Violinist Itamar Zorman navigated exotic Israeli scales and modes to release his newest album “Evocation,” which highlights distinctive works by German-born Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim. “There is a really delicate but wonderful balance between the emotional content and the technical form of the piece, and the analytical part of it,” Zorman explains about reflecting Ben-Haim’s multi-cultural influenced compositions. Listen to the full interview between Zorman and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

The University of Arkansas recently welcomed Gerry Snyder as the School of Art's first ever executive director. He will play an instrumental role in cultivating the newly minted School of Art's role at the university and beyond following the $120 million gift from the the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation and $40 million gift from the Windgate Foundation to develop an art and design district. “The fact that [this gift] has been given to education, and specifically to art, is visionary in my mind,” Snyder says. “If you look at life, even in its most challenging circumstances, creativity is important. Art is central to almost any civilization or culture.” Snyder hopes to create a strategic plan in this upcoming year for how to use the gift to represent the UA and the local community, while foremost furthering art education. Listen to the full interview between Snyder and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

During our winter fundraiser, December 9th through the 13th, KUAF will once again offer a collection of performances recorded for Ozarks at Large throughout the year. KUAF Live 2019 is a double CD of 23 performances, all recorded live at the KUAF studios, the Carver Center for Public Radio or at Fayetteville Public Television. Most were recorded in the Firmin-Garner Performance studio and all tracks were recorded for Ozarks at Large in 2019. We'd like to thank the artists who agreed to partner with us on this project and all the donors who make a project like this possible. We look forward to offering another KUAF Live CD in 2020! Learn more about the artists featured on the KUAF Live 2019 CD below: Disc 1 - Nick Shoulders JD Clayton Kalyn Fay Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster Jordan Moser Serrano-Torres Candy Lee The Time Burners Statehouse Electric The Lark and the Loon Dandelion Heart The Vine Brothers Disc 2 - U of A World Music Ensemble Dawson Hollow Becky Vintage Pistol Me Like Bees

It was six years ago that Catriona Rilley and Aby Watson had their lightbulb moment, while mopping the floors of Glasgow's Flying Duck after a shift.

BOOKER Prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo, Joanna Trollope and Maggie O’Farrell are among the authors expected to appear at a literary festival in Glasgow.

GLASGOW Science Centre closed its doors to the public this week, but the team decided they couldn’t let science boffins miss out.

ALL three Stand comedy clubs closed to the public last Monday. Following the advice of Boris Johnson (note: advice, not a ruling – gotta protect those massive insurance providers, eh Prime Minister?) we didn’t feel it was right to stay open and put people at potential risk.

Even in self-isolation, we can learn something new every day.

Shops are closing. Newspaper sales are falling. But we’ve chosen to keep our online journalism free because it’s so important that the people of Glasgow stay informed during this crisis.

WHEN the world first came across Gary Meikle, we met his eyebrows before his face.

Small music venues across the city could be among some of the hardest hit businesses due to the coronavirus crisis, a charity has said.

GBX DJ George Bowie will perform from the balcony of his Glasgow home via Facebook live tomorrow afternoon in aid of Children's Hospice Across Scotland (CHAS).

Glasgow Comic Con is postponed until further notice due to the coronavirus crisis.

Updated at 4:12 p.m. ET Special counsel Robert Mueller shut down his Russia investigation on Wednesday in an unusual appearance in which he restated his findings and made clear that he never considered it an option to charge President Trump. "We are formally closing the special counsel's office," Mueller told reporters at the Justice Department on Wednesday morning. In his 10-minute statement, Mueller highlighted a few portions of his roughly 400-page report , including the section on whether President Trump obstructed justice. "If we had had confidence that the president did not commit a crime, we would have said so," he said. "We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime." Mueller emphasized that Justice Department regulations do not permit the indictment of a sitting president. Accordingly, Mueller said, he never considered it an option to seek one no matter what he had uncovered. If Americans or members of Congress want to hold a

Fatima, now 17, was eating dinner with her family in Nigeria two years ago when she heard the gunshots. "Unknown to us, the village had been surrounded and was being invaded," she says. "We covered ourselves with [a] mattress and cried for help to no avail." Fatima and her mother fled into the bush, where they were separated; they didn't see each other again for 18 months. Fatima – and other women in conflict zones – are often perceived as victims. They may be in many cases, but they also hold multiple and sometimes conflicting identities: as fighters, breadwinners and leaders. Photographer Robin Hammond sought to capture the many roles they play in his series of portraits, "Making the Invisible Visible," which had its first public showing this past week at the Women Deliver 2019 Global Conference in Vancouver, Canada. Noraisa Macud, 52, fled the fighting between Philippine military forces and Islamic militants in Marawi, a predominantly Muslim city, in 2017. Hundreds of thousands of

Updated Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET A day after U.S. and Mexico officials announced an agreement to avert tariffs — set to begin on Monday — affecting billions of dollars in imports from Mexico, President Trump took a victory lap on Twitter. Under a joint agreement released by State Department officials, Mexico will assist the United States in curbing migration across the border by deploying its national guard troops through the country, especially its southern border. The deal also expands a new program called Migrant Protection Protocols, allowing U.S. immigration enforcement officials to send Central American migrants to Mexico as their asylum claims are pending Mexico says those migrants will be offered jobs, health care and education, though critics question how safe migrants will be as they await the conclusion of their claims. In addition, the agreement says Mexican authorities will work to dismantle human smuggling operations. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador praised

This year, NPR held its first Student Podcast Challenge — a podcast contest for students in grades 5 through 12. As we listened to the almost 6,000 entries , we smiled, laughed, and even cried. Students opened their lives to us with stories about their families, their schools and communities and their hopes for the future. We named our winners last month — the eighth graders of Bronx Prep Middle School in New York, and the eleventh graders of Elizabethton High School in Tennessee. But lots of other students blew us away. Here, for your listening pleasure, are just some of the many podcast entries that made us smile — and reminded us what it's like to be in middle and high school. A divisive subject: Tater tots How did tater tots come to rule the lunchroom? LA Johnson / NPR The title of this finalist was enough to get our judges' attention. In "Tater Tots and their Lasting Impact on Society," fifth-graders Jack Lazzarone and Kalvin Martinez interviewed their classmates in teacher Ryan

Updated at 8:45 p.m. ET President Trump says he might accept dirt from another country on his potential Democratic rivals if offered, raising new questions and concerns about foreign influence on American elections. "It's not an interference, they have information — I think I'd take it," Trump said. "If I thought there was something wrong, I'd go maybe to the FBI — if I thought there was something wrong." Trump made the comments in an Oval Office interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos , after being pressed about the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 with Russians and Trump officials. Ahead of that meeting, which former special counsel Robert Mueller probed , the Trump campaign was offered damaging information on Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton.

This story ran on Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Gloria Vanderbilt was an artist, heiress, designer and philanthropist who, for many Americans, may be best remembered for her blue jeans . She died at the age of 95. Vanderbilt's son, Anderson Cooper, announced her death Monday, airing an obituary for her on CNN. Vanderbilt had cancer, he said. "Earlier this month, we had to take her to the hospital. That's where she learned she had very advanced cancer in her stomach, and that it had spread," Cooper said. "What an extraordinary life. What an extraordinary mom. And what an incredible woman," he said, his voice quavering a bit at the end of the remembrance. Vanderbilt had full lips, eyes that turned up at the corners and a patrician bearing. She was, in fact, descended from shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the richest men in American history. She was born in 1924, and her father died shortly thereafter. Vanderbilt was raised by a beloved nurse because

For the first time in a decade Congress will hold a hearing Wednesday on the subject of reparations for the descendants of slaves in the United States, a topic that has gained traction in the run-up to the 2020 elections. The hearing is set for June 19, also known as "Juneteenth," the day when in 1865 former enslaved people in Texas first learned that they had been emancipated two years earlier. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is holding the hearing on H.R. 40 , which calls for a commission to "study and develop reparation proposals for African-Americans," including a formal apology by the U.S. government "for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants." The hearing is scheduled to feature testimony from author Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose article "The Case for Reparations," published by The Atlantic magazine in 2014, is widely credited with re-igniting the

When President Trump tweeted his racist remarks Sunday, asking why certain Democratic congresswomen don't just "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came," he did not just take aim at the four women of color — three of whom were born in the U.S. He did so using a taunt that has long, deeply entrenched roots in American history: Why don't you just go back where you came from? The question doesn't always appear in those precise words, nor does it always surface in the same situations. And it doesn't always get directed at the same groups of people — far from it, in fact. But more often than not, it conveys the same sentiment: You — and others like you — are not welcome here. "There have been different phrases that have been used," says Michael Cornfield , a scholar of rhetoric at George Washington University , "but the idea that we don't have any more room for people, or those people don't look like us, this is a long, ugly strain in American

Former special counsel Robert Mueller is testifying before Congress on Wednesday, and lawmakers have so many questions they may not have enough time to ask them all. The House judiciary and intelligence committees have scheduled hearings for 8:30 a.m. and noon. Majority Democrats and minority Republicans are expected to try their utmost to get the most good they can from Mueller — in very different ways. Members of Congress already postponed Mueller's hearings once to wrangle more time. Complicating the matter will be Mueller himself, who has said he intends to confine his testimony to what he has already set forth in his report. In addition, the Justice Department sent Mueller a letter on Monday night saying it expects Mueller to not stray beyond what is publicly known about his work, citing executive privilege. That won't constrain members of Congress from trying. Here are some of the questions they might ask, broken up by the majority and the minority members on these committees.

Updated at 4:56 p.m. ET Peril from foreign interference in American elections will persist through the 2020 presidential race, former special counsel Robert Mueller warned on Wednesday. Asked whether Russia would attempt to attack future U.S. elections, as it did in 2016, Mueller replied: "They're doing it as we sit here." Mueller didn't detail a prescription for how he believes Congress or the United States should respond, but he recommended generally that intelligence and law enforcement agencies should work together. "They should use the full resources that we have to address this," Mueller said. That warning came during hours of hearings, first before the House Judiciary Committee and then the intelligence committee, in which Democrats sought to underscore that Mueller had not cleared Trump of obstruction allegations and that he had found many contacts between Trump's campaign and the Russian interference in the 2016 election. "Did you actually totally exonerate the president?"

Police have identified 24-year-old white male Connor Betts from Bellbrook, Ohio, as the shooter who claimed nine lives and injured 27 others in Dayton, Ohio, early on Sunday morning. Among the nine dead was the shooter's sister, Megan Betts, 22, said Lt. Col. Matt Carper at a news conference Sunday. In addition to Betts' sister, Carper offered a complete list of the people who were among those killed in the brief but brutal shooting: Lois L. Oglesby, 27; Saeed Saleh, 38; Derrick R. Fudge, 57; Logan M. Turner, 30; Nicholas P. Cumer, 25; Thomas J. McNichols, 25; Beatrice N. Warren-Curtis, 36; Monica E. Brickhouse, 39. Carper denied suggestions that the victims were targeted. "Due to the very short timeline of violence, it's hard to imagine that there was much discrimination in the shooting," he said. "It happened in a very short amount of time." Carper offered no other details about the shooter; however, a LinkedIn profile belonging to someone of the same name and who is listed as living

Editor's note: This is an updated version of a story that was published on Nov. 9, 2018. The United States has the 28th-highest rate of deaths from gun violence in the world: 4.43 deaths per 100,000 people in 2017 — far greater than what is seen in other wealthy countries. On a state-by-state calculation, the rates can be even higher. In the District of Columbia, the rate is 16.34 per 100,000 — the highest in the United States. In Louisiana, the rate is 10.68 per 100,000. In Texas and Ohio — the scene of two mass shootings at the beginning of August — the rates are close to the national average: 4.74 per 100,000 in Texas and 4.60 in Ohio. And the national rate of gun violence in the U.S. is higher than in many low-income countries. Those findings are part of the latest version of an annual report on gun violence from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation , which tracks lives lost in every country, in every year, by every possible cause of death. The

Unlike postcard mountain resort towns, or the booming, high-tech corridor centered around Denver, Pueblo is Colorado's faded industrial relic. A city struggling to redefine its economy, and its politics following decades as a solidly blue-collar Democratic stronghold. Pueblo is a two-hour drive south from Denver, through prosperous Colorado Springs with its military bases, defense contractors and megachurches. Wide open plains stretch for miles, mountains off in the distance. And then, popping up out of the horizon, stark vertical lines: Smokestacks from the mill that gave this place its nickname, Steel City. Today only about 6% of Pueblo's jobs are in manufacturing after a decades-long decline. Loading... Old timers like Rod Slyhoff remember the day everything changed, back in 1984. "It's in my mind all the time," said Slyhoff, president and CEO of the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce. "I believe it was in March, 6,500 pink slips were issued to the [steel mill company] employees," Slyhoff

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have the stage to themselves for Sunday night's Democratic primary debate. The debate, hosted by CNN and Univision in Washington, D.C., will not have a live audience amid coronavirus concerns. Follow NPR's live coverage of the debate. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit Loading...

John Prine, a wry and perceptive writer whose country and folk songs often resembled vivid short stories, has died at age 73. His death, from complications caused by COVID-19, was confirmed by his family. Even as a young man, Prine — who famously worked as a mailman before turning to music full-time — wrote evocative songs that belied his age. With a conversational vocal approach, he quickly developed a reputation as a performer who empathized with his characters. His beloved 1971 self-titled debut features the aching "Hello In There," written from the perspective of a lonely elderly man who simply wants to be noticed, and the equally bittersweet "Angel From Montgomery." The latter song is narrated by a middle-aged woman with deep regrets over the way her life turned out, married to a man who's merely "another child that's grown old." Bestowing dignity on the overlooked and marginalized was a common theme throughout Prine's career; he became known for detailed vignettes about ordinary

A Valentine's day playlist curated with LOVE. Later in the podcast is a tribute to the late Lyle Mays.

Playlist
Artist ~ Track ~ Album 
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstraong ~ Love Is Here To Stay ~ Best of Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Jimmy Greene ~ Love In Action ~ Mission Statement
Atla and Matt Dechamplain ~ I Can't Believe You Are In Love With Me ~ Pause
Toots Theielmans ~ Hello Young Lovers ~ Only Trust Your Heart
Organissimo ~ All You Need Is Love ~ B3tles: A Soulful Tribute to the Fab Four
Robert Glasper ~ All Matter ~ Double Booked
Gregory Porter ~ L-O-V-E ~ Nat King Cole & Me
Lyle Mays ~ Highland Aire ~ Lyle Mays
Lyle Mays ~ Mirror of the Heart ~ Lyle Mays
Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays ~ It's For You ~ As Falls Witchita, So Falls Witchita Falls
Louis Armstrong ~ West End Blues ~ This is Jazz

This week's show begins with an interview with vocalist and trumpeter Leala Cyr. The episode concludes with vibes by Burton, including collaborations with Chick and others. In between are some great tracks by Roberta Flack, Bessie Smith, Mehldau, Ponty and others.

Playlist
Artist ~ Track ~ Album
Leala Cyr ~ The Secret ~ First Instinct
Leala Cyr ~ Canyon View ~ First Instinct
Roberta Flack ~ Compared To What ~ First Take
Jeff Fuller & Friends ~ Cry Me a River ~ Happenstance
Jen Allen ~ Blanket Statement ~ Blanket Statement
Jean-Luc Ponty ~ King Kong ~ King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the music of Frank Zappa
Brad Mehldau ~ St. Mark is Howling in the City of Light ~ Finding Gabriel
Bessie Smith ~ Backwater Blues ~ Best of Bessie Smith
Chick Corea and Gary Burton ~ Eleanor Rigby ~ Hot House
Gary Burton ~ Question and Answer ~ Like Minds
Gary Burton ~ Gorgeous ~ Generations

We may be stuck at home ALONE, but TOGETHER through our common love of jazz music, we can will get through this. For many of us music sustains our spirit and enhances our lives. My hope is that this podcast will help to keep you "In The Groove", hip you to new music, and give you comfort with our great jazz standards.

Playlist
Artist ~ Track ~ Album 
McCoy Tyner ~ Alone Together ~ Illuminations
Jimmy Greene ~ Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most ~ Introducing Jimmy Greene
Ahmad Jamal ~ Stolen Moments ~ The Awakening
Bill Evans Trio ~ Milestones ~ Waltz for Debby
Billy Childs feat. Lisa Fischer ~ Map to the Treasure ~ Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro (2014)
Kenny Barron & Dave Holland Trio (feat. Johnathan Blake) ~ I Remeber When ~ Without Deception
Hudson (feat. Dejohnette, Grenadier, Medeski, Scofield) ~ Tony Then Jack ~ Hudson

This podcast episode features the New England Jazz Ensemble performing a jazzed up arrangement of Sergei Prokofiev's, Peter and the Wolf. Arranged by Walt Gwardyak with a hip "jazzbretto" (narration) by Giacomo Gates. Following is new music from Zenon, Metheny and a beautiful duet of Metheny and Haden. 

Playlist
New England Jazz Ensemble ~ Peter & The Wolf ~ Peter & The Wolf
Miguel Zenon ~ Las Caras Lindas ~ Sonero (the Music of Ismael Rivera)
Pat Metheny ~ Pathmaker ~ From This Place
Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny ~ The Moon is a Harsh Witness ~ Beyond the Missouri Sky

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent telegrams on Friday to US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggesting the need to rekindle their nations' cooperation during World War II to solve today's problems. Putin's overture was the latest in a series of contacts with Washington with which Moscow is keen to rebuild relations frayed over everything from election hacking allegations to Syria. Ties with London remain badly strained over the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England. The telegrams were among many Putin dispatched to the Soviet Union's World War II allies on the 75th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Europe. Related:   Coronavirus postponed Russia's Victory Day. For Putin, it's a problem. Russia, which marks the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany on May 9, the day after "Victory in Europe" Day, has been forced to scale back commemorations due to the coronavirus. Fiona Hill served as the senior director for European

President Donald Trump wants the Catholic vote. Recently, Trump was on a conference call with several hundred Catholic educators — and many prominent bishops. Trump reportedly described himself as the “best [president] in the history of the Catholic Church.”  In reality, though, there’s a growing rift within the church on support for the president. A number of prominent Catholics are criticizing Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic — and many have been vocal on Twitter. Related:  Coronavirus postponed Russia’s Victory Day. That could be a problem for Putin. Rev. Robert Ballecer, an American priest stationed in the Vatican, has been particularly outspoken. Before he moved to Rome, Ballecer had been living at St. Ignatius College Prep , a Jesuit high school in San Francisco. The Jesuits allowed Ballecer to pursue his Catholic ministry as a host at “ TWiT ,” a podcast network focused on technology . It seemed like a good fit, as Ballecer is a self-described mechanic, engineer and

A slickly produced 26-minute video called Plandemic has exploded on social media in recent days, claiming to present a view of COVID-19 that differs from the "official" narrative. The video has been viewed millions of times on YouTube via links that are replaced as quickly as the video-sharing service can remove them for violating its policy against "COVID-19 misinformation." In it, filmmaker Mikki Willis conducts an uncritical interview with Judy Mikovits, who he says has been called "one of the most accomplished scientists of her generation." Never heard of her? You're not alone. Two prominent scientists with backgrounds in AIDS research and infectious diseases, who asked not to be identified over concerns of facing a backlash on social media, told NPR that they did not know who she was. If you were aware of Mikovits before this week, it is probably for two books she published with co-author Kent Heckenlively, one in 2017 and another last month. Heckenlively has also written a book

The Census Bureau says it is continuing the gradual relaunch of limited field operations for the 2020 census next week in nine states where the coronavirus pandemic forced the hand-delivery of paper forms in rural areas to be suspended in mid-March. On May 13, some local census offices in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington are scheduled to restart that fieldwork, according to an updated schedule the bureau published on its website Friday. All workers are expected to be trained in CDC guidance in preventing the spread of COVID-19, and besides a new reusable face mask for every 10 days worked and a pair of gloves for each work day, the bureau has ordered 2 ounces of hand sanitizer for each census worker conducting field operations, the bureau tells NPR in an email. The announcement means more households that receive their mail at post office boxes or drop points are expected to find paper questionnaires left outside their

This is part of a series looking at pressing coronavirus questions of the week. We'd like to hear what you're curious about. Email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions." More than 76,000 people in the U.S. have died because of COVID-19, and there have been 1.27 million confirmed cases across the country — and nearly 4 million worldwide. Though the virus continues to spread and sicken people, some states and countries are starting to reopen businesses and lift stay-at-home requirements. This week, we look at some of your questions as summer nears and restrictions are eased. Is it safe to swim in pools or lakes? Does the virus spread through the water? People are asking whether they should be concerned about being exposed to the coronavirus while swimming. Experts say water needn't be a cause for concern. The CDC says there is no evidence the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas or water

A meat-packing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, where a coronavirus outbreak exploded a few weeks ago, resumed operations on Thursday after a two-week closure. The reopening of Tyson Foods' largest U.S. pork plant came the same day that health officials in Black Hawk County, where the plant is located, announced that 1,031 of the plant's estimated 2,800 employees have tested positive for the virus. That's higher than previous estimates by state officials. Tony Thompson, sheriff of Black Hawk County, was among the public officials who called for the Waterloo facility to shut down temporarily. His call to close the plant came after he first toured the facility on April 10. Thompson says that when he toured the plant then, he "fully expected" to see barriers, masks and other personal protective equipment in place. That wasn't the case. "What I saw when we went into that plant was an absolute free-for-all," he says. "Some people were wearing bandannas. Some people were wearing surgical masks. ....

Eighth grader Abby Pike is putting her Christmas present to good use. She received a sewing machine for the holiday last year. And amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic she and her family have spent their days and evenings sewing. So far, they’ve sewed about 700 masks. They’ve used social media to help distribute them to people who need them through donations and sold some as well. “It just brightens my day to see that I’m making an impact,” Pike said. Pike is involved in Edmond’s Cheyenne Middle School’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America student organization. And she said many of her friends know a little about sewing, however most students her age and even many adults don’t know even how to sew a button on, her teacher Kendall Wildman said. Wildman teaches family and consumer sciences at Cheyenne. Family and Consumer Science teachers have seen a sudden spike in a need for the skills they teach during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for teaching the subject, which has

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later

For the first time in its 231-year history, the Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments remotely by phone and made the audio available live. The new setup went off largely without difficulties, but produced some memorable moments, including one justice forgetting to unmute and an ill-timed bathroom break. Here are the top five can't-miss moments from this week's history-making oral arguments. A second week of arguments begin on Monday at 10 a.m. ET. Here's a rundown of the cases and how to listen. 1. Justice Clarence Thomas speaks ... a lot Supreme Court oral arguments are verbal jousting matches. The justices pepper the lawyers with questions, interrupting counsel repeatedly and sometimes even interrupting each other. Justice Clarence Thomas, who has sat on the bench for nearly 30 years, has made his dislike of the chaotic process well known, at one point not asking a question for a full decade. But with no line of sight, the telephone arguments have to be rigidly organized, and

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to pick up in Alaska, Dr. Anne Zink, the state's chief medical officer, faced a difficult choice. Should she continue in-person meetings and nightly briefings with Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy? Or should she opt for a more socially distant form of engagement? Zink chose the latter, saying she wanted to model the behavior that she has been appealing to residents to follow. She now appears at Dunleavy's briefings by video. And over the past two months, she has become a trusted voice as she urges Alaskans to follow the strict social distancing and other public health guidelines adopted by the state administration — which doctors groups have credited with keeping the state's COVID-19 numbers among the lowest in the country. Zink, who has a Facebook fan club and a #ThinkLikeZink hashtag , isn't the only public health official to acquire a cultlike following during the pandemic: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal infectious disease expert, has inspired a Saturday

Dr. Grace Farris is chief of hospital medicine at Mount Sinai West in Manhattan. She also writes a monthly comics column in the Annals of Internal Medicine called "Dr Mom." You can find her on Instagram @coupdegracefarris . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Very briefly, at the end of 2019 and the start of 2020, there were slightly more women on American nonfarm payrolls than men. That's no longer true. The historically disastrous April jobs report shows that the brunt of job losses fell on women. Women now account for around just under half — 49% — of American workers, and they accounted for 55% of the increase in job losses last month. One way of looking at why that matters that is to look at the gap that opened up between women's and men's unemployment last month. The below chart shows women's unemployment rate minus men's unemployment rate since 2007. Usually, the line bumps around near or just below zero — meaning men's unemployment is usually near or slightly higher than women's. But that spike on the far right shows how women's unemployment leapt to be 2.7 points higher than men's in April. Women had an unemployment rate of 16.2% to men's 13.5% last month. That's uncommon for a recession. The below chart is a longer view, and the

Updated at 9:44 a.m. ET As a young woman growing up in a poor farming community in Virginia in the 1940 and '50s, with little information about sex or contraception, sexuality was a frightening thing for Carole Cato and her female friends. "We lived in constant fear, I mean all of us," she said. "It was like a tightrope. always wondering, is this going to be the time [I get pregnant]?" Cato, 78, now lives in Columbia, S.C. She grew up in the years before the birth control pill was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on May 9, 1960. She said teenage girls in her community were told very little about how their bodies worked. "I was very fortunate; I did not get pregnant, but a lot of my friends did. And of course, they just got married and went into their little farmhouses," she said. "But I just felt I just had to get out." At 23, Cato married a widower who already had seven children. They decided seven was enough. By that time, Cato said, the pill allowed the couple to

Updated at 2:24 p.m. ET Little Richard, the self-described "king and queen" of rock and roll and an outsize influence on everyone from David Bowie to Prince, died Saturday in Tullahoma, Tenn. He was 87 years old. Bill Sobel, a lawyer for Little Richard, tells NPR that the cause of death was bone cancer. Rolling Stone was the first to report on Little Richard's death. With his ferocious piano playing, growling and gospel-strong vocals, pancake makeup and outlandish costumes, Little Richard tore down barriers starting in the 1950s. That is no small feat for any artist — let alone a black, openly gay man who grew up in the South. He was a force of nature who outlived many of the musicians he inspired, from Otis Redding to the late Prince and Michael Jackson. His peers James Brown and Otis Redding idolized him. Jimi Hendrix, who once played in Little Richard's band, said he wanted his guitar to sound like Richard's voice. The late David Bowie was 9 years old when he first saw Little

Airlines and airport operators in the United Kingdom are not waiting for the British government to publicly confirm their fears. Already, the groups representing major players in the U.K.'s air travel industry are pushing back on a proposal that would require travelers to quarantine after arriving from outside the country. A spokesperson for Airlines UK — a trade body with British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair as members — says the group understands from government officials that plans for a quarantine are in the works, but that details remain scarce at the moment. "We need to see the detail of what they are proposing. Public health must of course be the priority and we will continue to be guided by Sage advice," the group said in a statement emailed to NPR, noting that support measures will be necessary to ensure "that we still have a UK aviation sector once the quarantine period is lifted." "We will be asking for assurances that this decision has been led by the science and that

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Suzi Analogue and Liam Betson , and tells us about the lengths audiophiles will go to get pure sound . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney and @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Frank Ocean , Joyce Manor & M.I.A. Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney and @KOSUryan .