
Gwen Thompkins
Gwen Thompkins is a New Orleans native, NPR veteran and host of WWNO's Music Inside Out, where she brings to bear the knowledge and experience she amassed as senior editor of Weekend Edition, an East Africa correspondent, the holder of Nieman and Watson Fellowships, and as a longtime student of music from around the world.
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Listen to a selection of marvelous music from the First Lady of Song, plus music by artists who have felt her influence.
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The Latin American Library at Tulane University is digitizing a whopping collection of Cold War-era, must-hear entertainment — Spanish language radionovelas made by Cuban emigrés in Miami.
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Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire pays tribute to her Haitian roots with a new Krewe du Kanaval at carnival this year. The effort is a collaboration with Preservation Hall Foundation.
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Fats Domino, a founding father of rock-and-roll, has died at age 89. His daughter said that he died Tuesday of natural causes.
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The rhythm-and-blues legend who became one of the progenitors of rock 'n' roll — and reportedly sold more than 65 million records along the way — died Tuesday.
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Elaine M. Hayes' new book traces the ups and downs of the singer known as the Queen of Bebop, from her great Town Hall debut in 1947 to the cheesy but profitable novelty songs that marred her legacy.
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In music, "accidentals" are notes that color just outside the lines. They shocked listeners during the Renaissance, but these days you can find them all over the place.
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New Orleans lost much since Hurricane Katrina, and the failed levees that flooded the city. But Gwen Thompkins says the passions that survived the flood kept her city alive too.
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On the 50th anniversary of Malcolm X's assassination, commentator Gwen Thompkins wants his skill as a public speaker and debater to be remembered as a key part of his legacy.
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In the 1990s, Jim McCormick was teaching at the University of New Orleans and looking ahead to a future in academia. Today, he's one of the hottest lyricists in country music, having hit the top of the Billboard Country Music charts twice in the past six months.