An interview with Miley Cyrus.

A profile of rapper Bun B, “the unofficial mayor of Houston.”

A tour with the Stones, an appearance on The Munsters, and a song about “how Boston is a shit hole.”

A profile of DJ Larry Levan, whose sets at New York’s Paradise Garage in the 80s had an almost religious appeal.

On the trail of the phantom women who changed American music and vanished without a trace.

“In the recent history of American music, there’s no figure parallel to Lehrer in his effortless ascent to fame, his trajectory into the heart of the culture — and then his quiet, amiable, inexplicable departure.”

A fragile relationship teeters during a family vacation.

"At the restaurant, I enjoy myself for the first time the whole trip: I try fried plantains and sopapillas, washing them down two real margaritas (made from tequila and lime; that’s pretty much it). There is a live band, and Inez pulls Alan up to dance. Her hips have probably never been told no. Erik and I watch from the table. He holds a hand out to me and raises an eyebrow. I shake my head."

On Michael Jackson’s talent.

A punk heroin addict navigates 1980s Detroit.

"About an hour later, Harwell and Rollo were squatting (literal) in their squat (figurative) on Broadville, about a mile from the convenience store that had just fallen victim to their considerable wrath. They hadn’t said a word longer than four letters to each other since sprinting away from the Quality Dairy, and for the last thirty minutes they’d been listening for any movement outside, not sure if they’d been followed, or if Chavo and the night manager had enough information about them gathered from their several months of patronage to know where they hung their heads."

A mid-career profile of Johnny Cash.

A post-mortem.

The murder of an Iranian band in Brooklyn by one of their own.

Previously: Nancy Jo Sales on the Longform Podcast.

A new boyfriend complicates the creative and personal relationship of two teenage musicians.

"I was asking if she had figured out the fifth part because we had worked on three or four different versions, and John said all our music talk was boring. Kenna looked at him for a second, and I could tell she was annoyed, but she wasn’t going to do anything about it. He was limiting her. The old Kenna might have dumped his Denver Scramble on his head. She just made a face."

How the group’s 10 members live today.

Why we love repetition in music.

Searching for Puddles the Clown, whose cover of Lorde’s “Royals” made him an Internet star.

Investigating ska’s moment of conception.

In the Winter of 1964, the Fab Four rocket to superstardom in just six weeks.

A barely drinking-age Green Day profiled shortly after the release of Dookie.

“When society becomes unhinged, the arts get really good.”

On fame, making money and agnosticism.

On the “queer roots” of Disco, House, and beyond.

Tom Waits interviewed at 38.

A boy attempts to find common ground with his troubled younger brother.

"Dad glanced at me and his eyes were angry and pointed, but I thought his stern look was the end of it. We pulled into Friedrich a minute later and dropped Tommy off with the other kids in front of the lower school, waiting under the graying sun to be led single-file into classrooms by their teachers. When we got to the middle school carpool, Dad drove right around the circle and back toward the exit without dropping me off. Normally I would’ve been excited at the prospect of being late for school, but as we pulled out onto the main road a thick sense of dread sloshed around in my stomach."

A profile of the Hot 97 DJ a few months after “he told the truth about who he is, even if it’s not entirely clear—even to Mister Cee himself, even now, to this day—what exactly that truth is.”