Fresh Air Weekend: The GOP’s denialism; ‘Black Lady Sketch Show’ creator Robin Thede

Robin Thede attends the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 19, 2021 in Los Angeles.

Rich Fury/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Rich Fury/Getty Images

Robin Thede attends the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 19, 2021 in Los Angeles.

Rich Fury/Getty Images

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:

How the Republican Party came to embrace conspiracy theories and denialism: Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank examines how the GOP got to where it is today, with some elected leaders and candidates still endorsing the lie that Trump won. His book is The Destructionists.

Aubrey Plaza plays a fraudster in the mostly engrossing ‘Emily the Criminal’: An art-school dropout seizes control of her life and livelihood by branching out into credit card fraud in this Los Angeles noir. Plaza is both vulnerable and fierce as a woman on the take.

Robin Thede wants her sketch show to open doors for other Black voices: Thede’s HBO series, A Black Lady Sketch Show, is the first sketch comedy show solely written, directed and starring Black women. “It is a nonstop job,” she says of the various hats she wears.

You can listen to the original interviews and review here:

How the Republican Party came to embrace conspiracy theories and denialism

Aubrey Plaza plays a fraudster in the mostly engrossing ‘Emily the Criminal’

Robin Thede wants her sketch show to open doors for other Black voices