Martha Stewart, Seth Rogen and more NPR interviews this week : NPR

We know it’s been a busy week, so we rounded up the big interviews you might have missed. From gardening tips for beginners with Martha Stewart to a conversation with a former astronaut about what happens to our bodies after that much time in space, there’s something for everybody.

Uzo Aduba plays a game of Wild Card

Uzo Aduba very nearly wasn’t an actor. She wasn’t getting traction in auditions so she convinced herself that she should give it all up and go to law school. The same exact day she made this decision, she came home to a message saying she landed the part of Suzanne on the hit show Orange Is the New Black.

Leila Fadel talks to Mahmoud Khalil’s wife

Mahmoud Khalil is a Columbia University graduate student and lawful permanent resident of the United States who was detained by Homeland Security, apparently for his prominent roles in protests at Columbia against Israel’s war in Gaza. His wife, Noor Abdalla, spoke to Morning Edition about his arrest and what happens next.

“He’s on a green card. He is not doing anything wrong. Exercising your First Amendment rights is not illegal,” she said. “I think what’s so scary about this and what people need to realize, is the fact that you can kidnap someone basically from their home for going to a protest. That’s terrifying.”

Seth Rogen on his new show and his recent “glow up”

In 2000, when Seth Rogen and his creative partner Evan Goldberg were just starting out in Hollywood, they met with a studio executive who made a cynical confession: He said that although he had entered the profession because he loved movies, he felt his job was to ruin them.

The sentiment stuck with Rogen, and now he and Goldberg have made it the basis of their new Apple TV+ comedy series, The Studio. In it, Rogen plays a flustered Hollywood executive who gets an unexpected promotion as the head of a movie studio after his boss is fired.

Lawmaker on cuts to program that tracked abducted Ukrainian children

Funding for a U.S.-based program that tracks thousands of Ukrainian children allegedly abducted and taken to Russia has been cut and U.S. lawmakers are worried that a database with crucial information has been permanently deleted, according to a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed by more than 15 lawmakers.

“This data is absolutely crucial to Ukraine’s efforts to return their children home …The foreign aid freeze has jeopardized, and may ultimately eliminate, our informational support of Ukraine on this front,” the letter states.

One of the lawmakers behind the letter to Rubio is Rep. Greg Landsman, a Democrat from Ohio. He spoke with All Things Considered‘s Ailsa Chang.

Martha Stewart shares gardening tips for beginners

For four decades, Martha Stewart has been an emblem of all things homemaking. From her elaborate spreads of food to her revered home decor tips, she has built her home and lifestyle expertise into a sprawling media empire.

At 83, she just published her 101st book, Martha Stewart’s Gardening Handbook: The Essential Guide to Designing, Planting, and Growing. In the book, Stewart shares advice on topics such as growing produce and arranging flowers. Along with her practical tips, she also opens up about the importance of gardening in her life — which she says is a source of both immediate and long-term gratification.

An astronaut on adjusting back to Earth

Two astronauts are back on Earth after what was supposed to be a week aboard the International Space Station turned into nine months. What happens to the bodies of astronauts after that much time in space?

Former NASA astronaut Jack Fischer joined Morning Edition to discuss his experience after an extended stay at the International Space Station from April to September in 2017 and his return to Earth. Fischer’s mission was 136 days long, during which he conducted two spacewalks and worked on various experiments.

Digging into Japanese Breakfast’s latest album

The music of the indie rock band Japanese Breakfast is suffused with longing. In songs from the group’s first LP, 2016’s Psychopomp, author, musician and singer Michelle Zauner longs for her mother, who died of cancer more than a decade ago.

The 35-year-old Zauner explores other kinds of longing on the band’s latest album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women). The lyrics tell stories of figures who yearn — some who get what they want, and others who do and wish they hadn’t.

“All of these characters succumb to some sort of temptation or disrupt a balance in their lives and are then grappling with the consequences or regrets of that decision-making,” says Zauner.

Insight into the Department of Education

Morning Edition’s A Martínez spoke with Kevin Huffman, a former Tennessee commissioner of education, about President Trump’s executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

Hungry for more? Check out the NPR App for more great interviews, the latest news, music and our favorite podcasts from across the NPR Network.KT.