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Fresh Air Weekend: 'American Factory' Filmmakers; An Ex-Husband's Secret Addiction

Chinese workers at Fuyao Glass America attend training to learn about American culture.
Courtesy of Netflix
Chinese workers at Fuyao Glass America attend training to learn about American culture.

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's It Like Working At A Chinese-Run 'American Factory'? It's 'Complicated': Working on the factory floor is hard, hot and dangerous, says Steven Bognar. He and Julia Reichert made a documentary — just nominated for an Oscar — about a GM plant reopened by a Chinese company.

'Beanpole' Captures The Devastation That Lingers, Even After War Has Ended: Set in Leningrad shortly after World War II, Beanpole centers on two women who find themselves deeply scarred by their wartime experiences with the Red Army.

A Widow, Not A Wife: 'Smacked' Explores An Ex-Husband's Secret Addiction: Eilene Zimmerman didn't learn of her ex-husband's addiction to cocaine and opioids until after his death. "This had happened in front of us, and we hadn't recognized it," she says.

You can listen to the original interviews and review here:

What's It Like Working At A Chinese-Run 'American Factory'? It's 'Complicated'

'Beanpole' Captures The Devastation That Lingers, Even After War Has Ended

A Widow, Not A Wife: 'Smacked' Explores An Ex-Husband's Secret Addiction

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.