Decades ago, Brazilian women made a discovery.

They could have an abortion without a doctor, thanks to a tiny pill.

That pill spawned a global movement, helping millions of women have safe abortions regardless of the law.

Hear that story on the network from NPR's Embedded and Futuro Media, wherever you get your podcasts.

This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross. My guest, Larry Charles, has been an integral part of

TV shows and films that both reflected and made an impact on American popular culture.

He was a writer on Seinfeld, showrunner on Mad About You,

a writer and executive producer on HBO's entourage, and a director and executive producer on

Curb Your Enthusiasm. He directed Sasha Baron Cohen's films Borat and Bruno. He also collaborated

with Bob Dylan on the film Masked and Anonymous.

Larry Charles has a new memoir called Comedy Samurai,

40 years of blood, guts, and laughter.

When he says blood and guts, he means it.

He and Sasha Baron Cohn took enormous risks with their films in which Baron Cohn took his characters, Borat and Bruno, into the real world,

and shot scenes with people who thought Borat and Bruno, into the real world and shot scenes with people

who thought Borret and Bruno were real people. To expose anti-Semitism, racism, and homophobia,

Baron Cohn's fictional characters pushed his targets to reveal their darker feelings and beliefs,

and it sometimes ended in near violence, with Baron Cohn, Larry Charles, and the

crew fleeing. Larry Charles also did a documentary series called Larry Charles's Dangerous World of

Comedy, where he went to dangerous places run by authoritarian rulers or were controlled by

militias to see what comedy was like there. Larry Charles, welcome to Fresh Air. Welcome back to Fresh Air.

Thank you. It's great to be here again. Thank you so much.

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