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Singer Madeleine Peyroux moved to France at age 15, honing her vocal talents on the streets of Paris before making her recording debut at age 22. Eight years later she's back with a new CD, Careless Love. She speaks with NPR's Sheilah Kast.

Singer-songwriter Nellie McKay, 19, has been compared to both Doris Day and Eminem. Her debut CD, Get Away From Me, includes jazz, rap, blues, Latin, rock and more, reflecting her eclectic life — she was born in London and grew up in Harlem. Hear six songs from her performance in NPR's Studio 4A.

In 480 B.C., a powerful Persian armada attacked the Greek navy at Salamis, an island off Athens. In his book The Battle of Salamis, historian Barry Strauss makes a case that the Greeks' surprising victory assured the survival of Western civilization. He talks to NPR's Brian Naylor.

Here at World Cafe, we're celebrating music that's been around for a quarter-century, including a landmark release from Radiohead, a seminal song from The Verve and a comeback from Bob Dylan.

A performance and chat with musician Stephin Merritt and author David Handler (a.k.a Lemony Snicket) about The Tragic Treasury: Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events. Merritt, of The Magnetic Fields, contributed his talents to the soundtrack.

Former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl formed Foo Fighters after the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain in 1994. Foo Fighters' latest, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, includes a song Grohl wrote for two miners who, trapped in an Australia mine collapse, asked rescuers to send down an iPod loaded with Foo Fighters songs.

British rocker Elvis Costello made his debut with the album My Aim is True 30 years ago. He's since performed, recorded or collaborated with artists as diverse as The Brodsky Quartet and Burt Bacharach. An anniversary edition of My Aim is True was released this week.

Nick Lowe is a musical veteran of 40 years as a songwriter and producer, but he's still best known for a song he wrote in 1974: "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding." Now comes a new CD.

On this week's show: songs of power, protest and passion, including a cut from Shearwater's "angriest" record, and singer Kevin Morby's fervent if exasperated attempt to make sense of police violence.

This week on Alt.Latino, co-host Jasmine Garsd tries to play only songs by Miguel, but is thwarted.