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At the end of a year in which pop songs were a constant, provocative part of the national conversation, NPR Music critic Ann Powers sifts through the 100 most popular songs of the year to highlight 10 pure pop pleasures worth remembering.

A conversation with eclectic rock duo, Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach of the The Black Keys, about the unique motivations behind the making of their new album, Peaches!

For this month's issue of Texas Monthly, writers Jeff McCord and John Morthland took on an ambitious assignment: coming up with a list of the 100 best Texas songs. The task required the two to make agonizing decisions, between "On the Road Again," "Always on My Mind," "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" — and that's just music from Willie Nelson. McCord and Morthland discuss their choices with NPR's Melissa Block.

One of America's great songwriters, Dan Penn has written dozens of soul classics, often with keyboardist Spooner Oldham. For a while, the two were on the staff of Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala. Ace Records has just released an entire CD of Penn's demos.

The men's basketball team at Monmouth University has been scoring upset victories. But it's the team's bench players who have been making the highlight reels with their choreographed celebrations.

Will Hermes is the author of “Love Goes to Buildings on Fire” and an upcoming biography of Lou Reed. He is a frequent contributor on the subject of music for NPR, Rolling Stone, and other publications. Sometimes he permits me (Sarah LaDue) to record and share his expertise and music taste with you, the WAMC listening audience.

Grammy Award-winning producer and guitarist extraordinaire, John Pizzarelli salutes the legendary Tony Bennett celebrating over 60 years of unparalleled artistry in the show: John Pizzarelli Trio: Tony Bennett – The Art of Excellence at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA on Saturday, December 20th at 8:00 pm.

Dan Tsai discusses how he ran Medicaid under Biden, and his fears for how Republicans might try to change the program.