Earworm

Bach's G major prelude has captivated cellists and music lovers for years. Cellist Alisa Weilerstein deconstructs it. Bach's six cello suites are considered a rite of passage for cellists. They're masterpieces of classical music, and the prelude in G major — the first movement of the suites — is perhaps the best example of Bach's power as a composer. In it, he's able to achieve rich and complex harmonic movements with just a four-stringed instrument, while using the very basic tenets of music composition. Those basic tenets are what Alisa Weilerstein, a renowned cellist and McArthur fellow, helps us understand.

If you open up your preferred music streaming service and browse its library of curated playlists, you’re bound to find a slew of them labeled “Smooth R&B,” “Chill R&B,” “90s Slow Jams,” or even “Bedroom Jams.” The artists within those playlists might range from recent R&B powerhouse singers like H.E.R and SZA to classic mainstays like Roberta Flack and Anita Baker. These playlists have gained massive followings over the past few years, but they aren’t a new innovation. In fact, they owe their success and sound to a 40-year-old staple of Black radio: Quiet Storm. In the video above, Estelle Caswell is joined by ethnomusicologist Fredara Hadley, along with former and current radio hosts Angela Stribling, Al Wood, and John Monds, to explore the roots of this iconic late-night radio format.

Long-haul truckers were once country music’s heroes.