Marlon Bishop

With the World Cup heading into its final two weeks, all eyes are set on host nation South Africa. Sixteen years after the election of Nelson Mandela and the end of apartheid, it's an opportunity for South Africa to show the world the vibrant, multi-racial democracy it has become.

But for South African artists both white and black, the traumas of apartheid are never far away. From the Afrikaner novelist to the young black photographer, learning to cope with that past continues to shape the way they make art.

It's about time we give our cities a makeover.

With 60% of the world's population projected to live in urban areas by the year 2030, city officials and urban planners the world over are talking about how to redesign for a more crowded future.

Changing the way we get around is the key, according to the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), an organization that promotes sustainable transportation solutions for the world's burgeoning cities. The ITDP is sponsoring a project called Our Cities Ourselves, which pairs ten world cities with ten leading architects. Each has come up with a redesign of a public space, hand-tailored to the challenges presented by each city. These designs will be presented at an exhibition, opening on June 24, at New York City's Center for Architecture.

Last week, WNYC reported on Michael Sorkin's plan for New York, drawing impassioned responses from commenters. The proposal calls for tearing down the FDR interchange that connects the highway to the Brooklyn Bridge, freeing the waterfront to be developed into a riverside park, and discouraging vehicle traffic downtown.

The plans presented in Our Cities Ourselves focus on designs that reduce reliance on cars while encouraging bicycle use and public transportation. Many of the designs include provisions for Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT in urban planner parlance, high-speed bus lines with dedicated lanes and train-like stations for getting on and off. BRT has been a hailed as a success in developing cities such as Bogota and Quito, where it is prohibitively expensive to build subway systems.

Below, take a look at the designs.

105.9 WQXR-FM, the New York-based classical music public radio station, and sister station to WNYC,  has announced its new leader. And the classical music community is talking about it.

The World Cup isn’t just a soccer tournament – it’s an worldwide cultural happening. Find out about the best World Cup music, videos, art exhibitions, and books, right here.

Unless you've taken the month off of work, you probably won't be able to catch all the games of this year's World Cup. There are 48 games in the first round alone. If you can only manage to see five of them, here are which ones to watch:

At long last, the World Cup has arrived. WNYC weighs in with places to watch the games and matches not to miss.

Jazz harp prodigy Edmar Castaneda performed for us live at the Soundcheck Studio. Listen to the recordings here.

Old-school cumbia party band La Cumbiamba eNeYe performed live in the Soundcheck Studio last week. Listen to the audio here.

The author of Don't Cry and Veronica visits Brooklyn's Powerhouse Books with Stacked Up TV. Watch the video.

Instrumental experimental rock trio Up Died Sound performed at Zebulon, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Stream the whole set here.

New York jazz-scene stalwart Michael Blake recently performed at Barbes. Stream the entire set right here.