David Blight’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography describes Frederick Douglass’ escape from slavery, his passionate leadership in the abolitionist movement and his gift as a writer and orator. Blight spoke with ‘Fresh Air’ in December of 2018.

Aretha Franklin has been awarded a posthumous “Special Citation” Pulitzer Prize. We’ll hear an excerpt of her 1999 interview with Terry Gross.

Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night,’ the second feature from the Chinese writer-director Bi Gan.