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Fresh Air Weekend: Nina Totenberg; 'Abbott Elementary' star Sheryl Lee Ralph

NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speak during at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Totenberg and Ginsburg met in the 1970s and remained friends until Ginsburg's death in 2020.
Robin Marchant
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NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speak during at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Totenberg and Ginsburg met in the 1970s and remained friends until Ginsburg's death in 2020.

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:

Nina Totenberg looks back on her decades-long friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The NPR legal affairs correspondent met the future SCOTUS justice in the early '70s, when Totenberg interviewed Ruth Bader Ginsburg for a story about a decision pertaining to women's rights.

The Free Form Funky Freqs blend jazz, R&B, rock and a little space music: The Funky Freqs came up playing the post-Corea jazz-rock style known as free funk — music with fewer complicated melodies and more earthy grooving. Their new album is Hymn of the Third Galaxy.

From 'Dreamgirls' to 'Abbott Elementary,' Sheryl Lee Ralph forged her own path: Ralph won an Emmy for her role as a no-nonsense kindergarten teacher on Abbott Elementary. She says classroom management is about "letting [kids] know that boundaries are there for a reason."

You can listen to the original interviews and review here:

Nina Totenberg looks back on her decades-long friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The Free Form Funky Freqs blend jazz, R&B, rock and a little space music

From 'Dreamgirls' to 'Abbott Elementary,' Sheryl Lee Ralph forged her own path

Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

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.