Steve Cropper, who co-wrote classics including "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" and "In the Midnight Hour" during his years playing guitar at the legendary Stax Records in Memphis, has died. He was 84.

When he found himself living alone in the North Carolina woods, he returned to the piano, his first instrument, working through loss, grief, and the promise of new possibilities.

Every year, we ask NPR staff and book critics to share their favorite titles in our annual Books We Love guide. Here are 8 fiction picks that were standout stars.

Brandi Carlile has a way of making any performance feel like a tête-à-tête, a deep emotional exchange between friends that just happens to take place in a crowd.

NPR's A Martinez speaks with Paul McCartney about his new book, "Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run," an oral history of the band McCartney formed after The Beatles broke up.

Send us a voice memo about a song that hit you hard in 2025 — one you listened to on repeat, made you cry, or just got you in your feels like no other.

A woman with a terminal diagnosis asks her husband to leave the house in Ann Packer's new novel. Some Bright Nowhere is an absorbing book about end-of-life care and what the living owe the dying.

Multiple Grammy-winning songwriter John Prine died of COVID-19 complications in April 2020.

Nobel winners Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke bring us a reissue and a new book respectively this week. Also, a story from a fictional African country and a commentary on beauty.

Canceled grants, a chill on philanthropy and soft attendance roiled museums across the country this year.