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It's hard to imagine that people used to die from things as small as a scratch on the knee — but that's what life was like before penicillin. Author Lauren Belfer's new novel, A Fierce Radiance, follows the intrigue as pharmaceutical companies race to mass-produce lifesaving drugs during World War II.

Ever wonder why supermarket tomatoes taste like nothing? Food writer Barry Estabrook's new book traces the troubled history of the modern commercial tomato.

In 1914, thousands of soldiers eagerly boarded trains across Europe to fight in World War I; they thought it would be a quick and easy battle. Five years later, more than 8 million troops were dead and countless families were split apart. Author Adam Hochschild explores those divisions in his book To End All Wars.

Students and listeners from across the state send in their reports.

The elections had been hailed as step forward for Kenyan democracy, with politicians focused on economic issues rather than tribal mobilization. Across Nairobi, scenes of celebration mixed with anger.

The rise of the rapper from Paterson, N.J. with a trio of feel-good hits has felt inexorable and hilariously American. His debut album, finally here, is proof he did it his way.

In 1971, Motown founder Berry Gordy created MoWest, a California label that would last only two years before being dismantled. A new anthology documents this odd and little-known chapter in Motown's history.

The rock trio's first album since 2005 sounds as fresh and vital as a debut, but also as nuanced and skillful as the work of three players with a decade-long, inimitable rapport betwixt them.

WBGO Morning Jazz host Gary Walker shares his favorite jazz recordings of 2007. Among the artists he singles out: Michael Brecker, Abbey Lincoln, Maria Schneider and Ron Carter.

Born in the '60s, soul-jazz is a groove-oriented style built from the bottom up. You take a strong bass line, establish a steady groove between the bass and drums, and then embellish that groove with riffs and melody lines that draw heavily from gospel, blues and R&B.

The best albums of 2007 include a plethora of reliable favorites, whether they're treading new stylistic ground (Iron and Wine), returning to roots (Wilco) or merely holding steady (Spoon). And, of course, a few new favorites join the mix, too.

Banning Eyre, senior editor of Afropop.org, shines the spotlight on Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean with his picks for the year's best albums. Among his selections: Watina, an effort by singer Andy Palacio to preserve the culture of the Garifuna people of Central America.

The singer nicknamed "the Norwegian Kylie" meets the synth-pop, disco-house production duo from Germany for some deep bubblegum grooves.

In a newly unearthed studio recording, a short-lived version of Bill Evans' trio, with Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette, shows just how fervent their musical conversations could be.

Roy Orbison didn't really find his identity until he signed with a small Nashville label, Monument, in 1959. Ed Ward looks at the 17 singles that put him, and the Monument label, on the map.

It's fitting that this house-music collection comes out so soon after Daft Punk cleaned up at the Grammy Awards; it's a bedrock part of that band's roots.

The singer-songwriter behind the hit "Walking in Memphis" was only 11 years old in 1970, but music from that year left a significant impression on him. Cohn's latest album, Listening Booth: 1970, is devoted to covers of some of 1970's greatest songs -- including an eclectic range of classics by artists such as Paul McCartney, Simon & Garfunkel and Smokey Robinson.

Dave Matthews Band is one of the most commercially successful rock groups in recent history. Here, Matthews reflects on his life in music after the release of the Grammy-nominated Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, as well as the death of one of his band's founding members.

During the 1940s and '50s, Dameron focused his considerable compositional talents on the emerging jazz style called bebop. During a relatively brief period, Dameron composed a body of work that helped define and expand the parameters of this music.

After weeks of threats from North Korea, some South Koreans turned their attention this weekend away from weapons and toward a new song by the country's global rap star, PSY. On Saturday night the singer unveiled his follow-up single and video to the viral phenomenon, "Gangnam Style," at a sold-out concert.