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Fresh Air Weekend: George Floyd's life; The queer history of an NYC women's prison

A mural of George Floyd at the intersection where he was murdered in Minneapolis, Minn.
Brandon Bell
/
Getty Images
A mural of George Floyd at the intersection where he was murdered in Minneapolis, Minn.

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:

Biography examines how systemic racism shaped the troubled life of George Floyd: Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020. Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa reconstruct the course of his life in His Name is George Floyd.

'American Dream' documentary revisits George Carlin's triumphs and demons: Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" routine ignited an obscenity case in the '70s. Now, a new HBO documentary profiles the comedian and it's perfect: thought-provoking, insightful, revelatory, and, at times, very funny

This forgotten women's prison helped cement Greenwich Village's queer identity: In his book The Women's House of Detention, Hugh Ryan writes about the New York City prison and the role it played in the gay rights movement of the '60s, including the 1969 Stonewall Uprising.

You can listen to the original interviews and review here:

Biography examines how systemic racism shaped the troubled life of George Floyd

'American Dream' documentary revisits George Carlin's triumphs and demons

This forgotten women's prison helped cement Greenwich Village's queer identity

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