Fresh Air Weekend: Revisiting The Donner Party; 'Okja'; Reporting On Extremist Groups

Fresh Air

Published July 1, 2017 at 9:00 AM EDT

Author Michael Wallis says there are modern lessons to learn from the Donner Party — primarily about the fatal combination of ignorance and arrogance. Above, an undated drawing of the pioneers, looking to make their way West.

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:

'What Would You Do?' Author Wants To Stop Sensationalizing The Donner Party: In The Best Land Under Heaven, Michael Wallis chronicles the saga of a band of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting stranded en route West. He says "there's so much more" to the story.

In Ambitious 'Okja,' A Teen Attempts To Save Her Super Pig From Slaughter:You'll root for 13-year-old Mija at every step of this new Netflix film. And Okja, the huge, genetically modified pig, is among the most touching and realistic computer-generated characters ever made.

Journalist Ventured 'Behind The Lines Of Jihad' To Interview The World's Most Wanted:Washington Post correspondent Souad Mekhennet has risked kidnapping and imprisonment to report on extremist groups, such as ISIS and the Taliban. Her new memoir is I Was Told to Come Alone.

You can listen to the original interviews here:

'What Would You Do?' Author Wants To Stop Sensationalizing The Donner Party

In Ambitious 'Okja,' A Teen Attempts To Save Her Super Pig From Slaughter

Journalist Ventured 'Behind The Lines Of Jihad' To Interview The World's Most Wanted