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On Tuesday, a legion of screaming fans packed the Beacon Theatre in New York City – arms outstretched for the glittery, long-haired rock star known as the Vampire Lestat.

Of course, in reality, the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt and his touring band don’t exist. He’s the creation of beloved horror writer Anne Rice. And this version of him, played by actor Sam Reid, is the lead of AMC’s television adaptation of Rice’s books.

But for the fans who packed the Beacon Theatre this week, these distinctions are unimportant. And it speaks to a shared commitment between the fans of Rice’s vampiric world and the actors and creators behind the series who strive to honor it.

The third season of “Interview with the Vampire’s” begins airing Sunday. It’s a departure from the first two – which focused on Louis de Point du Lac, played by actor Jacob Anderson, his transformation into a vampire, and his rocky relationship with his maker.

The third season puts Lestat in the driver’s seat – his perspective, his music, and a peak into his 200-year backstory. We sit down with the series showrunner and the actors to discuss the show’s third season, honoring Rice’s vision, and rocking out as a vampire.

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More than 300,000 federal workers have left government service since the start of the second Trump administration.

Some were laid off by the administration. Some took buyouts. Some walked out. The cuts hit every major agency — from the State Department to the Justice Department.

That doesn’t mean things have been easy for those still working for the government. Last week, the Office of Personnel Management proposed requiring all federal employees to sign non-disclosure agreements that would prevent them from sharing internal government information.

We sit down to talk about how those cuts are affecting the workers who remained.

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Smart phones. Smart cars. Smart speakers. Web browsers. Social media. Artificial Intelligence.

Technologies we rely on every day generate a massive amount of information about what we do, where we go, what we like, and who we are. That data can make life very convenient — your rideshare app knows where you want go before you enter an address, you only see ads for products you’re already interested in buying, videos on subjects you enjoy are already auto-populated in your feed.

But at what cost? What’s the tradeoff?

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson is a professor of law at the George Washington University School of Law and a national surveillance expert. He says that the rise of the self-surveillance state has big ramifications for Americans’ personal freedoms and America’s democratic values.

We sit down with him to talk about how are data is being used against us and about his books, “Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance.”

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Since the start of his second term, President Donald Trump has fashioned the Department of Justice into a tool he can wield against his enemies.

So far, Trump has installed his personal lawyer as the top official. He’s culled the ranks of career prosecutors. And he’s pressured U.S. attorneys into bringing cases against people he considers political enemies.

In recent months, grand juries have acted as the last line of defense against his full weaponization of the justice system — refusing to indict in cases where the government hasn’t proven a crime has been committed.

In this latest installment of our weekly politics series, “If You Can Keep It,” what do recent high-profile grand jury proceedings tell us about accountability at the Justice Department?

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The US and Iran appear to be close to a peace deal. That’s according to US officials, but it’s still awaiting President Trump approval. He’s reviewing the details today.

The deal would reportedly extend the ceasefire for 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and open talks over the future of Iran’s nuclear program.

We unpack the other big news of the week: Is the U.S ready for the Ebola outbreak? Conflict also erupted outside an ICE detention center in New Jersey, where detainees are on a hunger and labor strike. And major results out of the Texas runoff election.

And for this week’s global news, we have some special guests from the BBC and The Global Story podcast from the BBC to take us through some international news.

The Trump administration is continuing to squeeze Cuba’s communist regime with sanctions as it prepares for the possible collapse of the island’s totalitarian government as early as this summer, according to U.S officials.

And in another week of whiplash in the negotiations between the US and Iran, the countries appear on the cusp of a peace deal. The agreement would reportedly extend the ceasefire for 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and commit to negotiating Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Though it still needs President Trump’s approval.

We also talk Europe, and how the E.U is dealing with multiple diplomatic challenges from the far right to Russia to the Trump administration.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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