b'There are few actors as widely beloved as Tom Hanks. Hanks has acted in over 75 films in his 46-year career, winning the best actor Academy Award two years in a row, for \\u201cPhiladelphia\\u201d and \\u201cForrest Gump.\\u201d And more recently, he\\u2019s the author of the short story collection \\u201cUncommon Type\\u201d and the novel \\u201cThe Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece.\\u201d\\n\\nWhat is the source of Hanks\\u2019s near-universal admiration? In playing roles including Chesley Sullenberger, Mister Rogers and World War II heroes, Hanks reflects back to audiences what we could be at our very best. He\\u2019s an uncannily wise interpreter of America: what our country has been, and what it could be if we activated our potential to be kind, compassionate, even heroic toward one another.\\n\\nThat\\u2019s just one of many topics we traverse in this truly delightful conversation. We also discuss how working on typewriters helps fuel Hanks\\u2019s creativity, why there\\u2019s such a huge global appetite for superhero stories, why America has become so cynical and how Hanks endeavors to defy that cynicism, how Hanks\\u2019s complicated family upbringing influences how he approaches his film roles, what America learned about itself \\u2014 and didn\\u2019t \\u2014 through Vietnam, Watergate and other historical events, how Hanks understands the complexity of heroic figures he\\u2019s played, why he views kindness as an active practice and more.\\n\\nBook Recommendations:\\n\\nBeartown by Fredrik Backman\\n\\nThe Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt\\n\\nTrust by Hernan Diaz\\n\\nListen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at\\xa0nytimes.com/audioapp\\n\\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.\\n\\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of \\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.\\n\\nThis episode of \\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris with Mary Marge Locker. Our senior audio engineer is Jeff Geld. Our senior editor is Rog\\xe9 Karma. The show\\u2019s production team also includes Emefa Agawu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Pat McCusker.'