NPR: Music Podcast

Story: The new album from the Philadelphia hip-hop band The Roots contains verses from the perspective of a child soldier in Sierra Leone, a campus shooter in America, and those in the grip of addictions. Rising Down may be the group's best album.

Stories: 1) YouTube Monks Storm European Pop Charts 2) Bansuri Master Deepak Ram Tackles Jazz 3) 'Tha Carter III' Takes Lil Wayne Platinum 4) Singer Undeterred by National Anthem Fallout 5) Martin Atkins: Teaching Bands To Tour Smart 6) Charles Ives' Rambunctious 'Fourth Of July'

Stories: 1) Ben Sollee Learns To 'Bend' 2) In Nashville, a Barbershop Battle 3) Atlanta Soul Scene Reborn 4) British Invasion: Laura Marling's Fearless Folk

Stories: 1) The Year of Musical Thinking, A Minute At A Time 2) Leroy Anderson: Master of the Miniature 3) Pain At The Pump Curbs Traveling Bands 4) Le Vent Du Nord's 400-Year-Old Musical Gems

Stories: 1) Victor Wooten: The 'Palmystery' of Deft Fingers 2) The Best CDs of 2008 (So Far) 3) Can Al Green Lay It Down Again?

Stories: 1) Peter Gabriel's 'Big Blue' Musical Mashup 2) Grupo Fantasma: 'Gold' Sounds of Latin Funk 3) Video Game Makers Push to License Beatles Songs 4) Al Green Lays 'It Down' 5) Portuguese Fado and a Few Dirty Tables

Story: Marin Alsop, meet Robert Schumann. The Baltimore Symphony conductor reconnects with the composer's symphonies, probing for a deeper meaning within this widely performed but still misunderstood music. The Symphony No. 2, Alsop says, traces Schumann's emotional frailty.

Stories: 1) Olivier Conan Brings Chicha Music to Brooklyn 2) L.A. Company Buys TV's Dance Classic 'Soul Train' 3) Kathleen Edwards: 'Flowers' and Hockey Skates 4) Inspired by a Trip to Vegas: 'I'll Fly Away'

Stories: 1) Weezer's Rivers Cuomo Tries Reinvention 2) Lili Haydn: Jimi Hendrix of the Violin 3) For T-Bone Burnett, the Play's the Thing 4) Kidd Jordan: Honoring a Jazz Patriarch 5) Sonic Youth: Story of a 'Kool Thing'

Stories: 1) New Site Fuses Chess with Hip-Hop 2) Jenny Scheinman Makes a Vocal Debut 3) Paul Thorn: Skydiver, Boxer, Rootsy Rocker 4) Sen. Lamar Alexander's 'Tennessee Waltz'

Stories: 1) Albert Ayler's Fiery Sax, Now on Film 2) Pakistani Rock Star's Roots in U.S. Metal 3) Poster Artist Alton Kelley Dies at 67 4) 'BPP' Jukebox: The Mates of State

Stories: 1) Rock Pioneer Bo Diddley Dies at 79 2) The Roots of Country Music 3) Be Your Own Pet: Teenage Abandon 4) Teitur: Pride of the Faroe Islands 5) Jeffrey Lewis: Anti-Folk Comic-Book Antihero

Story: The Latino vote could have a major impact in the presidential general election in November. In an attempt to appeal to younger Latino voters, Voto Latino, a voter registration group, is using popular music as part of its outreach. Rapper Armando Perez, a.k.a. "Pitbull," explains his role in the project.

Stories: 1) Jamshied Sharifi: The World's Music as 'One' 2) Music Archived for Eternity

Stories: 1) Jamshied Sharifi: The World's Music as 'One' 2) Music Archived for Eternity

Stories: 1) The Musical 'Seeds' of Jesca Hoop 2) Marley's 'Exodus' 30 Years Later 3) Mick Jagger: A Stone Alone 4) Computer Program Is a Virtual Music Teacher 5) Robert Plant, Meet Alison Krauss 6) Jonathan Butler on His Artistic Journey

Stories: 1) Eric Clapton Looks Back at His Blues Roots 2) Rediscovering Beethoven's Even Numbers 3) Remembering the First Record Ever Heard 4) Sting Tops List of Worst Lyricists 5) Singer Discusses Album, the Influence of Legends 6) Sigur Ros Disaster: Our Fault or Not?

Stories: 1) Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' Sets Its Own Terms 2) Digging Up Thelonious Monk's Southern Roots 3) Janet Reno Presents America in Song 4) A College Dream Inspired by a Song 5) Busy Conductor Joins Detroit Orchestra 6) Radiohead Sells Album on the Web, at Any Price

Stories: 1) New CDs from James Blunt, KT Tunstall 2) 'The Real Thing,' According to Jill Scott 3) Paolo Nutini Takes to the 'Streets' 4) Tegan and Sara, Working 'The Con' 5) Survivors of Shanghai's Jazz Age Play Anew 6) Ornette Coleman on Sound Innovations

Stories: 1) Carmen on the Couch: Bizet's Bold Heroine 2) Monterey Jazz Festival Celebrates 50th Year 3) Lee Rocker's Big Bass Sound 4) Jaco Pastorius: 20 Years Later 5) Keely Smith: A Swingin' Icon of Early Vegas 6) Remembering Louis Armstrong's Little Rock Protest

Stories: 1) Immigrant Songs Offer New Twist on Old Sounds 2) Maria Callas, The Legend Who Lived for Her Art 3) Lalo Schifrin, from 'Mission Impossible' to Jazz 4) Campaign Songs Then and Now 5) Bela Bartok: Finding a Voice Through Folk Music 6) A Different Type of Hip-Hop Battle

Stories: 1) Eclectic Keyboardist Joe Zawinul Dies at 75 2) Jazz Greats Return to Glory on DVD 3) Coloring the Opera 4) Hip-Hop Stars Invent Rivalry to Sell Albums 5) Battles Creates a Musical Hall of Mirrors 6) Spector Trial Fails to Capture Public's Attention

Stories: 1) Vote for 'All Things Considered' Theme Song Lyrics 2) Rock Stars Do Live Hard, Die Young 3) CD Celebrates Music from the Coal Mines 4) Modiba Records Blends Music, Aid 5) For Okkervil River, a Pop Slant on Thorny Issues 6) Artist Brings 'Soul' to Country Music

Stories: 1) California Scientists Search for Perfect Pitch 2) Rilo Kiley Will Try to Love You 3) Teddy Thompson, Talking Up 'Down Low' 4) Learning by 'Broz-mosis' 5) Cliks Lead Singer Silveira: Welcoming Change 6) Anoushka Shankar Blends Traditions on New CD

Stories: 1) M.I.A.: Back in Action with 'Kala' 2) The Success and Undoing of Vee-Jay Records 3) Music Offers View of a Changing Spain 4) Talib Kweli Hitting Your 'Eardrum' 5) British Woman Can't Play Country Music 6) Alan and Marilyn Bergman Keep the Music Playing

Stories: 1) The National Shows Orchestral Ambitions in 'Boxer' 2) Try, Try Again: A Guitarist's Second Time Around 3) 'The Hottest State' Gets an All-Star Soundtrack 4) China's Latest Export: Anti-Establishment Music 5) Pioneering Jazz Drummer Max Roach Dies at 83 6) Ace Accordion Players Compete

Stories: 1) Fats Domino Given Replicas of Gold Records 2) Reggae Sensation Collie Buddz Keeps it Real 3) Americana Artists Tap into Their Roots 4) Griffin's Accomplishments, Both On Screen and Off

Stories: 1) Bobby Sanabria's Latin Jazz Hybrid 2) Common: 'Conscious' Sound, Uncommon Success 3) Wanted: 'All Things Considered' Theme Song Lyrics 4) Oscars Tighten Rules on Movie Music Contenders 5) Ben Vaughn on 'Boots' Maker Lee Hazlewood 6) Dweezil Zappa Honors his Dad in Baltimore

Stories: 1) Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: A Sufi Music Master Revived 2) Prolific 'Sojourner' Writes a New Box Set 3) Lee Hazlewood: Writer Gave Music Biz the 'Boots' 4) Once More, With Soul: Soulive Marks Stax Milestone 5) 'Famous Blue Raincoat' Gets Re-Release 6) At the Concert Hall, a Symphony for Space Invaders

Stories: 1) New Album, New Angle for Uncategorizable Kenna 2) From 1958, 'Folk Songs for Far Out Folk' 3) 'Dub Qawwali': Honoring Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan 4) Ryan Adams: 'Easy Tiger' 5) Pegi Young, Stepping into the Spotlight at Last 6) Straddling Classical, Hip-Hop and Electronica