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Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl offers some summer reading recommendations, with the proviso that they're not exactly literature. Hear Pearl and NPR's Steve Inskeep.

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with NPR music critic Ann Powers and music scholar Shana Redmond about how old and new protest music reflects political moments, following the Supreme Court overturning Roe.

Dave Smith, a pioneer of the synthesizer, revolutionized pop music in the 1980s. David Bowie and Madonna are among the legions who used his Prophet 5 synthesizer. Smith died last week at age 72.

Played on three string instruments, this music was the country's soundtrack from the turn of the 20th century to the 1940s.

Brian Setzer got his start in the '80s rockabilly band Stray Cats with hits like "Rock This Town" and "Stray Cat Strut." From the '90s until now, his main gig has been with his 17-piece big band, with six albums and Grammy Awards in tow. Hear an interview and performance from WXPN.

"I Only Want to Be with You" was Dusty Springfield's first solo hit, back in 1964. Now, rebellious alt-country singer Shelby Lynne, who's had an up-and-down career, has remade the song as part of a Springfield tribute album. It's a radically different version.

Esquire music critic Andy Langer discusses the week's new releases, including albums by The Kooks, Mariah Carey, The Black Angels, and former Pixies singer Black Francis, a.k.a. Frank Black.

Ballet dancer Carlos Acosta is known for powerful leaps that make him seem to fly. Those leaps have earned him comparisons with Nureyev and Baryshnikov. He grew up in a poor neighborhood outside Havana. How that boy became a man who dances with grace and power is the subject of Acosta's memoir, No Way Home.

The former U.S. Attorney and longtime New Yorker staff writer has a new book about the nation's highest court. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court contains new information about the 2000 presidential election challenge.

Compact and intense, the New Jersey band's songs channel the spirit of punk, but also the density of heavy rock that's had the fat cut out.