Excited to talk with our guest Jessie Ware on record release day. Ware joins Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social to talk about books that inspired Superbloom; creating an alter ego named Shirley Bloom; & why she wanted to share more of her personal life on the album.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7gM...
Billy Idol talks with Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social about his early punk rock days and his group Generation X, to the heights of his new wave success, hit songs, drug fueled days and being a grandparent.
www.npr.org/2026/04/10/n...
Big Thief return to the Cafe w/ performances from their recent album, Double Infinity, and talk with Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social abut changes in the band and their lives.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=quG1...
Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social talks with @timheidecker.bsky.social about the songs that defined him for "Personal Records." www.npr.org/2026/03/31/n...
Our friend Langhorne Slim returns to the Cafe studio to perform songs from his new album and talk with Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social
www.npr.org/2026/03/26/n...
Mitski and her band perform a special session recorded at New York City's Power Station and talks with Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social about the new record, the inspirations behind it and how anxiety, anger and the need to escape expectations informed the record.
One of our longtime friends and favorites on the Cafe, Iron & Wine makes a return visit to the Cafe. He talks with Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social about songs from his new album and his catalogue for an episode of Backtracking. He also performs live in concert.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J98t...
Cafe host Raina Douris @rahrahraina.bsky.social talks with singer-songwriter Jobi Riccio, who performs live with her band.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMdi...
Kashus Culpepper talks with Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social about how he went from performing cover songs to his new full-length debut album, Act I, and with his band performs in front of a live audience.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvQF...
We wrap up our Black History Month series with our Culture Corner contributor John Morrison and Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social with our final segment on the impact of music of the African disapora. www.npr.org/2026/02/25/n...
Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social chats with
Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol from Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie about their new movie and music that defined them in a new segment, "Personal Records."
www.npr.org/2026/02/16/n...
@rahrahraina.bsky.social of @wxpnfm.bsky.social’s @worldcafe.bsky.social interviews Lucinda Williams for this new episode of Backtracking.
In the latest edition of "Backtracking," Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social met up with the legendary Lucinda Williams at Lu's bar and restaurant in NYC for a wide ranging conversation about her new record and highlights from her back catalogue.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NG2...
Some thoughts on Catherine O’Hara’s comedy, and her ability to straddle the line between madness and vacuity. For @thestar.com. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Big congrats to Amy Allen for winning the Grammy for
Songwriter of The Year, Non-Classical. It was great to have Amy on the show last May, talking w/ Cafe host Raina Douris @rahrahraina.bsky.social about the songs Amy has written for herself and others. www.npr.org/2025/05/13/1...
On our recent Sense of Place Baltimore series, Cafe host Raina Douris @rahrahraina.bsky.social explores the vibrant Baltimore club music scene with Abdu Ali and DJ Ducky Dynamo.
www.npr.org/2026/02/03/n...
Our Sense of Place Baltimore series continues at the Harbor Wetland on the National Aquarium campus with electronic musician and composer Dan Deacon who talks with Cafe host Raina Douris @rahrahraina.bsky.social
www.npr.org/2026/01/30/n...
four metro officers doing fare enforcement inside the station while the sidewalks to the escalators are still iced over 👍👍👍
Sixers hold a moment of silence for Dan McQuade.
Our Sense of Place: Baltimore travels have connected Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social w/ the amazing Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS). Raina talked with Patrick Staso of BROS about the volunteer-driven theater company & their creative and unconventional productions.
www.npr.org/2026/01/28/n...
heartbroken over the loss of dan mcquade - one of my first friends in philly, who was so kind, so curious, so excited to share the strange beauty of this city with me (and everyone). an incredible writer with a one-of-a-kind eye for detail. he will be missed immeasurably.
We went to Baltimore for our recent Sense of Place series. Of the stops we made, we connected with Izzy Bavis, who covers the local music Baltimore music scene on WTMD. Izzy talked with Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social about some emerging bands that you need to hear.
www.npr.org/2026/01/27/n...
💛💛💛💛💛
Filled with absolute joy that @rahrahraina.bsky.social got to talk “All the Bubbles In the World.”
After 20 years, The Format have returned. Nate Ruess and Sam Means join Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social in the studio to perform live and to talk about returning to a guitar-forward sound on their new lp, Boycott Heaven.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFUV...
Canadian legend Anne Murray has released her first new music since retiring 17 years ago by opening the vaults to some of her previously unreleased songs. Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social catches up with the multiple Juno & Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter.
www.npr.org/2026/01/20/n...
interviewed @annemurrayofficial.bsky.social for @worldcafe.bsky.social and it was SO NICE www.npr.org/2026/01/20/n...
We're saddened to hear the news over the weekend that Tucker Zimmerman and his wife Marie-Claire passed away. About a year ago, Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social talked with Tucker and Buck Meek about the record, Dance Of Love, Tucker made with Big Thief.
www.npr.org/2025/01/10/1...
One of our favorite albums from last year was CMAT's Euro-Country. @cmatbaby.bsky.social talks about the album with Cafe host @rahrahraina.bsky.social.
www.npr.org/2026/01/16/n...
Talking with @rahrahraina.bsky.social, XPN's John Morrison give a classic hip-hop record the special treatment.