Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

This is Ira Glass. On this American life, we tell stories about when things change. Like for this guy David, whose entire life took a sharp, unexpected, and very unpleasant turn. And it did take me a while to realize that it's basically because the monkey pressed the button. That's right.

Because the monkey pressed the button. Surprising stories every week, wherever you get your podcasts. This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. Today we continue our retrospective series featuring some of our favorite interviews from 2025, including this one which was recorded in October.

My guest Dwayne Johnson is a wrestling star, known in the ring as The Rock. He's won eight WWE championships. And he's a movie star. His new movie, which he produced and stars in, is a perfect fit in which he gets to use his muscles, his fighting ability, and to show what a good and nuanced actor he can be, for anyone who may have doubted it. It's called The Smashing Machine, and it's based on the story of Mark Kerr, one of the American pioneers of mixed martial arts.

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