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The Scottish band Belle and Sebastian had been keeping to the shadows -- but that's about to change with release of the group's sixth album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Band founder and singer Stuart Murdoch explains to NPR's Steve Inskeep that the group was young and more than a little freaked out by the attention they first earned. Now that they've got an international following, Murdoch says the band is ready to take center stage.

Public university students across the state could soon have expanded access to emergency contraception on campus, if a new bill passes through the General Assembly.

A new PBS comedy show mixes humor with current events. The Strategic Humor Initiative is hosted by British broadcaster Sir David Frost. Frost was part of the team that did a similar show on NBC in the 1960s - That Was the Week That Was. Hear Frost and NPR's Bob Edwards.

NPR's Liane Hansen talks to artist Peter Sis, a 2003 MacArthur Fellow. He wrote and illustrated a new book for young readers called The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin.

Herb Gardner, a playwright known for smart, witty comedies such as A Thousand Clowns and the Tony award-winning I'm Not Rappaport, died this week of lung disease. He was 68. NPR's Michele Norris has a remembrance.

We Americans love our dogs. More households include dogs than children. And so the editors of The Bark, a magazine that began as a newsletter advocating a legal off-leash area for dogs to play, had no trouble finding enough writers and material for a book of essays, short stories and commentaries on all aspects of humans and their dogs. NPR's Ketzel Levine reports.

In the '60s and '70s, an obscure northwest corner of Alabama became a recording mecca for rhythm and blues, rock and pop artists. Now the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is up for sale.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra plans to perform American composer John Corigliano's "The Red Violin" -- a concerto for violin and orchestra -- Thursday. The debut will feature one of the leading violinists in classical music, Joshua Bell. The concerto uses themes from Corigliano's Academy Award-winning score for the film of the same name. NPR's Lisa Simeone has a profile.

Comedian Whoopi Goldberg is known for her blunt take on race issues, and her new sitcom, Whoopi -- which premieres Tuesday -- is no exception. The show features British-Iranian actor Omid Djalili, who makes comic hay out of everything from ethnic profiling to bombs -- dicey topics in the post-Sept. 11 era. NPR's Neda Ulaby speaks with Djalili.

Grammy-winner John Mayer's latest album, Heavier Things, finds the singer-songwriter pulling back from his driving guitar licks to focus more on melodies. Mayer speaks with NPR's Michele Norris about his new album and offers a preview of some of the songs.