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Recently, Radiolab host Jad Abumrad started wondering about the legend of bluesman Robert Johnson. You know, the one where he goes down to the crossroads and sells his soul to the devil in return for unnatural guitar ability. What you don’t know, and what Jad found out, is that the truth is far stranger than the fiction. He’ll join us to share the story. 

We spent the first part of the show talking about the blues, and bluesman Robert Johnson. But what about the yellows and the reds and the rest of the colors? Well, Jad Abumrad and his Radiolab cohorts have been thinking about color recently -- and in fact asked a number of bands to record versions of songs about the various colors.  We hear a few excerpts.

Beginning Thursday, December 8th at 7 pm, Q2 Music launches a weekly series of compelling new-music shows as recorded in their entirety at venues around New York City.This week: instrumentalist-composers Zoë Keating and Todd Reynolds.

Alexis Madrigal, technology editor for The Atlantic, talks about Jobs' tech legacy and his surprising counterculture origins; then, Jad Abumrad, host of Radiolab, on Jobs' influence on music and radio.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2011 "genius grants." Among this year's fellows are an architect, a scientist, a children's choir founder, and a familiar face to the staff of The Takeaway and our co-producer WNYC. Jad Abumrad, host of WNYC's Radiolab, just found out a few days ago he would receive one of the $500,000 grants. John and Celeste ask him about the honor. (Watch a video about Abumrad after the jump.)

Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, host of the Peabody Award-winning WNYC program “Radiolab,” talk about creating the show and what’s in store for their new season.

This week, Q2 launches the 13-week Spring 2011 season of our flagship show, Cued Up, with the first encore presentation of one of the more mesmerizing evenings in our recent live Webcast history.

On Sunday, March 6 at 7 p.m., EST, Q2 presents a live audio Web cast of experimental musician and technophile Zoë Keating in a sold-out concert from Greenwich Village's (Le) Poisson Rouge. Joining Keating for a voltaic, electroacoustic double bill is New Music stalwart Todd Reynolds. The evening is hosted by Radiolab's Jad Abumrad who will interview the musicians on stage before joining Q2 host Nadia Sirota in the open online chat embedded below.

The Wordless Music Series pairs rock and electronic musicians with more traditional chamber and new music performers, to create an entirely new concert experience. WNYC presents four one-hour specials that highlight the ground-breaking '07-'08 season, hosted by Radiolab's Jad Abumrad.