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Fresh Air Weekend: Revisiting The Donner Party; 'Okja'; Reporting On Extremist Groups

Author Michael Wallis says there are modern lessons to learn from the Donner Party — primarily about the fatal combination of ignorance and arrogance. Above, an undated drawing of the pioneers, looking to make their way West.
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Author Michael Wallis says there are modern lessons to learn from the Donner Party — primarily about the fatal combination of ignorance and arrogance. Above, an undated drawing of the pioneers, looking to make their way West.

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:

'What Would You Do?' Author Wants To Stop Sensationalizing The Donner Party: In The Best Land Under Heaven, Michael Wallis chronicles the saga of a band of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting stranded en route West. He says "there's so much more" to the story.

In Ambitious 'Okja,' A Teen Attempts To Save Her Super Pig From Slaughter: You'll root for 13-year-old Mija at every step of this new Netflix film. And Okja, the huge, genetically modified pig, is among the most touching and realistic computer-generated characters ever made.

Journalist Ventured 'Behind The Lines Of Jihad' To Interview The World's Most Wanted: Washington Post correspondent Souad Mekhennet has risked kidnapping and imprisonment to report on extremist groups, such as ISIS and the Taliban. Her new memoir is I Was Told to Come Alone.

You can listen to the original interviews here:

'What Would You Do?' Author Wants To Stop Sensationalizing The Donner Party

In Ambitious 'Okja,' A Teen Attempts To Save Her Super Pig From Slaughter

Journalist Ventured 'Behind The Lines Of Jihad' To Interview The World's Most Wanted

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

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.