My Erhu

We were contemplating a series about musicians talking about their instruments. And then Ma walked into our studio. It also happened to be the same day my new colleague David Gilkey started at NPR, so it turned into a beautiful two camera shoot.

Stephin Merritt: Two Days, 'A Million Faces'

The challenge: Write and record a song — in two days. (We provide the studio and the inspiration.) On this edition of Project Song, songwriter Stephin Merritt.

Rock Star

We spent a chilly morning at local climbing spot Carderock with Chris Sharma, who's maybe the best rock climber in the world today. It was amazing watching him climb stuff near the same spot where I myself first learned to rock climb.