"Last time Rhiannon Giddens was on the show in 2023, she talked about the importance of not just doing what you're good at, but making sure that you're going where you're needed," says Sheroes host Carmel Holt. "She has spent the last two decades doing just that, and she's carved her own path that both honors lineage and creates new ones for generations to come." You can hear their conversation, about Giddens's new album, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, and more, here.

Rhiannon Giddens was on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross to talk about her new album, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, and perform a few tunes live. "There's times I'm playing the banjo and I feel the ancestors," Giddens says. "I feel the spirits come through." She tells NPR's All Things Considered: "I think it's time for big emotions. That's the thing about folk music—it's always there for our big emotions. And I'm feeling that kind of more than ever these days." NPR's All Songs Considered host Stephen Thompson says of the new album: "I couldn't get enough of it ... What a gift.”

"Amid a remarkable series of recordings and live shows, she's created a unique vocal style and curatorial skills that make each new recording an event," NPR's Fresh Air host Terry Gross says of Cécile McLorin Salvant. "Her latest recording, With Every Breath I Take, is her most daring yet." "[A] spirit of inquiry is what makes McLorin Salvant special and without peer," says Fresh Air reviewer Martin Johnson. "[She] has amazing range and astonishing technique, but she employs them purely in the investigation of a song ... It's music with an extraordinary past and an amazing present." You can hear the review here.

Natalie Merchant was on the Word in Your Ear podcast to talk about the roots and evolution of Cabinet of Wonder, her collaboration with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Children's Theatre, which reimagines Mother Goose and her rhymes for a new generation of young children. "She’s never had an audience reaction as enthusiastic and emotional," says the show. "It’s a magnificent project to give children experiences that modern life rarely affords." You can hear the episode here.

Laurie Anderson is on the latest episode of Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud. She joined Freud at the Tribeca Festival in June to talk about courage, Lou Reed, Sigmund Freud, and more. You can hear their conversation here.

Flea, who performs with his Honora band at North Sea Jazz in Rotterdam this Saturday, is on the latest episode of Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud to talk about his album Honora, his childhood, finding freedom in music, and more. You can watch their conversation on YouTube and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts here.

Flea was on NPR's Fresh Air to talk with host Terry Gross about his debut solo album, Honora, his childhood, early musical influences, and more. "If one is willing to feel the pain and suffering of being a human being, you're gonna grow," he says. "I'm grateful for growth, and I'm grateful for humility, and I'm grateful for being a student." You can hear their conversation here.

"This record really was a next chapter for me in my life and as an artist, this time in my life that I thought was an ending suddenly was like, oh my God, it's only just beginning," Hurray for the Riff Raff, aka Alynda Segarra, tells Song Exploder host Hrishikesh Hirway on the show's latest episode, about their track "Alibi," from the album The Past Is Still Alive, a live performance of which can also be heard on the new recording Live Forever. "Especially when this song came out and the way that people responded to it, it felt immediately different than any other time in my career. It just felt like, whoa, I'm not giving up on this." You can hear the episode here.

Molly Tuttle is on the latest episode of the American Songwriter show Off the Record. She talks with host and American Songwriter Editor-in-Chief Lisa Konickito about her latest album, the twice GRAMMY-nominated So Long Little Miss Sunshine, on which, Konickito says, Tuttle "explores country, rock, and pop; all the while, she's still the amazing guitar player that we know and love." You can watch their conversation here.

"I'm speaking with the Queen of Americana ... a singer who summons the truth of every song that she touches," BBC Radio 4 Front Row presenter Kate Molleson says of her guest Emmylou Harris. "She brought together the worlds of folk, rock and country music, and she took harmony singing to new heights." Harris spoke with Molleson about her life and career ahead of her European Farewell Tour, which begins in Glasgow and Dublin this weekend. You can hear the episode here. Harris also spoke with the Guardian's Fiona Sturges about her career in music and why she won't be winding it down anytime soon. "I don’t really know what winding down is,” Harris says. “I think when you’re an artist, you don’t ever really retire. As I tell my friends, I don’t know what I’m doing, but I sure am doing a lot of it.” 

"A polymathic, pioneering multimedia artist" is how Flo Dill describes Laurie Anderson, her guest on the latest episode of her NTS podcast Digging with Flo. Anderson joins Dill in the greenhouse for a bit of gardening and a chat. You can watch and hear it here.

Composer Donnacha Dennehy was on WNYC's New Sounds to talk with host John Schaefer about his piece Land of Winter. Its recording, which Schaefer includes on his Top Ten for the year, is up for two GRAMMY Awards: Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Dennehy and Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for Alarm Will Sound and conductor Alan Pierson. You can hear the episode here.