Music & Culture

Kate McKinnon as Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Alec Baldwin as President Trump in the opening sketch of the 43rd season premiere of Saturday Night Live.

Music & Culture

On 'SNL,' Jay-Z Wears A Kaepernick Jersey And Alec Baldwin's Trump Is Back

5:22pm October 01, 2017

by Linda Holmes

The 43rd season of NBC's Saturday Night Live kicked off, unsurprisingly, with Alec Baldwin's impression of the president. But its sharpest political moments lay elsewhere.

The Voyager Golden Record remained mostly unavailable and unheard, until a Kickstarter campaign finally brought the sounds to human ears.

The Voyager Golden Record Finally Finds An Earthly Audience

4:04pm October 01, 2017

by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi

For 40 years, the record's interstellar message to extraterrestrials remained mostly unheard by human audiences — until a Kickstarter campaign brought a new vinyl box set to the public.

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Music & Culture

Shania Twain On Starting Over In 'Now'

8:09am October 01, 2017

Shania Twain is coming out with her first record in 15 years. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to the country-pop singer about her new album Now.

Portland indie artist Haley Heynderickx is featured in this month's Heavy Rotation.

Music & Culture

Heavy Rotation: Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing

1:31pm September 30, 2017

Hear new songs from Portland indie artist Haley Heynderickx, Latin alternative group LADAMA and more.

Music & Culture

With 'HEAVN,' Jamila Woods Writes A Love Letter To Her City

12:08pm September 30, 2017

by Jenny Gathright

The Slingshot artist talks about her love for Chicago, why she sees staying in the city as "an act of resistance" and the renewal she wants listeners to find in her music.

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Charity Tillemann-Dick is an opera singer who, in 2009, received a double lung transplant. She tells this story in her new memoir, The Encore.

Singing With New Lungs In 'The Encore'

9:47am September 30, 2017

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon talks with opera singer Charity Tillemann-Dick, whose new memoir chronicles her double lung transplant, her recovery and how it feels to sing with someone else's lungs.

Shania Twain's new album, Now, is her first after a decade-and-a-half break.

Music & Culture

Shania Twain On Being Respected And Finding Her Voice 'Now'

5:00am September 30, 2017

by Jewly Hight

After nerve damage, divorce and a decade-and-a-half break, Twain has returned to the studio with a much-altered relationship to her instrument. "The mic's become a very good friend of mine," she says.

Music & Culture

Across the Blue Ridge #93- Fiddle Mentors, Sack Full of Songs, and New Music

4:01pm September 29, 2017

by Paul Brown

This week's show brings us a fun listening opportunity in southern mountain fiddling.

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BTS at the Samsung Card Hall on August 19, 2014 in Seoul.

Music & Culture

A Record-Breaking Week Has Us Wondering: How Far Can K-Pop Go?

3:07pm September 29, 2017

by Colin Marshall

The septet BTS became the highest-charting K-pop group in history this week — but why?

Lilly Hiatt and her band inside the World Cafe Performance Studio

Music & Culture

Lilly Hiatt On World Cafe

2:10pm September 29, 2017

by Talia Schlanger

You barely have to listen through a full verse and chorus of one of Hiatt's songs to feel like you've connected with a new friend. Hear a performance and interview from the Nashville songwriter.