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:

'An Amerikan Family' traces the legacy of Tupac Shakur's influential family
The late rapper — who was killed at 25 in 1996 — would have turned 52 this year. Santi Elijah Holley's new book follows the Shakur family tree and their work in the Black Liberation Movement.

Janelle Monáe's 'The Age of Pleasure' album is exactly that
Monáe has been releasing albums that mix R&B, pop and rap since 2007 — this is the artist's first since 2018. In recent years, Monáe has appeared in the films Moonlight, Hidden Figures and Glass Onion.

Central Park birder Christian Cooper on being 'a Black man in the natural world'
Cooper was birdwatching in Central Park in 2020 when a white woman falsely accused him of threatening her. His book chronicles life as a Black birder, gay activist and Marvel comics writer and editor.

You can listen to the original interviews and review here:

'An Amerikan Family' traces the legacy of Tupac Shakur's influential family

Janelle Monáe's 'The Age of Pleasure' album is exactly that

Central Park birder Christian Cooper on being 'a Black man in the natural world'

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