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Fresh Air Weekend: Tracee Ellis Ross; Racism in medicine

Tracee Ellis Ross, shown here in Los Angeles in June 2022, plays a doctor in <em>American Fiction.</em> The film is up for five Academy Awards, including best picture.
Amy Sussman
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Tracee Ellis Ross, shown here in Los Angeles in June 2022, plays a doctor in American Fiction. The film is up for five Academy Awards, including best picture.

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:

If the part isn't right, Tracee Ellis Ross says 'turn it into what you want it to be': When it comes to Black women, Hollywood is "limited in its thinking" Ross says — so here's how she makes her roles her own.

A would-be 'Martyr!' searches for meaning in this wry debut novel: Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! is very much its own creation. You might think of it as an Iranian American spin on John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces — wedded to Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch.

Following in her mom's footsteps, a doctor fights to make medicine more inclusive: Dr. Uché Blackstock says that the 2023 SCOTUS ruling against affirmative action will have a long-term, negative impact on both Black doctors and patients. Her book is Legacy.

You can listen to the original interviews and review here:

If the part isn't right, Tracee Ellis Ross says 'turn it into what you want it to be'

A would-be 'Martyr!' searches for meaning in this wry debut novel

Following in her mom's footsteps, a doctor fights to make medicine more inclusive

Copyright 2024 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.