Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Our book club for kids, Get Little, returns with award-winning multihyphenate filmmaker and musician Questlove! His new picture book, The Idea in You, celebrates creativity in young m...

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson talks about the Oscar nomination for his film, which was put together from long-forgotten footage of 1969's Harlem Cultural Festival.

The shuffle setting on iPods and digital music players has changed how we experience recorded music. Drummer Questlove of The Roots and friends are emulating the juxtaposition and freedom of the shuffle setting in live concerts at BAM this week. He joins us to talk about shuffle and take calls. 

Hip hop’s preeminent backing band, The Roots, continues its relentless schedule. They provide the oomph on soul singer Betty Wright’s latest solo album. They deliver laughs as the house band on NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” (not to mention some controversy, after their recent intro music for Rep. Michele Bachmann). And next week, they’re set to release a concept album called “Undun.” Founding member and drummer ?uestlove joins us with a preview.

With the Philadelphia-based group The Roots, drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson has helped shape the sound of hip hop for nearly 20 years. Now, Thompson has become a high-profile, cultural guru, thanks to The Roots' side gig on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" and Thompson's prolific Twitter account. He recently teamed up Keren Ann and other musicians to rework the music of classical composers like Satie, Debussy and Stravinsky. We ask ?uestlove about that event, life with The Roots, and his DJ gig in Brooklyn that blends bowling with the classic TV show "Soul Train."