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Pic of Fresh Air

Best Of: Actor Leslie Uggams / Martha's Vineyard's Indigenous Past & Present

July 26, 2025
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Fresh Air

Description

Actor and singer Leslie Uggams talks about her remarkable career, which started when she was 6. She was later the first Black woman to host a TV variety show. In the 1977 TV miniseries Roots, she played Kunta Kinte's daughter. More recently she's been in Empire, American Fiction, and the Deadpool films — and is still going strong at 82.

Also, writer Joseph Lee talks about what it means to be a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe from Martha's Vineyard. His new book, Nothing More of This Land, peels back the postcard image of the Vineyard to reveal a powerful story of Indigenous identity and survival.

Plus, rock critic Ken Tucker reviews new music from the band HAIM and Addison Rae.

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