Music & Culture

A virtual reality installation allows visitors to experience a doll's perspective as she's poked and prodded by a lab assistant. Read the full story at KQED.

Don't Think Your Bias Can Boss You Around? David Byrne Says Think Again

11:37am February 15, 2017

by Rachael Myrow

The musician and multimedia artist has co-created an immersive experience designed to make people aware of their implicit biases. It's called "The Institute Presents: Neurosociety."

Queue Listen Now

Kishi Bashi drives a cab in a video for his song "Can't Let Go, Juno."

Music & Culture

First Watch: Kishi Bashi, 'Can't Let Go, Juno'

11:06am February 15, 2017

by Robin Hilton

Kishi Bashi sits impassively behind the wheel of a cab, bearing witness to the joy and pain of his passengers as he ferries them through a night in the city.

King Woman's new album, Created In The Image Of Suffering, comes out Feb. 24.

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: King Woman, 'Shame'

10:52am February 15, 2017

by Paula Mejia

One of our most ancient creation stories holds that God created mankind in his image. But what of woman? Kristina Esfandiari leads King Woman in this doom-rock reckoning.

Tony McManus is one of the artists featured on this week's show.

Music & Culture

The Thistle & Shamrock: Love Songs

10:40am February 15, 2017

This week's selections capture a musical bond with landscape, language and the natural world.

Arkells performs onstage at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

Music & Culture

Arkells On World Cafe

9:38am February 15, 2017

by Talia Schlanger

The Canadian band's sunny pop-rock spirit turns every rock show — whether in a college dive bar or a sold-out arena — into a dance party.

Agnes Obel performs perform a Tiny Desk Concert on Dec. 9, 2016. (Raquel Zaldivar/NPR)

Music & Culture

Agnes Obel: Tiny Desk Concert

9:00am February 15, 2017

by Bob Boilen

Agnes Obel manipulated the Tiny Desk to better suit the deeply alluring and powerful music she brought to us.

Adele performs onstage during the Grammy Awards on February 12, 2017.

The First #BoycottAdele Wasn't Over A Grammy, But On How To Make Tea

8:42pm February 14, 2017

by Nina Martyris

Calls for a boycott are not new for Adele. And now, embroiled in the politics of both left and right, she will likely think longingly back to her first, uncomplicated boycott — about her tea-making.

Aretha Franklin poses for the cameras in 1968.

Music & Culture

'Respect' Wasn't A Feminist Anthem Until Aretha Franklin Made It One

5:08pm February 14, 2017

by NPR Staff

Today, Franklin's recording of "Respect" is definitive. But when she recorded it on Valentine's Day 1967, it was a radical gender-bending of Otis Redding's original.

Music & Culture

Ryan Adams, Our Valentine's Day Guest DJ, Addresses Love And Lonesome Roads

4:42pm February 14, 2017

by Bob Boilen

Ahead of the release of his newest record, Ryan Adams sits down with NPR Music's Bob Boilen to consider his favorite love songs, including Springsteen, Dylan and Sonic Youth.

Queue Listen Now

Beyoncé performs at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 12. She won the award for best urban contemporary album, but was shut out of the major categories, which were all given to Adele.

Music & Culture

The Problem With The Grammys Is Not A Problem We Can Fix

3:50pm February 14, 2017

by Ann Powers

Adele's attempt to share her album of the year Grammy with Beyoncé on Sunday was a gesture that held within it a history of privilege and power that listeners and institutions alike reckon with.