Country star Merle Haggard is larger than lif...

Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.Two new novels use death to shed new light on life, but these aren’t depressing reads. In Everything Was Beautiful and N ...  Show more

Sigrid Nunez – author of novels like The Friend and What Are You Going Through – is out with a new collection of short stories. It Will Come Back to You features characters like a middle-age daughter coping with her mother’s memory loss, a Brad Pitt lookalike and a housekeeper wo ...  Show more

As the country star’s new album earns the biggest debut of the year, a conversation about the nature of his fame and the scope of his reprimand for using a racial slur. Guest: The New Yorker's Kelefa Sanneh. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify ...  Show more

Kentucky singer/songwriter Sturgill Simpson was in his mid-30s when he found fame as a country artist in Nashville. He had already lived a full life including a stint in the Navy, and years spent working in Salt Lake City rail yards. His outsider status in Nashville boosted his o ...  Show more

In the US he’s a country music superstar. Here he’s Mr Nicole Kidman. Today - why Keith Urban is not the artist you thought he was.  Find out more about The Front podcast here. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website or on The Australian’s app. This epi ...  Show more

From recording some of the first rap hits to revitalizing Johnny Cash's career, the legendary producer has had an extraordinary creative life. In this episode he talks about his new book and his art-making process — and helps Steve get in touch with his own artistic side.