Terry Gross

Banjo player Earl Scruggs, who helped shape the sound of American bluegrass music, died Wednesday. He was 88 years old. Fresh Air remembers Scruggs with excerpts from an interview.

McCartney recently released a collection of standards -- songs he heard while growing up in Liverpool. He talks about several of those songs, and his own songwriting, from his home studio.

Bessie and Boris Thomashefsky were mega-stars in the Yiddish theater world. Their story is told in a new documentary, written and conducted by heir grandson, Michael Tilson Thomas. He also serves as music director of San Francisco Symphony and artistic director of the New World Symphony.