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Forty years ago, Allan Sherman topped the pop charts by replacing the lyrics of folk songs with satires of Jewish American life. And in doing that, he offered a perfect snapshot of what it meant to assimilate.

Final Fantasy is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Owen Pallett, who first achieved notoriety as a member of The Arcade Fire. Pallett makes music that marries the serious and the silly, informed by everything from Dungeons & Dragons to the songs on Top 40 radio.

For America's daily papers, the news hasn't been good: For nearly two decades, newspapers have been losing paid subscribers. And a new report illustrates that circulation is now dropping more quickly than ever.

With his band the Belmonts, singer-songwriter Dion rose to fame as a '60s teen idol, topping charts with hits like "The Wanderer" and "I Wonder Why." The latest album in his long career is Heroes: Giants Of Early Guitar Rock.

Lahiri famously brought a disco vibe to India's biggest film industry. He composed dozens of hits in the 1970s and '80s — which appeared in many top Bollywood movies.

Steve Martin is at the top of his game. He has just been awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, at the same time that his newest movie, Shopgirl, is winning strong reviews around the country.

His songs include "By The Time I Get to Phoenix," "Up Up and Away," "Wichita Lineman," "Macarthur Park," "Galveston," "Didn't We," "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and "All I Know." His songs have been recorded by Glenn Campbell, Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstadt, Art Garfunkle and the Fifth Dimension. At one point in the 1960s, he had five Top 10 hits within a 20-month period. Webb has a lifetime achievement award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and he's been inducted into the Nashville Hall of Fame. There's a new album, One Life, by singer Michael Feinstein, that pays tribute to him.

Richard Clarke, who served as the top White House counter-terrorism official under three presidents, says George W. Bush's administration did not consider terrorist threats to be urgent in its first seven months, despite Clarke's urgings. Speaking on Capitol Hill to a national commission investigating U.S. policies before Sept. 11, 2001, Clark said terrorism was given extraordinarily high priority in the Clinton administration. Also Wednesday, CIA Director George Tenet told the panel that terrorist intelligence was not properly integrated among different agencies. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

The Bangles were a rock phenomenon in the early 1980s, beginning with the chart-topping hit "Walk Like An Egyptian." After a 15-year hiatus, they're back as rock 'n' roll moms. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.

Sharon Van Etten shares music from new artists that both moves her to tears and fills her with joy.