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For the last several years, avant-garde jazz pianist Mathew Shipp has been trying to revitalize jazz with an infusion of electronica. Antipop Consortium vs. Matthew Shipp is his latest effort in a style that's being called "jazztronica." Critic Tom Moon has a review.

Art conservation authorities in Florence, Italy, are preparing to undertake an ambitious project to clean Michelangelo's David. But many question whether the technique to be used to restore the nearly 500-year-old Renaissance masterpiece will do more harm than good. And the dispute is raising questions about art restoration in general. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.

About 15 million Americans practice yoga, up nearly 30 percent in the last year, a new survey from Yoga Journal finds. Business booms for yoga-related studios and retail stores, including those selling sportswear, videotapes and accessories. Hear Rebecca Roberts.

In the latest segment in the "Honky Tonks, Hymns and the Blues" series, NPR's Paul Brown explores the influence of Jimmie Rodgers. The "father of country music" traveled like a meteor from obscurity, to fame, to early death. Combining blues, vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley with old-time mountain music, he brought the so-called "hillbilly" sound into the mainstream.

Diana Abu-Jaber's book, Crescent, weaves fragrant cooking, romance and the horrors of Saddam Hussein into her novel of Middle-Eastern immigrants and exiles in Los Angeles. Read an excerpt from the novel.

Representatives of a major donor to the Metropolitan Opera sue to recover millions of dollars they say the opera used against the philanthropist's wishes. At issue is a 2001 television broadcast of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde that featured a "nontraditional" set. Hear George Carpinello, a lawyer for the donor's estate.

Actress Katharine Hepburn, who won a record four best actress Oscars in her 60-year career, dies at the age of 96. Hepburn starred in such film classics as The Philadelphia Story and The African Queen. She married only once, briefly, but the great love of her life was actor Spencer Tracy, with whom she made nine films and remained close companions until his death in 1967. Hear NPR News.

Baseball Hall-of-Famer Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League, dies after a long illness. He was believed to be 79. Doby was named to seven straight All-Star teams in his 13-year career, most of it spent with the Cleveland Indians. He experienced discrimination both on and off the field, but in later years rarely displayed bitterness. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards.

Merriam-Webster releases the 11th edition of its Collegiate Dictionary, which includes new words such as "dot commer" and "headbanger." The Internet has made the biggest influence on the American language, both with the new words it has generated and the speed with which the public has adopted them. Hear John Morse, president and publisher of Merriam-Webster.

Bloggers -- or Web loggers -- have been sharing their most intimate thoughts and opinions on the Internet since the mid-1990s, mostly with text, links and photos. Now, increasingly they're adding their voices -- literally -- to their online diaries. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports on the advent of audio blogs.