His lawyers opposed setting execution date arguing he still has claims that can be argued about poor legal help at trial and early in the appeals process a Kentucky judge says a financial analysis of Gov Matt Bevin the original plan to revamp public pensions was wrongfully withheld from public release under the open records law Franken Circuit Judge Phillips trepanned ruling yesterday also sheds light on the analysis he says it reveals that under the proposed plan the retirement systems would be fully funded by 2047 but without changes as of November 27th team the systems would be 100 percent funded by 2043 Shepherd said the public interest in disclosure of the analysis is significant Bevan's administration did not a Kentucky his request for a copy of the now also saying it was a preliminary record exempted from disclosure under law an official says a majority of West Virginia's judicial investigation commission has been replaced a year after investigating Supreme Court justices over allegations of judicial ethics violations Supreme Court spokeswoman Jennifer Bunny told the Charleston Gazette mail on Thursday that 6 of 9 members had been replaced She said there were no official explanations for the move but all were serving under expired terms 3 commissioners were reappointed the panel father of 3 to count statement of charges against a former Justice Allen lottery who admitted to 8 counts and agreed to a fine disbarment in a pledge to never seek office again the panel also investigated 3 other justices but did not take any disciplinary action against them from the w.b. Newsroom on the t. Shirt by d.l. . This is Fresh Air I'm t.v. Critic David Bianculli editor of the website t.v. Worth Watching sitting in for Terry Gross Ok Leon I'm still I'm not sure about this part where I say I want to be president for all Americans and you know all. About Real Americans oh yeah that's good and then we can figure out what I mean later this weekend after 7 seasons and 17 Emmys so far we say goodbye to h.b.o. Zvi the hilarious Beltway comedy starring Julia Louis Dreyfus as Selena Meyer an aggressively ambitious politician surrounded by sycophants rivals and power players today we'll hear from Julia Louis Dreyfus the star of the Tony Hale who plays Gary her overly obsequious assistant and David Mandel the veep showrunner who has the task of shaping and landing these final episodes Veep was created by Armando Iannucci and has Frank Rich as one of its executive producers so it's no surprise that veep from the start has been astoundingly smart about its political satire and characters but what's been amazingly increasingly satisfying about this show is just how fast and furiously its humor is delivered the laughs per minute quota and Veep is off the charts and the most truly democratic thing about Veep is that every character is capable of seeing something hilarious at any time and usually at warp speed so you have to listen closely to catch it all and the cast a deep bench group that includes Gary Cole and a Chlumsky Kevin Dunn Timothy Simons and Matt Walsh is a delight no matter who's on screen or who's making fun of whom. When Julia Louis Dreyfus and Tony Hale share the screen as Selina enter do anything adoring assistant Gary there's a special type of comedy magic as in this scene from the current final season I know what I want to say but I can't find the words what if you talk and I type about that you just say that and then I'll just tell them hey yeah let's try that. Well from the time I was a girl all the time I was a pretty girl no not a pretty girl in the time I was a girl but you're so pretty I know but anyway I have thought. Every day you make America. Don't finish my sentence that's where you're going you don't know where I'm going to the White House you know what I would like to tell people but obviously I can't announce they're here I should be president because it is my God turn on I was a game changer I took a dump on the glass ceiling and I shaved my muffin this think of the old boys' club but for 3 years Hughes kept me chained to a radiator in some basement in Cleveland so as far as I'm concerned a member Oh is me an 8 year stay in the White House and this time I don't want war yet as. To. His hand. I mean it sounds like I'm shouting from about going in Munich Ok. That's a scene from the current final season of Veep the h.b.o. Comedy series satirizing presidential politics our 1st guest today veep showrunner David Mendell is a writer director and executive producer of the show season 5 was his 1st running veep he took over from British writer director Armando Iannucci Mandela formally wrote for Saturday Night Live Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. On screen there have been some transfers of power as well Selina Meyer began the series as vice president hence the title but in season 4 the president resigned and Meyer took over hoping to stay in the role she inherited she ran for president in the next election season 4 ended in an Electoral College tie Terry Gross spoke to David Mendell in 2016 that was during season 5 which focused on the behind the scenes calculations and backstabbing as Meyer and her staff tried to win a recount in the Vadra and a congressional vote to break the Electoral College tie there's a moment where it seems that as a result of arcane rules her vice presidential running mate Tom James may be named president and although he's become Meyer's rival she would want a job in his administration Tom James is played by Hugh Laurie. So Tom let's be real you're going to be an accidental president pot kettle I'm here to offer my help in making this transition of power as smooth as possible by joining your administration Well strangely enough I was thinking along the same line Ok fantastic I'll tell you what I want I want Secretary of State because I think that's the least you can do I was thinking ice president that's what Or only the least you can do and I really want Secretary of State by surprise and come on Secretary of State vice president Miers was familiar wink to him now it doesn't vice president take or leave I would be here v. If there were a grassy knoll full of Jodie Foster fans in the front row at your no Gration. That's a clip from Veep David Mendell welcome to Fresh Air and I think you very much and congratulations on finding a clip from Veep that you can actually play on the plate without getting fined there is the so much they are saying there's so much incredibly creative cursing and insulting on your show we try we try. So you know do you think vice presidential candidates and vice presidents consider that to be a really bad job. I don't think anybody loves the job I really think you there's a long history of people really really not liking the job and I think even when they think they like the job like I bet there were a couple of years and there were Al Gore was sort of thinking to himself This is a pretty good job I'll you know I were getting along great this guy lets me do a lot of stuff and then one day it was like oh God Monica Lewinsky Oh god now I'm running now and sort of starts to re-evaluate what he thought he liked about it it's a thankless thankless task Dick Cheney seem to have a lot of power in the job yeah but he didn't seem happy I maybe that's just having never seen or I don't know maybe that was smiling for him and it was just really creepy you know so when you took over as the showrunner of season 5 there was a crazy cliffhanger from see it in 4 which I can't even begin to explain so I'm going to ask him to throw the ball to you. And it's really I political cliffhanger season 4 which was kind of part of the reason I took the job by the way and I'll loop back then a 2nd but basically Armando and his team ended the season with Selina running for president about against a another king and the opposite party candidate a senator by the name of Bill O'Brien and so it was her and her vice presidential nominee Tom James versus O'Brien and his vice presidential nominee months. And basically it ended in a. I guess what's the word statistically possible but never happened since the 1800s in Electoral College t'ai which basically meant that the election would be decided by the House of Representatives a sort of wonderful corner that Armando kind of wrote the show into it for me creatively it was sort of you know it's pretty good to be asked to come in. Takeover veep That's pretty good on any day but then sort of this this puzzle was sort of the added lure at least to me so I was very excited about it so let's hear how the scene actually sounded one it played out on t.v. And this is Selina Meyer staff trying to figure out what happens if the election ends in a tie in the electoral vote as it looks like it's about to do so they will go on to Google basically to see what they're supposed to do like what happens next with the protocol is so here's the scene from Veep It's the 12th Amendment I have 20th Amendment why are there so many amendments get it right the 1st our people it's actually both 12 to superseded by the 20 if they give the house until January 20th to elect the president each state gets one vote 1st candidate to 26 is the new president and the Senate chooses the v.p. But it's a close election with a ton of House races too close to call what happens if it's a tie in the house right there is that they have software vice president elect becomes president whoever the Senate his pick for v.p. Would be president or examining. What could be the president. Really no idea. People paired. So you mean that I might this election Vice President season was and then once I know where I'm going and I can kind of you know get there in an interesting way and definitely some of the path of how we got there changed especially when I you know was able to put together a writing team and we were able to add even more stuff but very initially I guess the this way of putting it is I had decided for myself that she needed to lose the election I felt that the thing that Selina Meyer wants most on all the world is to be elected president ited States she was president for a year but she was not elected she that So that was the thing that meant the most to her and I sort of felt like the character would be runed if the character got what she wanted and then I started figure out well who should she lose to and the obvious answer initially was you know to Tom James she should be her vice presidents vice president that's that's the most insulting thing in this man who you know she sort of had this sort of interesting past with and I think Julia as a as an actress responds to the more we can kind of dump on her and I start to think to myself that even worse than losing to your own vice president would be losing to another woman so that another woman would become the 1st elected president of the United States even though elected in this crazy situation and once I kind of locked in on the idea that that was the worst thing that could happen to Selena I kind of knew where I was going and then the rest of it was just sort of filling in the journey David Mendell speaking to Terry Gross in 2016 he's the showrunner and executive producer of Veep the h.b.o. Comedy that concludes its 7th and final season this Sunday more after a break this is Fresh Air. Earlier this year David released his 1st album is The Lion in 15 years it's full of deep memories of his childhood in Phoenix. And. David explains how he faced some of the feelings he had as a kid. On the next. This is Fresh Air Let's get back to Terry's interview with David Mendell the executive producer of Veep Terry spoke with him in 20161 of the topics they discussed had less to do with politics than with Selena Miers personal relationships specifically how she relates or doesn't to both her daughter and her mother so the vice president termed president played by Louis Dreyfus not only doesn't get along with her daughter she never got along with her mother and in this past season her mother was gravely ill on life support and Julia Louis Dreyfus was called to the bedside to decide whether they should take her off life support of what they should do and she's kind of torn up about it you know tormented about what the right choices but really she's thinking about the recount that's going on and what's going to happen with the presidential election because her ability to stay as president hangs in the balance and so as she is worried about her mother being gravely ill and what's happening with the recount her aide played by Gary Cole his name in the series is Kent Davidson takes her aside for a private talk let's play that scene I don't know if this provides any sauce but ever since your mother's health setback was announce there has been. Outpouring of support. That has driven up your state reports. I'm talking about pulling the plug here how a percentage point to the poll is supposed to sweeten the skids were double digits real. Or just curiosity if I were to you know. Which. There is a possibility I'm sure there are lives here in America a greater outpouring if you will death by a real real. Thing. Was it your idea to come up with the expression a death bump I believe that was the writer's death bump was their terminology but I'll take a little credit in the sense of this was something I definitely wanted to do this season which was dig into who these people were a little bit that this very personal thing with this mother who she's not sort of close to would come up and that she would be very much not caring and yet caring so in there's a character named Jonah who's not very bright who's been an aide but this season this past season he runs for Congress and makes one gaffe after another and he's using without permission the Tom Petty song I Won't Back Down as campaign theme and then Tom Petty gets in touch saying I didn't author this authorized this I do not want to be associated with your campaign you cannot use my head actually And you know I was just to say they had a number of cease and desist including a couple of preemptive notes from other artists saying in case you're thinking of using Are you sick don't use our news yes I love that because that happens so much you know that a candidate will you know appropriate a piece of music and then the artist who made it will go like no you don't I hate your campaign and everything you stand for. You know we did a line with Selena where when she was in her mother's hospital room and she's hearing this Tim McGraw song that is me Mom that's her mother's favorite song and she's hearing it and she sort of says something along the lines of the election's over I don't have to pretend to like country music anymore. You know sometimes with these campaign songs I just wish they would play a song they actually listen to and like and by the way I would also point out we actually had to ask Tom Petty if it was Ok that we use the song for Jonah you know version of we're you know the world sort of meeting reality meeting fiction so you started your t.v. Writing career on Seinfeld No. My 1st job oddly enough. Out of college was at Comedy Central when Al Franken in 1992 hosted comedy coverage of the Democratic and Republican convention it was called indecision 92 that was my actually 1st like gig like real job job and then from there at the end of that summer after we'd covered the 2 conventions which was really fun. We. Put in a word for me at Saturn at live so really I guess my my 1st. Like year long job was I was at Santa live for 3 years and then moved to Seinfeld so doing a comic take on the Republican and Democratic convention sounds like great training for doing vs No it was amazing training and by the way you know Also Saturday Night Live you know one of the things and you know I was a lifelong fan of the show but then working at Santa live and working with Al Franken you know some of my favorite stuff that we never got to do was the political stuff you know back in I guess it would have been 13 right after right before the inauguration Al and I wrote a sketch that still puts a smile on my face which was Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton remember when Clinton was jogging everywhere in d.c. Before the inauguration and he kind of ran into it was him Clinton to McDonald's and then explaining the some on his situation by eating food off people's plates and explaining the warlords and stuff so doing the political stuff was just a blast and a half on Santa live and you know it's different because it was a little bit more timely a little bit more parity Obviously you're doing the real life characters but yeah all amazing training for this veep thing that I didn't know was coming in some ways so having worked with you Louis Dreyfus on Seinfeld and now working with her on v D's and her by the way I want to write Yeah and you know we did the season of the Seinfeld reunion on Curb So that was fun to write but watching her play a really different character than Elaine on Seinfeld up do you see things that she's capable of that you wouldn't even necessarily have known about from Seinfeld . She was brilliant as Elaine on Seinfeld I mean there's just no question about it and I always sort of say she just sort of room and actresses for me. My partner Jeff out and I even when we were sort of making our little Euro Trip teen comedy there were moments when we were talk to you know one of our actresses on there and we would basically steal like one of Julia's moves and sort of teach it to them like do it like this that's because that's how Julia Louis Dreyfus would do it I think the link character was obviously brilliant I think the fun of with Selina perhaps a little more is that you know just like week we can stretch her into these sort of new depths of behavior how horrible Can she be where is that line what would she do how embarrassed can we get her that we kind of really relish and I mean it's sort of you know half the you know it's like what's the reason to kill you know Celine is Mother Well it's to see how Julia will react to that you know what I mean so the scene for example in that episode where she actually does alternately pull the plug and her mother has dies in front of her and then she gets the nudes that she they want to hearing in Vadra So the vote counts going to go ahead and she has a chance to win the battle where she gets really excited by the news and then her daughter comes in and she has to tell her daughter your grandmother is dead but also good news from Nevada the I could watch Julia do that on a loop 24 hours a day for the rest of my life it was so uncomfortable and oddly sad and yet whole areas all at the same time and there's just nobody on earth that can do all of that at once and she just. She just wows me regularly and by the way just inspires me as a writer because then I start to think like well what next and that you know what can I do to her next in a good way David Mendell thank you so much thank you so much really fun do. David Mendell speaking to Terry Gross in 2016 he is the showrunner and executive producer of H.B.O.'s Veep which concludes its run on h.b.o. This Sunday. Can I just have a moment yes of course that's. When I check your founds sounds like a shoplifter a bunch of my brothers. But no bad a state Supreme Court issued a temporary stay of certification the count will continue. What you want to know both here in. The I mean I was hearing about me much better. Than I thought you were you know I went to get coffee I asked you if you want to anything you know I think I didn't hear you say that. She's gone. You pull the plug without me it wasn't a plug you with a ventilator tube that they just one 0 I don't know who all honey no no no no she didn't know you were here Honey she's brain dead baby doll she was pretty good . Because. We. We've got good news. Oh oh oh oh oh. Oh. Oh I'm all. About. After a break we'll hear from 2 of the stars of Veep Julia Louis Dreyfus and Tony Hale and jazz critic Kevin Whitehead will review the new movie Bolden I'm David Bianculli and this is Fresh Air. I'm. The new power Family Foundation supports w.h.y. Wise fresh air and its commitment to sharing ideas and encouraging meaningful conversation support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Capital One committed to reimagining banking offering savings and checking accounts that can be opened from anywhere Capital One what's in your wallet Capital One and a. And from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company family owned operated and argued over since 1900 proud supporter of independent thought whether that's online over the air or in a bottle more at Sierra Nevada dot com. Next time on The New Yorker radio hour I'll talk with 2 leading experts about the new sense of urgency desperation you feel about climate change the polling last week showed that for Democratic voters anyway climate change is now far and away the most important issue going into these primaries Bill McKibben joins me with Elizabeth Kolbert next time on The New Yorker radio. Music that comes out of the guts rather than out of the brain and that's what feels really good about this album that's how in a table talks about her newest recording that question she shares more thoughts about it and a whole lot of music from it too during an exclusive session and Alaina c. And you're going to hear that session with an a table plus lots of good new music this week on folk alley. This is Fresh Air I'm David Bianculli in for Terry Gross we continue our salute to Veep the h.b.o. Comedy series that presents its final episode this Sunday by revisiting a fresh air interview with Julia Louis Dreyfus who stars as ambitious politician Selina Meyer Veep has won 17 Emmys to date and 6 of those were earned by Julia Louis Dreyfus Fresh Air contributor Dave Davies spoke to the actress in 2012 when veep began Here's a scene from that 1st season the vice president played by Julia Louis Dreyfus has discovered an opening in her schedule she wants to fill her staff members are played by Anna Chlumsky Matt Walsh and Reid Scott. Come on let's go somewhere let's meet the public want to normalize it yes exactly want to meet some regular normal is where we going to find them photo op of the normals the normally says yes there's a book fair enough that is more going to get a good photo of the book you can say I did like kids read or something like read is unpredictable they went there but if you keep it simple Yeah it's about it's frozen yogurt all right is huge in this town all right it's hot out let's go to store a does one that I know that I go to all the time on u. Street that's owned by 3 generations of African-Americans I mean there's a narrative built right in excellence perfect done deal we can totally normalize with those guys that's what we're going to do make it happen guys Julia Louis Dreyfus Welcome back to Fresh Air thank you or should I say welcome back Madam Vice President I've gotten very used to being called that it's it's a rather peculiar little Hetty your character is a vice She's the vice president we don't run one political party your character Selena Meyer is not that much about her political career and kind of inherently has ambitions that maybe exceed her talents but she can't be a fool either I mean nobody who gets to be vice president doesn't have something on the ball and some accomplishments I wonder as you develop this was there sort of a a sweet spot you had to find between someone who is competent but maybe not too competent kind of neurotic. Yeah totally I mean you know buffoonery is funny let's face it you know see her behave competently in certain situations but she's betwixt and between you know she's in a powerful position and yet she's power less at the same time and I think play it as if that circumstance has a way of paralyzing her so that's how I sort of justify maybe certain so-called hiccups that she has you know her agenda is often clashing with the agenda of the president and. How does one survive under those circumstances it's a mess and if it weren't a mess it wouldn't be funny of course so you know we keep it messy I thought we'd listen to another clip in this scene you have just as the vice president have just met with the senator who you're trying to get to support a bill that you're backing and it kind of didn't go as planned and you've just come back from the meeting and are going to confessing what happened to your staff the staff members here are played by Reid Scott and Chlumsky and Matt Walsh and you speak 1st let's listen thank you think I did the right thing but I just need you to confirm that I did the right thing I said something to someone but what what exactly did you say ma'am and to whom the center to do oil said that he would sponsor the bill oh if we keep oil off of clean jobs and there was an implication RINGBACK perhaps. You didn't say yes no I didn't say. I said Yeah Ok Well we told oil we put one of their guys on clean jobs that's why we got away with the cut the No No No Ok where he was charmed by do well he's got that little twinkle in his eye you just not just me I got nights all right and we're you 80 by the way were you not you said you had it covered No I didn't have it covered and it's your job to know that if I say I have a. Covered I don't have the covered in you cover me I need you all to make me have not said that I need you to have make me unsaid it. That is our guest Julia Louis Dreyfus I mean very very funny scene you think if you can imagine this character as a senator when she had her own base of power and kind of more sure where she was handling a negotiation with another senator well but here she she's kind of undermined by her position and gets frantic and does stupid things exactly in fact in the 1st episode when she has a meeting with Senator Hallows she comes in and she says Barbara what have I been missing here and Senator House says power when she says that I sort of played it like it was like a punch to the gut because she's sort of speaking the truth and that throws Selena off her game for the rest of that scene as a result she's she's sort of struggling to get her her balance back and she doesn't quite recover at Julia Louis Dreyfus speaking to Fresh Air contributor Dave Davies in 2012 after a break another cast member of Veep after Tony Hale This is Fresh Air Saturday and Weekend Edition the faceoff between Congress for the White House and the attorney general oversight even as reduction subjective privilege and Rick Atkinson new book on the revolution that created America it's a very ordinary people 775 and why should we be surprised that we are No one today Americans always itching for a fight Saturday and Weekend Edition from n.p.r. News. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from indeed used by over 3000000 businesses for hiring where employers can post jobs and use screener questions to build their shortlist of preferred candidate learn more it indeed dot com slash hire and from Home Advisor committed to helping homeowners find the right pro for their home projects homeowners can get matched to local pros read reviews and check project cost guides at Home Advisor dot com This is Fresh Air Tony Hale has won 2 Emmy Awards for his performance on H.B.O.'s comedy series Veep he plays Gary Walsh the personal aide to Selina Meyer the vice president he also costarred in Arrested Development as Buster the youngest of the Bluth siblings on Veep Gary who's been with Selena for years remains loyal to her he worships or and fawns over her he carries or oversized handbag nicknamed Leviathan which contained the nuclear codes when she was briefly the president he's always standing right behind her reminding her of the names of the people she's greeting and suggesting things she might say to them he even chooses clothes for. Terry Gross spoke to Tony Hale in 2016 in this scene from Season 5 Selena's mother is in the hospital in his critically ill but all Selena can think about is the recount in Nevada in order to have a quiet space So Lena played by Julia Louis Dreyfus and Gary go to the hospital chapel do you pray a lot. When you pray for. You you know. Your you were a true. Sure you know what the how here. I am. I'm just I'm. Just me so when you heard God wants me to grant me wisdom and strength and forgive this is your time sitting president I've got it now I've got you. This is my mother's pain suffering. Is her seeing all these it down. Let her daughter die humble servant be the 1st woman elected president of the United States. Please this is so much to bear. The largest here and I thank. Her prayers I may have left the church yet she was stuck in this. Chair I got. Tony Hale welcome to Fresh Air Let me ask you to describe your character of Gary. Sweet Kerry. Been with the president for many many years and he's what's called a body man and he what he does is he pretty much carries around a bag and I think she needs like your. Be Purel or pens or her speech or other things is in this bag and so she's always by her side and typically when we before we started shooting the pilot we were able to meet people who had done this role just to kind of find out about their life and I met a guy who was a body man and he did it in his twenty's and he did it for a couple of years and then burn out and moved on to other stuff my character has done into his forty's because he has no identity outside of Selina Meyer and he worships her He she is so verbally abusive to him but he doesn't hear it he just bounces back like you know some kind of domestic abuse situation and he is perfectly content where he is so so the handbag which has been nicknamed The Leviathan now has the nuclear code in it as well as things like tampons. 50 are important so one of things your character has to do is whisper in Salinas ear what she needs to know about each person that she's meeting and what she needs to say when she says Joe Congressman Owen this must be your wife us you're in her here ear that's not his wife it's a prostitute. That's not his wife and there was another time where she said because she was talking to somebody and she said how do another guy how is your wife and I said he's divorced and so she has to quickly turn it into some other topic. The thing about Gary that's fun to play is he knows nothing about politics doesn't care to know about politics as nobody knows these random factoids about people and so he'll just whisper in her ear just like you know I don't know his daughter's in rehab or he likes a Claire's or he's a fan of Britney Spears or something just random so that she can have these conversation pieces which are probably not good conversation pieces to have but he thinks so so your character hardly talks he's usually just like whispering the lines to Yanna So what is your script look like when you get your script does it say Gary parentheses looks pained Gary parentheses Gary parentheses looks confused like what you don't always have lines but you're on Yammer a lot and you're conveying a lot through your facial expressions and your body posture I mean they give me kind of a lot of fun lines and tidbits to play with and to kind of react off of her however there's there's times because in the end which is very special to this show that I've never experienced before they they do give us these 2 weeks of rehearsal time before we shoot and so in that time since I'm always standing behind her I can kind of play with you know how would I react to that or make odd noises I mean areas like big on like all this and it was Go. You just makes things really awkward and now it's behind her which I'm sure it's so annoying but so it's fun to kind of play with that and just to kind of have that life behind her so although your character doesn't have much dialogue because he's mostly just like reacting and giving her little verbal cues there is a very famous scene in which you and Selena have a big fight and this is soon after the president resigns and Selina becomes president you start to assert your new power by doing things you believe are right but probably aren't for instance there's a painting she doesn't like so you have it removed. From the White House but it turns out to be the only painting in the White House by a Native American and that becomes this like huge issue in a big p.r. Crisis then you also see on way too much money on the 1st state dinner which also becomes a big p.r. Crisis because she's accused of overspending when Selina finds out that you're the person behind these disasters she's furious with you and she goes to find you and your kind of trying to hide from her. Come out of there maybe she just needs to come out here now. Do you think you are Gary and when that does somebody make your 1st lady because I don't remember marrying you Gary I don't remember you in Niagara Falls I think I remember that women really story for the painting I'm really sorry for the spending but you. Shut up just shut up you are on important Ok And you have suckered onto me like some sort of a car window Garfield this is not true man you think you're some sort of a big shot here oh my god you are not a big shot Kerry your middle aged man who say that time is his is ours. You're wrong excuse me when it counts it's birthday June 8th 9th night which centers daughters and rehab you're out of line Missy Hildreth What You Want To morrow I don't know I do I'm your calendar I'm your Google I'm your Wilson the volleyball you know you're no I am really not I have broken my body for you know come on I've let myself be laughed at I've let myself be humiliated but I'm happy to do it most of the time you even know that I exist everything do you know why I'm so happy to get somebody else to give me my way and claim Ok go out can you find somebody else to do what I do. And you've been on Labor Day. I can see now you can you just did and you just said Labor Day So no information that ever. Was Ok Look I'm. Sorry if I lost my temper all that says are the words that I just spoke so what happened on Labor Day you know oh man I don't know but I am dying to find out man I mean there's something fun to not knowing just because it's got to be something really dark and yes I've done some dark things for her I've dug out stuff in the trash for her I've broken up with boyfriends for her she told me I think it was season one where she's like I need to break up with this guy for me and I was like I'm on it so I mean I've done a lot of weird stuff but something happened on Labor Day Man that takes it like that it's got to be really dark Hey you've walked in on the president of the vice president having sex I don't know what you're going to do I got information which was like walking on mom and dad having sex you know rough day for Gary. A rough one Tony Hale speaking to Terry Gross in 2016 he's won 2 Emmys for his role in H.B.O.'s Veep which is ending its 7 season run this weekend after a break jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the new movie Bolden and will have a special poetry reading for Mother's Day This is Fresh Air. This is Jason is inviting you to visit each town this week I'll be joined by Nick Dillon and my wife Amanda Shires That's this week indeed terrible. Get a lot of calls to the studio rarely one like this and this is a prepaid collect call from an inmate ever D'Andrea detention center a Russian agent speaks for every 3 of the cleanup there I brought her food over there and now I care how many in my I'm Mary Louise Kelly my conversation with Maria Patino on the next All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. This is Fresh Air the new film Bolden tells the story of the legendary early jazz band leader Buddy Bolden he's portrayed by Gary Carr who's other roles include playing a mildly jazzy singer on Downton Abbey and a menacing pimp on h.b.o. As the deuce are jazz critic Kevin Whitehead keeps a close eye on jazz movies and has this review Charles Buddy Bolden was the original jazz hero a New Orleans cornet player at the turn of the last century the African-American Bolden was famous for playing loud and earthy Blues his shirt open to exposer red flannel undershirt some called him king bold and he captivated women and eventually cracked up spending the last 24 years of his life in a mental hospital Bolden was Jazz his 1st mythic figure who burned so bright he burned himself out decades later jazz researchers heard a lot of hearsay about him which they duly repeated as fact including stories later discredited he hadn't for example parachuted out of a hot air balloon as a promotional stunt director Dan Pritzker is film Bolden freely mixes fact and myth in the movie but he does jump from that balloon and it makes up still more stuff the frame story leaves plenty of room for riffing on the bare facts in 1031 and older an addled buddy thinks back on and tries to piece together his old glory days . It's a life scene in fragments shifting back and forth between buddy's dark present and brilliant past within 1931 it shifts between buddy's gloomy hospital ward and a bright new orleans ballroom there Louis Armstrong is doing a live broadcast which Bolden overhears on a nurses radio Lewis as well impersonated by Reno Wilson his growl is one more ghostly Boysen but he's head bold in his a movie of striking set pieces there's that hot air balloon sequence and a dream like factory where young buddy hears his 1st glimmering of syncopation and where seamstresses dance like ballerinas we see but he teaches men the interlocking rhythms that fuel is conversational music and there's a fantasy duet between Bolden and Armstrong across time like a jazz riff on the lake house the glittering fragments mirror the long intermittent production of the film starting back in 2007 with a different cast much as the action cross cuts and leaps across time and space it's easy to track shallow focused cinematography with crisp images sliding into a blur in the same frame evokes but he's struggled to hold on to reality even as it leads the viewer's eye it's very stylish and there's lots of reasonably authentic religion. Since the real Boulder made no records musicians and critics imagine his style according to taste musician pops Foster who heard him said he played nothing but blues and all that stink music and he played very loud but bowling to place week too. In the film his cornet sound is supplied by what Marcellus and movie buddy is more virtuoso than battering ram more like when when an upstart horn player challenges him but he brushes him back with sheer technique the 1st time white listeners hear Him They literally come running prime by good promotion women are drawn to him he keep seeing the same beautiful faces in the crowd a personal muse turns up everywhere bold inspired by English actor Gary Carr who brought disturbing intensity to the pimp c.c. On h.b.o. As the deuce but off the bandstand cars buddy is a curiously muted figure even his red undershirt is toned down tasteful like something from The Gap bold and doesn't control his destiny his increasingly demanding manager puts him in front of white audiences really has to restrain himself making his jazz even more urgent back home at funky but hall that manager alternately answers to the man at the top of the local racist food chain an imperious and windy judge apart made to order for Ian McShane he finally reaches down to confront buddy himself you come from nothing come from the same place as you. There is nothing is saved for you and me and that ain't never going to change. You come from nothing raise your head get people together like you some kind of. You think we going to let that happen. Hate you inside today got to scrap. It all up what up playlists. No one ever would as in life bold in his mental collapse is fairly abrupt and bold in the movie loses its grip in the last act. The judge's minions flood the black community would dope decades too early in 1906 when Bolden went mad you could buy her one at the pharmacy and Buddy's freedom music is deemed a threat to the white power structure which is taking poetic license pretty far in reality there is no evidence white New Orleans ever heard King Bolden or noticed he existed his music never made the papers having movie bold and get crushed by larger political forces on wedding Lee diminishes the man it turns the King into a pawn in his own story jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviewed the movie Bolden his book about jazz movies titled play the way you feel is due out next year will end today's show with a poem our classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz is also a poet last month he received a Guggenheim fellowship in poetry he's also the poet laureate of his town Somerville Massachusetts Sunday is Mother's Day so we thought it would be nice to hear him read a poem about his late mother who had all timers disease it's the title poem from his latest collection which is called little kisses my mother is mad at the son she hates the daylight one more new day in a nursing home stuck in a wheelchair she thinks she's been abandoned in the background a woman's nonstop wail my mother can barely hear me on the phone she doesn't know she's speaking to her son I have to tell her she's speaking to her son Oh then I'm not alone I have a son please don't forget that how could I forget that and you who are you are we related of course are you my father don't you remember your father are you my brother. You are my mother I'm your mother of course was all you a good mother you were you are a wonderful mother I'm glad you're my son what's your name you don't remember I can't think of it I'm all mixed up are we related you're my mother did I ask you that before yes are you angry why should I be angry because I'm so stupid what lovely flowers the nurse says Did your son bring them who your son isn't this your son he's my friend I can't stop myself where is your son where is my son what do you mean where is your son now he's dead Mrs Schwartz your son is on the phone my son yes say hello hello hello how are you feeling much better thank you why did you call I call you every day Forgive me darling I didn't remember well hello how did you know I was here this is my son isn't that right you're my son aren't you you came out of my body I'm your mother isn't that right Isn't he handsome even if he has a beard I'm your mother I'd love you no matter what you look like what night. Give me a little kiss with the. What are you gonna mess with. Gosh oh gee why do you refuse I can't see what she gonna lose so give me a little kiss with. And I'll give it right back to you you see I know all the words I probably won't remember them tomorrow. 2 5 2 Lloyd Schwartz teaches in the creative writing m.f.a. Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston he did a reading from his latest book of poems which is called little kisses. On Monday's show British actor and writer Phoebe Waller bridge who starred in and created the comedy series Fleabag and wrote and created the 1st season of killing Eve which is just one of people who joined us Fresh Air's executive producer is Danny Miller our technical director an engineer is Audry Bentham with additional engineering support from Joyce Lieberman and Julian heard. Our associate producer for digital media is Molly. Roberta sure of the show for Terry Gross I'm David Bianculli. 2 support for n.p.r. 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Station w b It's 2 o'clock it's Friday and that means it's time for Science Friday here on your n.p.r. Station. Good afternoon. What do you get when your crush hydrogen gas between 2 diamonds a superconductor I'm Ira Flatow and this is Science Friday. This hour it's the hunt for new superconductors and no we're not talking about the next Leonard Bernstein these are materials that can perfectly conduct electricity and scientists are pulling them out of thin air hydrogen specifically we'll discuss Plus what happens when a lion takes on a porcupine turns out that prickly mouthful could lead to trouble for people finally the u.s. Attends an Arctic Climate Summit and refuses to talk about the climate what's next for climate change collaboration among Arctic nations all coming up after the break stay with us. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying after a brief attempt today to revive negotiations trade officials from the u.s. And China have ended their talks for the day N.P.R.'s Scott Horsley reports both sides offered up beat assessments of the negotiations but little detail about where things go from here Treasury secretary Steve Minissha described the latest round of talks as constructive while the top Chinese negotiators said they'd gone pretty well that help to curb losses on Wall Street although investors are still nervous after the u.s. More than doubled tariffs on $200000000000.00 worth of Chinese imports the higher tariff took effect just after midnight Eastern time but do not apply to goods that were already in transit across the Pacific that means to go she'd have a little more time to strike a deal before the new import duties start to pinch businesses and consumers here in the u.s. China has promised to retaliate for the higher tariffs agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue says he's been asked to craft a new aid policy to help u.s. Farmers caught in the crossfire of the trade war Scott Horsley n.p.r. News Washington the Pentagon has agreed to transfer one and a half $1000000000.00 in its accounts to build more than 80 miles of barriers along the u.s. Border with Mexico.