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Fresh Air Weekend: 'Barbie' casting director Allison Jones; Nazi jazz propaganda

James Franco, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini and Seth Rogen in <em>Freaks and Geeks, </em>left, and Issa Rae in <em>Barbie.</em>
Getty Images / Warner Bros. Pictures
James Franco, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini and Seth Rogen in Freaks and Geeks, left, and Issa Rae in Barbie.

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:

From 'Freaks and Geeks' to 'Barbie,' this casting director decides who gets on-screen: Allison Jones is known for casting actors who look like real people — and who are naturally funny. One of her hardest conversations? Telling Bob Odenkirk he didn't get Michael Scott in The Office.

Lauren Groff's survivalist novel 'The Vaster Wilds' will test your endurance, too: An impoverished servant girl escapes the fledgling Jamestown colony during the winter of 1609–1610 in a historical saga that takes its inspiration from Robinson Crusoe.

'Swingtime for Hitler' explores the Nazis use of jazz as a propaganda tool: Hitler's Germany banned jazz, which was deemed degenerate music made by Jews and Black people. But NPR host Scott Simon says the Nazis repurposed jazz abroad to weaken British and American resolve.

You can listen to the original interviews and review here:

From 'Freaks and Geeks' to 'Barbie,' this casting director decides who gets on-screen

Lauren Groff's survivalist novel 'The Vaster Wilds' will test your endurance, too

'Swingtime for Hitler' explores the Nazis use of jazz as a propaganda tool

Copyright 2023 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.