From WHY in Philadelphia, this is Fresh Air Weekend. I'm Dave Davies.

Today the inside story of Clarence Thomas' path to power. As controversy swirls around

revelations of gifts to Thomas, we'll speak with award-winning filmmaker Michael Kirk,

director and producer of the frontline documentary Clarence and Jenny Thomas, Politics, Power

and the Supreme Court. Also, if it seems like your seasonal allergies are getting worse

over time, you're probably not wrong. Today writer and medical anthropologist Theresa McFail

tells us that allergies have risen dramatically in recent years, both in the US and around

the world. Her new book is A LERGIC, our irritated bodies in a changing world.

And jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Arturo O'Farrill's new album, Legacy's.

That's coming up on Fresh Air Weekend.

This is Fresh Air Weekend. I'm Dave Davies. US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is

the most senior member of the conservative supermajority that now dominates the court, giving

him a level of influence he'd never seen in his 32 years as an associate justice. But

controversy has swirled around Thomas, and his wife Jenny in recent weeks, with revelations

by the investigative news site ProPublica, that a conservative Texas billionaire has lavished

Thomas with expensive vacations and other financial benefits for many years, benefits that

were never reported on Thomas' financial disclosure forms. Those benefits included trips on

private jets and a luxury yacht, the purchase of and renovations to the home Clarence Thomas'

mother lives in, and private school tuition for a grand nephew of Clarence Thomas. Our

guest today is veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk, who is the director of co-writer and co-producer

of a new frontline documentary about the lives and formative influences on Clarence and

Jenny Thomas and their path to power in Washington.

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