“I think a lot of my stuff is weirdly joyful about mortality, and this is no exception,” Caroline Shaw tells GBH News’ James Bennett II. The two sat down at the Newport Classical Music Festival last weekend for a track-by-track tour of her new album with Sō Percussion, Rectangles and Circumstance, as well as a conversation about songwriting, collaboration, copyright law, and more. You can listen to their conversation here.

"Since I was a kid, I was in love with the sky, the beauty of it, the freedom of it, like I could just float up forever," Laurie Anderson tells BBC Radio 4's Front Row presenter Tom Sutcliffe in a conversation about her upcoming album, Amelia, due August 30. "I remember as a kid doing that, running into the dark ... the ecstasy. Your arms are out like a plane, and you close your eyes and you run." You can hear their conversation here.

Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Yussef Dayes, who is currently on tour in the US, stopped by KEXP in Seattle back in November following the release of his debut solo album, Black Classical Music, to perform three songs from the album—"Raisins Under the Sun," "Turquoise Galaxy," and "Chasing the Drum"—and talk with host Larry Mizell, Jr. about his work, what Mizell calls "some of the most exciting music I've heard in years." You can watch it here.

Rhiannon Giddens was on the Democracy Now! Juneteenth special to talk with host Amy Goodman about her album You're the One and the track "Another Wasted Life," which she wrote inspired by the tragic story of Kalief Browder, a young man wrongfully incarcerated at NYC's Rikers Island for three years, where he was subjected to nearly two years of solitary confinement. You can watch their conversation and the video she made for the song with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, featuring 22 wrongfully convicted people, here. Giddens also talks with Goodman about her Pulitzer Prize–winning opera with Michael Abels, Omar.

Ringdown, the cinematic pop duo of Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee Parpan, stopped by WNYC in New York City to perform on New Sounds' Soundcheck and talk with host John Schaefer. They perform three songs: "Reckoning," "Thirst," and "Two-Step," their Nonesuch debut single released in March. You can watch all three and hear the episode here. Ringdown recently joined Sō Percussion on New Sounds to perform songs from Rectangles and Circumstance, the new album from Shaw and Sō, out tomorrow.

"When you speak to her, you can feel her excitement about the possibilities in music, the enthusiasm for the way music tells stories and how it connects us," NPR's World Cafe host Raina Douris says of her guest, Nathalie Joachim. They talk about her new album, Ki moun ou ye—which SPIN just named one of The Best Albums of 2024 (So Far)—and more, and Joachim performs four songs from it. You can watch it here.

"For every music lover, I think there are two basic forms of pleasure: the huge satisfaction of something you love done just perfectly, and then the thrill of hearing something altogether shockingly new. When an artist does both things at once, your head comes open a little bit, which is what happened when I first heard Cécile McLorin Salvant," David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, says of his guest on The New Yorker Radio Hour. "She's a jazz singer for sure, someone on the level of Sarah Vaughan or Ella Fitzgerald, but her repertoire and her approach to performing are totally her own." Salvant spoke with Remnick and performed three songs with pianist Sullivan Fortner: the Funny Girl favorite "Don't Rain on My Parade," the late 16th-century John Dowland song “Can She Excuse My Wrongs," and her own “Moon Song,” from her 2022 Nonesuch debut album, Ghost Song. You can hear it all (including a shoutout to Rhiannon Giddens) here.

Caroline Shaw, Sō Percussion, and Ringdown stopped by WNYC to perform on an episode of New Sounds focused on the music of Sō's Jason Treuting. They give live performances of three songs from the upcoming album Rectangles and Circumstance: Shaw and Sō on "Sing On," joined by Ringdown (Shaw and Danni Lee) on "Slow Motion" and "The Parting Glass." You can watch all three and hear the full episode here.

"The winner of five Grammy Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Music, John Adams is one of America's greatest and most performed living composers," BBC Radio 4's This Cultural Life host John Wilson says of his guest. They talk about Adams' life, work, and the influence of Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington, Steve Reich, Charles Dickens, the state of California, and more. You can hear their conversation here.

"Their latest, Ohio Players, is a blast," NPR's World Cafe host Kallao says of his guests, The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, and their new album. You can hear their conversation and a live performance of three album tracks—"Beautiful People (Stay High)," "This Is Nowhere," and "On The Game"—from this year's SXSW here.

"One of my favorite music labels has a momentous birthday: Nonesuch Records is turning 60 this year," says Deepa Fernandes, co-host of NPR's Here & Now, who spoke with Nonesuch President David Bither to mark the occasion. "Nonesuch has likely influenced your musical diet even if you didn't know it." "It's very hard to say what is a Nonesuch record," Bither says. "It's not a particular genre, but maybe it represents a particular kind of ambition and originality. There's a passionate audience for the music we've tried to champion." You can hear their conversation and several musical selections from over the years here.

"Alynda Segarra is a great singer and songwriter who is also a keen observer of what's really going on out there," eTown host Nick Forster says of his guest, aka Hurray for the Riff Raff, "including struggles and oppression and injustice and drug addiction and also love and dancing and friendship and nature. It's another beautiful journey." Segarra made their debut on the show this weekend, accompanied by Johnny Wilson to perform songs from the new album The Past Is Still Alive and more, including a finale of "Midnight Special," with fellow guest Peter One. Segarra also spoke with Forster about their life, the new album, and more. You can watch the interview and performances here.