Radio Diaries is revisiting some of their original teenage diarists. Joe Richman, founder and executive producer of the show, discusses the project and plays some tape. Plus, two of the diarists discuss their pieces: Amanda Brand, who reported on coming out to her conservative Catholic parents; and Juan, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who now has a family and full-time job in Denver, CO.

NPR's Quil Lawrence spent a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan as a war correspondent. But now, he's covering a new beat - veterans from those wars as they transition back to civilian life. Bob talks to Quil about challenging his own assumptions and the conventional wisdom on the veteran beat.

David Bowie unveils a birthday surprise for his fans, a new song and his first album in nearly ten years, The Next Step.

Ophira Eisenberg, host of Ask Me Another, and Jonathan Coulton, the show’s house musician, hold a special quiz for Lopate Show listeners and perform some songs. Ask Me Another starts its second season of recordings November 12, at 7:30 pm, at The Bell House in Brooklyn. Starting January 4 Ask Me Another will be broadcast weekly on public radio stations across the country.

Ask Me Another airs on 93.9 FM at 3:00 pm on Saturday and AM 820 at 12 noon.

Kee Malesky, NPR’s longest-serving librarian, was in New York on October 15 for a talk and an afternoon “salon”. Sponsored by METRO, she was promoting her recently-published, second book, Learn Something New Every Day.

I can turn on the TV, watch Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, or I can drive over to the federally subsidized Kennedy Center and watch Dr. Lonnie Smith crush it on the Hammond organ with his trio.

NPR Congressional Correspondent Andrea Seabrook left NPR recently, citing frustration with the daily grind of covering politicians who "lie" to her face, all day, every day. Seabrook is starting a new project called DecodeDC, where she hopes she can blog and podcast her way to some deeper truths about Washington. Bob does an exit interview with Seabrook to discuss why political reporting is broken, and what might be done to fix it.

Zammuto - Wasn't That Lucky 

The huge popularity of EDM – electronic dance music - has led to a sea change in concerts lately, as huge crowds gather to watch brand-name DJs like Skrillex, Deadmau5, and Avicii. Nothing wrong with that, but it was great to be reminded last night at Celebrate Brooklyn that there are still bands playing dance music the old-school way: with multiple human beings and instruments being played in real time.

Ray, left, and Tom Magliozzi, of Car Talk (photo: Cartalk.com)

People are driving fewer miles, taking mass transit more frequently, and young people care way less about cars and driving.

Now comes word quarter-century-long running public radio program, Car Talk, will no longer produce fresh episodes.

NPR said today that:

"Tom and Ray Magliozzi, aka Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, the comedian mechanics who host NPR's Car Talk, will tell their listeners this afternoon that as of this fall, they'll no longer record new programs. But their weekly call-in series will continue to be distributed by NPR drawing on material from their 25 years of show archives." The show ran for ten years as a local program in Boston before going nationwide.

NPR says the two, who are 74 and 63, and who've broadcast for 35 years, decided "it was time to stop and smell the cappuccino."  (We are not making this up.)

Stations, including flagship WNYC in New York, say they'll continue to air the re-packaged episodes culled from choice moments out of the 12,500 logged and rated calls in the 25 years of archives.

The guffawing brothers aren't worried the show will sound stale in repeats. And why should they? Public radio listeners will still be hunting for affable fixit advice for a 1995 Suburu... ten years from now.

NPR's All Songs Considered is taking its show on the road - and kicking things off in NYC at The Living Room. For this first stop on their summer tour, Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton will be joined by our very own John Schaefer. It's sold out - but Soundcheck will be live tweeting from the listening party! Follow us @Soundcheck.

Once again the intersection of NPR and politics has created a controversy. When Lisa Simeone, host of World of Opera was revealed to be acting as a spokesperson for an Occupy Wall Street inspired group in Washington D.C. - NPR decided to distance itself from the show by ending distribution. (The show will continue to be distributed by a local affiliate.) Bob spoke with Joyce Slocum, interim President and CEO of NPR about how and why that decision was made. 

The Beatles - "I'm Only Sleeping (Rehearsal)"

It's A Free Country's The Mix, where we take some of the notable clips and other voices found on WNYC this week and mix 'em up. Voices are in bold, connections in italics.

Brooke Gladstone, host and managing editor of WNYC’s On the Media, discusses the circumstances and implications of the ouster of NPR senior executive Ron Schiller and NPR CEO Vivian Schiller.

The jobless rate in New York State and New York City increased in January, even as jobs were created. We'll talk about the latest jobs numbers.

NPR's president and CEO, Vivian Schiller has resigned following the release of a video in which NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller questioned whether NPR needs federal funding and spoke out against conservatives and Tea Party members. Vivian Schiller came under fire last year following the dismissal of political analyst Juan Williams. This shakeup comes at a time when federal funding for NPR is threatened. Brooke Gladstone, host of "On The Media" explains the latest news.

NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller resigned from her post Wednesday morning.

NPR announced Thursday that Senior Vice-President for News Ellen Weiss has resigned, simultaneously announcing the completion of an internal review of the October firing of Juan Williams. Williams was fired after saying on Fox:

When I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.

NPR said his comments violated their standards for reporters, and let the long-time correspondent go. Weiss was thought of as the person responsible for the decision to fire Williams. Now, with the internal review -- which reads as a rebuke of the way in which NPR handled the situation -- Weiss will no longer be with the organization either.

A prototype of D.C.'s new streetcar

(Washington D.C. - David Schultz, WAMU) So let's say you're a city. You want to build a big public works project, like a school or a fire house - or let's say a $1.5 billion, 37-mile streetcar network.

First you formulate a design for the project, then you find the money to pay for it and then you get local politicians to sign off. (Not necessarily in that order) In most cities, with most projects, that's how it works.

Not in the District of Columbia. In Washington D.C., you also have to make sure the project you're working on doesn't impinge on any of the august, historic symbols that populate the Nation's Capital.

We took a group of 14 Rookies from the Bronx and Queens down to Washington DC to see the sights. There were 17 of us, traveling on a double-decker bus, staying in a hostel.