint Water Crisis Shares Her 'Story Of Resistance'

Copyright 2021 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

Combine an intelligent interviewer with a roster of guests that, according to the Chicago Tribune, would be prized by any talk-show host, and you're bound to get an interesting conversation. Fresh Air interviews, though, are in a category by themselves, distinguished by the unique approach of host and executive producer Terry Gross. "A remarkable blend of empathy and warmth, genuine curiosity and sharp intelligence," says the San Francisco Chronicle.