Fresh Air – Jane Fonda
Aired: December 26, 2025 | Host: Tonya Mosley
Podcast: Fresh Air (NPR)
Overview
This episode of Fresh Air features a wide-ranging, emotionally honest interview with Hollywood icon, activist, and fitness pioneer Jane Fonda. Fonda reflects on her decades-long career, her deeply personal family history, lifelong activism, struggles with self-image, and her ongoing fight for democracy and climate justice. Interwoven with memorable stories and hard-won wisdom, Fonda’s conversation with Tonya Mosley reveals intimate insights into her upbringing, her evolving sense of duty, and her unflagging spirit of resilience in her late 80s.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Duty, Activism, and the State of America
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Fonda recalls why she used her 2025 SAG AFTRA Lifetime Achievement Award speech to urge actors and artists to use their platforms for empathy and resistance in divisive times.
“Empathy is not weak or woke…we are in our documentary moment.” (Jane Fonda, 00:43)
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She discusses the pain and anger of Americans whose livelihoods have been upended, particularly in “flyover country,” and the need for a “big tent” inclusive vision to address suffering, uniting across differences.
“All of them are not MAGA, you know, and when they realize that what they voted for has turned against them…they're going to be looking for alternatives. We have to not judge, but we have to put forward a vision of what we think America should be.” (Jane Fonda, 02:58)
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Fonda admits she can’t imagine retreating from activism, stressing that complacency is dangerous and that the U.S. is “very, very close to becoming fascist.”
“This is not the time to go inward. We have to go out, we have to speak, we have to shout.” (Jane Fonda, 04:36)
2. Origin Story – Becoming an Activist
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Fonda’s political awakening at 31 started in Paris: Meeting antiwar American soldiers, reading Jonathan Schell’s The Village of Ben Suc, and losing her uncritical faith in U.S. military actions.
"When I finished the book, I closed it. I was a different person." (Jane Fonda, 05:25)
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Fonda describes the pain but not surprise at public backlash when she protested the Vietnam War and the vital importance of community among activists to withstand criticism.
“That's really important that we are not alone when we start to speak out.” (Jane Fonda, 06:50)
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Discusses her infamous 1972 trip to North Vietnam, including the moment she posed for the controversial photograph, her regret over it, and the intent behind her actions.
“It was a terrible mistake because it made me look like I was against Americans. I wasn't there to be against America. I was there to try to understand the war better and to stop the bombing of the dikes.” (Jane Fonda, 11:36)
3. Reconciliation and Legacy
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Fonda has reconciled with many veterans over the years, many now thank her for her antiwar activism.
“Now vets come up to me and thank me, thank God. It kills me that people think that I was against soldiers, but I did help end a terrible part of the war.” (Jane Fonda, 12:07)
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She endured FBI and CIA surveillance, threats, and violence during her protests, with the toll mostly affecting her children.
4. Current Focus: Democracy and Climate
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Fonda draws a direct line between saving democracy and climate action, stressing their interdependence.
“You can't have a stable democracy with unstable climate. You can't have a stable climate without a stable democracy. And they'll be solved together.” (Jane Fonda, 13:21)
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Her Jane Fonda Climate PAC focuses on supporting down-ballot races (local and state), “building a firewall” for democracy and climate leadership.
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She acknowledges privileges in her activism—her arrests are not treated the same as those of less famous or Black activists.
5. Responsibility of Her Generation
- Fonda criticizes “neoliberalism” and the Democratic Party’s corporate shift, taking responsibility for her generation’s part in current crises.
6. Family, Loss, and Healing
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The deep impact of her parents, particularly her father, actor Henry Fonda, whose values and onscreen roles she describes as “fertilizer in the soil of my soul.”
“I view his films as fertilizer in the soil of my soul. It was there. I just needed to stir it up a little.” (Jane Fonda, 15:37)
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Her father's cold reaction to her activism—threatening to "turn [her] in" if she was a communist—and her reflections on not being ideological.
“I'm not an ideological person. I'm not a anything. Ism.” (Jane Fonda, 17:00)
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The suicide of her mother, her later discovery that her mother was sexually abused, and the meaning that understanding brought her.
“…all I wanted to do was take my mother in my arms and hold her and tell her how sorry I was and that I understood and that I know she did her best.” (Jane Fonda, 26:52)
7. The Fitness Revolution and Personal Struggles
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The genesis of the Jane Fonda Workout videos sprang from a need to financially support progressive activism (the Campaign for Economic Democracy).
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Fonda details her struggle with bulimia and body dysmorphia—at a time when the disorder didn’t even have a name.
“I suffered from an eating disorder...It was really hard because I didn't know to go to a program or to talk to anybody. I just quit.” (Jane Fonda, 19:02)
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She speaks candidly about learning to see herself clearly and reaching a point where she practices self-care rather than starvation.
8. Approaching Aging and Mortality
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Fonda discusses her evolving relationship with aging and death, describing how planning for a “good death” shapes her daily life.
“Thinking about death gives meaning to life…if you visualize your death…it guides how I live in these last years.” (Jane Fonda, 29:49)
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She talks about wanting to be buried simply and in a way that allows her children to “commune” with her and her husband.
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On overcoming the fear of old age:
“The thing to do when you're scared, at least for me, is I make what I'm afraid of my best friend. I learn all about it. I wrap my arms around it and squash it to death.” (Jane Fonda, 31:28)
9. The Power and Craft of Acting
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Fonda describes acting as a profound path to empathy—inhabiting another person’s soul.
“…the whole process of getting to know another character so well…you respond spontaneously the way they would, not the way you would…that’s why acting leads to empathy.” (Jane Fonda, 34:16)
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On preparing for Klute, she spent intensive time with sex workers, finding a common emotional void, and nearly turning down the role because she felt she couldn’t capture their “dead” eyes.
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She confirms her iconic scenes in Klute with the psychiatrist were ad libbed, a testament to her immersive process.
10. Relationships, Reinvention, and Resilience
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Fonda’s 10-year marriage to Ted Turner was “a full time job,” after which she reclaimed her own identity and returned to acting.
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Success of Grace and Frankie: Her chemistry with Lily Tomlin, the importance of onscreen representations of older women, and how therapy helped her cope with the show’s early abandonment themes.
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Candid about still seeking self-improvement in her 80s—ongoing therapy, striving for fewer regrets:
“I want to end it with no regrets, or at least as few regrets as possible.” (Jane Fonda, 29:49)
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On resilience:
“Resilience is when a young child who is not getting love at home…If there's a warm body that maybe could love her or teach her something, you go there…That was me.” (Jane Fonda, 47:16)
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Dispels the myth that growth stops at a certain age, affirming, “No. I'm grateful that I have a very vibrant old life.” (Jane Fonda, 47:56)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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On activism’s risks:
“At its worst, it scared my children…we had smoke bombs thrown through our windows…different cars ransacked—traumatic for my children.” (Jane Fonda, 12:53)
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On seeing herself differently:
“For those of us who grapple with body dysmorphia…you don’t see what’s real. You see what you think is there.” (Jane Fonda, 19:30)
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On the parenting cycle:
“I think I'm gonna have to pass away before my kids make peace with me, because I certainly have not been a perfect parent, but I've done my best.” (Jane Fonda, 23:54)
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On the power of the arts:
“The arts has the power to create empathy, to understand a human so profoundly that you can touch another person's soul.” (Jane Fonda, summarized by Mosley, 33:18)
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On turning pain into purpose:
“The phrases aren’t just for anything—you can’t teach an old dog new tricks…that’s not true.” (Jane Fonda, 47:56)
Timestamps for Critical Segments
- Opening & Theme of Empathy in Activism: 00:16–02:58
- Activist Origins (Vietnam War, Paris): 05:25–06:35
- Infamous Hanoi Photo, Reflection & Regret: 08:48–11:36
- Impact on Family, Government Response: 12:36–13:16
- Current Activism (Democracy & Climate): 13:21–14:43
- Generational Responsibility & Democratic Party: 14:58–15:37
- Father’s Influence & Family Dynamics: 15:37–17:52
- Fitness Empire & Eating Disorder: 18:02–19:57
- Mother’s Suicide, Discovery of Her Abuse: 24:16–26:52
- Thoughts on Death, Old Age, and Living Without Regrets: 29:49–31:39
- Acting as Empathy & Klute Role: 34:02–37:46
- Grace and Frankie & Therapy for Abandonment: 44:59–45:53, 46:40–46:57
- On Resilience & Growth in Old Age: 47:16–47:56
Tone & Style
The conversation is searching, vulnerable, and unflinchingly honest. Fonda’s candor—about politics, regret, family, and mortality—feels both activist and maternal, direct yet deeply empathetic. Tonya Mosley’s questions invite not only analysis of the past, but also practical wisdom for growth and healing, no matter one’s age.
Summary
Jane Fonda’s episode is an essential listen—not only for fans or activists, but for anyone interested in resilience, personal evolution, and the possibility of meaningful change at any stage of life. Her life’s arc, marked by self-examination and moral courage, points to the enduring value of empathic engagement—with oneself and with the world.