Sterling K. Brown won an Emmy for his portrayal of Christopher Darden in The People v. O.J. Simpson, and another for This Is Us. He's now nominated for an Oscar for his performance in American Fiction. Colman Domingo is also nominated, for his role in the biopic Rustin as Bayard Rustin, the civil rights leader responsible for organizing the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin was forced into the background because he was gay. Justin Chang reviews Drift, starring Cynthia Erivo. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
On the Ted Radio hour, linguist Ann Curzan says she gets a lot of complaints about people using the pronoun they to refer to one person.
I sometimes get into arguments with people where they will say to me, but it can't be singular.
And I will say, but it is the history behind words causing a lot of debate.
That's on the Ted radio hour from NPR.
This is FRESH AIR.
I'm David B.
And Cooley.
The Academy Awards are less than a month away.
Today we continue our series of interviews with or about Oscar nominees.
Sterling K.
Brown has been nominated for best supporting actor for his role in american fiction.
The film has four other nominations, including best picture and best adapted screenplay.
Brown also played prosecutor Christopher Darden in the miniseries the people versus OJ Simpson, winning an Emmy for that performance.
He won another the following year for his performance in the popular NBC series this is us.
Lets start with the film american fiction.
It stars Jeffrey Wright as a college professor and novelist who is black.
It appears to him that the only books written by black authors that white publishers want to print are books about being poor or in gangs or addicted to drugs or being a pregnant teenager.
So under a pen name, he writes a book conforming to those expectations.
To prove his point, he's offered a huge advance and the book becomes a best seller.
Sterling K.