Fresh Air Weekend: Comic Hannah Gadsby; Behind The Edward Snowden Story

Fresh Air

Published May 30, 2020 at 9:00 AM EDT

"In many ways I appear very good at being social," says comic Hannah Gadsby. "But it's an incredibly exhausting process for me." She found her autism spectrum diagnosis in 2016 helped put her experience into perspective.

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:

Autism Spectrum Diagnosis Helped Comic Hannah Gadsby 'Be Kinder' To Herself: Growing up, the comic — known for her Nanette stand-up special — struggled to read social cues. She says her 2016 diagnosis "shifted the way that I understood myself." Her latest special is Douglas.

'St. Christopher On Pluto' Follows The Adventures Of 2 Friends In An Old Buick: Nancy McKinley mixes screwball humor with social criticism in a collection of interlocking stories about two women who work at a mall in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Journalist Who Helped Break Snowden's Story Reflects On His High-Stakes Reporting: Barton Gellman shared a Pulitzer for his reporting about former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and the country's secret surveillance program. His new book is Dark Mirror.

You can listen to the original interviews and review here:

Autism Spectrum Diagnosis Helped Comic Hannah Gadsby 'Be Kinder' To Herself

'St. Christopher On Pluto' Follows The Adventures Of 2 Friends In An Old Buick

Journalist Who Helped Break Snowden's Story Reflects On His High-Stakes Reporting