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Last year, Mark Wheat of The Current proclaimed the album dead. So instead of creating a list of top 10 full-length records, he's documenting the year in music with the perfect 10-song mixtape playlist.

Matthews joins a diverse cast — including Emmylou Harris, My Morning Jacket and Old Crow Medicine Show — to honor the late singer-songwriter on a new tribute album.

Chris Cleave's newest novel chronicles the friendship and rivalry between cyclists training for the 2012 Olympics. He speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the fascination of athletic rivalries, how he got in shape for the book and what he hopes readers will take away.

Summer is the time for indulgence, whether that means lingering in farmers markets, or partaking in some usually forbidden pleasures — the fried, the icy sweet, the charred and meaty.

Pakistan's military is waging an offensive against the Taliban, and the outcome is uncertain. But nearly a half-million civilians have already fled their homes in an area that has few resources.

While the new government in Kiev plans to withdraw its 25,000 troops from the region, the orders weren't immediately given. One issue: Can they take their weapons with them?

Sherman worked a tight niche: classic songs rewritten to tickle a Jewish audience's funny bone. A new biography, Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman, explains how the performer's 1960s crossover fell in line with a collective awakening to ethnic identity in America.

We all have our own system for making a list of favorite albums. All Songs Considered producer Robin Hilton goes entirely by memory. When December rolls around, which albums stand out?

Author Kevin Maher laughed off the Dubliners as a 12-year old, yet one line stayed with him. It was that line that convinced him to go back to the stories, discovering a love of James Joyce in the process.

Okay, so Lady Gaga and The Black Eyed Peas are atop pop charts everywhere. But Talk of the Nation wants to know: What else is popular where you live? And how did you hear about it? A popular musician, a Kenyan radio DJ and an international music expert discuss.

Tea Party conservatives and some liberals agree on key criticisms as the new education standards roll out in 45 states: that they're a one-size-fits-all approach, create a de facto national curriculum, put too much emphasis on standardized tests and undermine teacher autonomy.

An unprecedented recent court filing from the Justice Department could have dramatic implications for the representation of indigent defendants. The department argues that the fix for broken public defender systems could include a court-appointed monitor.