“Over the Rainbow”, “Get Happy”, “Come Rain or Come Shine”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! In this week’s episode, travel somewhere over the rainbow into the singular mind of renowned composer Harold Arlen, a key contributor to the American Songbook whose hundreds of pop tunes became runaway hits during the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. Arlen collaborated with the greatest of the Tin Pan Alley lyricists, including E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, Johnny Mercer, Ted Koehler, Ira Gershwin, Dorothy Fields, and Truman Capote. While any number of Arlen’s compositions assured his prominent place in musical history, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) deemed “Over the Rainbow” to be the 20th century’s greatest song.

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“I Got Rhythm”, “Summertime”, “The Man I Love”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! In this week’s episode, the men you love are at the forefront: George and Ira Gershwin, brothers who sometimes seemed to write their hits with four hands and one brain. George’s gift for melody and Ira’s ability to seamlessly blend lyrical sophistication with the American vernacular made for a plethora of immortal songs that both reflected and shaped the dynamic forces of American modernism during the Jazz Age. Hear directly from Michael Feinstein, Norm Lewis, and more, as they guide you through the astounding lives of these two geniuses, cut from the same cloth.

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“You’re the Top”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “Love for Sale”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! In this week’s episode, you’ll fall freely in love with Cole Porter, the master of melody and lyrics who changed the soundscape and language of American music - and America itself. Writing songs for over 30 stage and film musicals, his best work set standards of sophistication and wit seldom matched in the popular musical theater. And, as explained by pioneering songwriter Justin Tranter, Porter blazed the trail for generations of queer writers to come, pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo of the American musical form. Featuring key interviews from acclaimed writer Adam Gopnik and musical icon Elvis Costello, this episode illuminates the magic of Cole Porter.

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