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As you've probably heard, the wonderful Nora Ephron has died. We're all big fans here, and we were delighted to have Nora join us on stage at Carnegie Hall in 2010. She came early, she stayed late, she was quick, she was funny, she was glamorous, and most of all...she was gracious enough to let us ask her a string of silly questions. You can listen to that segment, which aired the following January, here.

For New York Polyphony, it's location, location, location. The four-man vocal ensemble thrives on music from the Renaissance, much of it designed for cavernous, reverberant spaces. Think voices soaring through arched cathedrals. But madrigals by Flemish composer Orlando di Lasso, with their more intimate storytelling vibe, are suited for smaller venues — like, say, the living room of New York Polyphony bass Craig Phillips.

I fell in love with Bruce Springsteen for his swagger. It was ridiculous and offered so much hope. Here was a bony dude with the worst haircut ever, who wore T-shirts covered in holes — seriously, he looked like the fry cook at the amusement park where I worked as a counter girl in the summer — making music as big as the known universe.

This week on All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton offer sneak previews of some of the summer's most anticipated releases.

Armed with cameras and microphones, we recently invaded the rehearsal spaces of prominent musicians. The result is "In Practice," a new series of videos you can watch here.

What: First Person Tutor: or, The Grading Game

You're a destitute graduate student with overdue student loans, and the only way to pay them back is grading papers for Dr. Paynuss, an evil professor determined to fail all his students. You earn points by finding spelling and grammar errors in their papers within a thirty-second time limit. The lower their grade, the higher your salary.