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The singer-songwriter talks about leaving her comfort zone on her new record, as well as the effect that keeping her household together has had on her songwriting process. Williams also describes the stories behind her new songs, and tells anecdotes about Joan Baez and her college friend, Stephen Trask.

As a member of the multiplatinum rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea wouldn't seem to need higher education to further his career. But the bassist has just enrolled as a freshman at USC's music program. For Flea, it's an opportunity to learn the academic side of music.

Four Last Songs, by German composer Richard Strauss, is a song cycle marked by the awareness and acceptance of death. A new recording captures world-famous soprano Renee Fleming as she sings his last pieces for a second time — this time with a new direction.

When recording its latest album, Snowflake Midnight, Mercury Rev turned to publicly created and shared electronic instruments and software to create ethereal and deeply textured layers of sound. The band's members discuss their process of incorporating technology and losing themselves in music.

The musician, political folk-song enthusiast, inventor and film-strip maker uses outdated equipment to explore new dimensions. His electronic instruments seem to come right out of '50s science fiction.

A new PBS series traces the history of the people, wildlife and geology of the Appalachian mountains. The creators of Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People discuss the rich stories that have emerged from one of Earth's oldest mountain ranges.

Rapper Snoop Dogg's latest release, a collaboration with Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, is a recent example of urban desi, which blends South Asian pop culture with American hip-hop. Originating in the U.K., the style of music is spreading in the U.S. and India.

Joseph Arthur has had a busy 2008. The singer-songwriter and painter has released four EPs and one full-length album, Temporary People, this year alone. Arthur talks about his new releases, his music style and the differences between music and painting.

Humorist Elizabeth McCracken explores the landscape of grief in this wrenching, clearsighted memoir of the year that follows a son's death in utero.

Vocalist Howard Tate found success in the '60s and '70s, thanks to a voice Elvis Costello called "the missing link between Jackie Wilson and Al Green." After overcoming addiction and homelessness, Tate is back to spread a message of hope and second chances.