Daily Schedule

Greg Farrell gives a “fly-on-the-wall” account of the fall and sale of Merrill Lynch. Then Ivana Lowell talks about growing up in an eccentric family—Caroline Blackwood was her mother and Robert Lowell was her stepfather. Also, Mary Owen, Donna Reed’s daughter, talks about the enduring appeal of Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Plus, we’ll learn about the men behind McKim, Mead & White—one of the most influential architectural firms of the early 20th century!

Your morning companion from NPR and the WNYC Newsroom, with world news, local features, and weather updates.

What will the death of Richard Holbrooke mean for US policy in Afghanistan going forward?  Plus: what WikiLeaks reveled about Pfizer in Nigeria; the prevalence of political euphemis...

Some had their ears hidden underneath a pair of noise-cancelation headphones. Others kept their hands busy counting off beats in a video game. Today, Soundcheck's Critcs Week casts its gaze on the year's best music-related gadgets. Later: Brooklyn-based duo The Hundred in the Hands perform their danceable rock live in the studio. Also: a look around the world for the best sounds in 2010.

A wrap-up of the day’s news, with features and interviews about the latest developments in New York City and around the world, from NPR and the WNYC newsroom.

A wrap-up of the day’s news, with features and interviews about the latest developments in New York City and around the world, from NPR and the WNYC newsroom.

Tell Me More focuses on the way we live, intersect and collide in a culturally diverse world. Capturing the headlines, issues and pleasures relevant to multicultural life in America, the daily one-hour series is hosted by award-winning journalist Michel Martin. Tell Me More marks Martin's first role in hosting a daily program. She views it as an opportunity to focus on the stories, experiences, ideas and people important in contemporary life but often not heard.

Composer Andrew Byrne, an Australian composer based in New York, joins John Schaefer to present the striking sounds of his musical landscapes for piano and percussion.  The record, "White Bone Country" - a poetic title that refers to the Australian outback - is a collection of pieces in the American experimental tradition of Cowell, Harrison, and John Luther Adams, including works for processed piano and small metal percussion and the sampled sounds of prepared piano.  We’ll sample some of these mega-toy instruments, drones, and other startling sounds on this New Sounds.  Listen for another of Byrne’s works for piano four hands, with one pianist where one might expect - at the keyboard, but a percussionist plays the inside of the piano with mallets…