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This episode was recorded on April 6th, 2025 at Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas, VA. The lineup includes Al Stewart, Livingston Taylor, Sweet Honey In The Rock, The Nighthawks, and Cristina Vane.  https://bit.ly/4lWtFIy 

What happens when a voice emerges? What happens when one is lost? Is something gained? A couple months ago, Lulu guest edited an issue of the nature magazine Orion. She called the issue “Queer Planet: A Celebration of Biodiversity,” and it was a wide-ranging celebration of queerness in nature. It featured work by amazing writers like Ocean Vuong, Kristen Arnett, Carmen Maria Machado and adrienne maree brown, among many others. But one piece in particular struck Lulu as something that was really meant to be made into audio, an essay called “Key Changes,” by the writer Sabrina Imbler. If their name sounds familiar, it might be because they’ve been on the show before. In this episode, we bring you Sabrina’s essay – which takes us from the beginning of time, to a field of crickets, to a karaoke bar – read by the phenomenal actor Becca Blackwell, and scored by our director of sound design Dylan Keefe. Stay to the end for a special surprise … from Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls!Special thanks to Jay Gallagher from UC Davis.EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by – Sabrina ImblerProduced by – Annie McEwen and Pat Walterswith help from – Maria Paz GutiérrezOriginal music from – Dylan KeefeFact-checking by – Kim Schmidtand Edited by  – Tajja Isen and Pat WaltersEPISODE CITATIONS:Articles – Check out Queer Planet: A Celebration of Biodiversity, Orion Magazine (Spring 2025)Read Sabrina Imbler’s original essay, “Key Changes,” Orion Magazine (Spring 2025)Read Lulu Miller’s mini-essay, “Astonishing Immobility,” Orion Magazine (Spring 2025)Check out Sabrina Imbler’s Defector column Creaturefector all about animalsAudio – Listen to Amy Ray’s song “Chuck Will’s Widow” from her solo album If It All Goes SouthBooks – How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures, by Sabrina ImblerSignup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot pay tribute to the late singer, songwriter and musician David Thomas. They do a deep dive on his career and life, discussing his music with Pere Ubu and Rocket from the Tombs.Join our Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3sivr9TBecome a member on Patreon: https://bit.ly/3slWZvcSign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3eEvRnGMake a donation via PayPal: https://bit.ly/3dmt9lUSend us a Voice Memo: Desktop: bit.ly/2RyD5Ah  Mobile: sayhi.chat/soundops Featured Songs:Pere Ubu, "Non-Alignment Pact," The Modern Dance, Plan 9, 1978The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Pere Ubu, "Babylonian Warehouses (Live on Sound Opinions)," Why I Hate Women, Smog Veil, 2006Dead Boys, "Ain't It Fun," We Have Come for Your Children, Sire, 1978Pere Ubu, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo," 30 Seconds Over Tokyo (Single), Hearthan, 1975Dead Boys, "Sonic Reducer," Young, Loud and Snotty, Sire, 1977Rocket from the Tombs, "Amphetamine (Live)," The Day the Earth Met Rocket from the Tombs (Live From Punk Ground Zero, Cleveland 1975), Smog Veil, 2002Pere Ubu, "Laughing," The Modern Dance, Blank, 1978Pere Ubu, "Humor Me," The Modern Dance, Blank, 1978Pere Ubu, "Dub Housing," Dub Housing, Chysalis, 1978Pere Ubu, "Caligari's Mirror," Dub Housing, Chysalis, 1978Pere Ubu, "(Pa) Ubu Dance Party," Dub Housing, Chysalis, 1978Pere Ubu, "Navvy," Dub Housing, Chysalis, 1978Pere Ubu, "Waiting For Mary," Cloudland, Fontana, 1989Pere Ubu, "George Had a Hat," The Tenement Year, Enigma, 1988Rocket from the Tombs, "Sonic Reducer," The Day the Earth Met Rocket from the Tombs (Live From Punk Ground Zero, Cleveland 1975), Smog Veil, 2002Pere Ubu, "Caroleen (Live on Sound Opinions)," Why I Hate Women, Smog Veil, 2006Arvella Gray, "John Henry," I Blueskvarter Chicago 1964, Volume Two, Jefferson, 2000See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The full Moon achieves a sort of celestial balance tonight. It’s passing across Libra, the balance scales – a symbol of justice. But the proper names of the constellation’s brightest stars have nothing to do with balance, justice, or anything similar. Instead, the names mean “the claws” – of nearby Scorpius, the scorpion. Originally, the stars did belong to Scorpius. But thousands of years ago, they were severed from the scorpion and placed in a new constellation. As night falls, one of the claws stands to the upper left of the Moon. Called Zubenelgenubi, it represents the southern claw. It’s the second-brightest star of Libra, and it’s about 75 light-years away. Like many of the stars in the night sky, Zubenelgenubi is deceiving. To the eye alone, it looks like a single point of light. Scan it with binoculars, though, and you’ll see two stars. They appear to be moving through space together, so they might be orbiting each other. But they’re so far apart that it takes the light from each star a month to reach the other one. At that separation, they might not be held together by gravity – their close appearance might be just a coincidence. Each of the two stars is actually a binary in its own right. In both cases, the stars are so close together that even giant telescopes can’t see them as individual stars. But we see the “fingerprints” of two stars in the light from each half of the southern claw. Script by Damond Benningfield

New música abounds! This week we highlight recent releases from Diamante Electrico, Rafa Pabon, Aczino, The Warning, Mexican Institute of Sound, Dayme Arocena, Hermanos Gutierrez, Eda Diaz and more.

Mike Birbiglia got used to strange things happening to him when he slept—until something happened that almost killed him. This and other reasons to fear sleep, including bedbugs, "The Shining," and mild-mannered husbands who turn into maniacs while asleep. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks about his fear of sleep, and reports on other people who have very strong reasons of their own to fear bedtime. (8 minutes)Act One: Mike Birbiglia talks about the sleepwalking that nearly killed him. (13 minutes)Act Two: Producers Nancy Updike and Robyn Semien report on critters that can kill sleep: cockroaches and bedbugs. (11 minutes)Act Three: Joel Lovell explains why, as an 11-year-old, he trained himself not to fall asleep, and how that had some unintended consequences. (10 minutes)Act Four: Seth Lind explains how he ended up watching Stanley Kubrick's The Shining when he was six years old, and how it led to two years where every night he had trouble falling asleep and nightmares. (7 minutes)Act Five: For some people, the fear of sleep is linked to the fear of death. We hear from some of them. (5 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.