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John McWhorter's newest book is called The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language. He has written on Ebonics, language and African Americans, and the origins of the Creole Language. His other books include Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America and Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of 'Pure' Standard English. McWhorter is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

The common image of a barbershop quartet is of white men singing four-part harmony, but the musical form actually emerged from the barbershops and street corners of African-American neighborhoods. In the latest segment of NPR's Present at the Creation series, Jim Wildman reports on the roots and styles of barbershop for Morning Edition.

Last year, Gates uncovered a manuscript of a novel purportedly written in the 1850s by an African American woman who had been a slave. It is the first known work of its kind and has great historical and literary significance. The Bondwomans Narrative by Hannah Crafts, edited by Henry Louis Gates, has just been published (Warner Books). Well talk with Gates about the process of finding, authenticating and publishing the novel. Gates is the W.E.B. DuBois Professor of Humanities and chair of the Department of African-American Studies at Harvard University. Hes published seven books and has received many awards for his work.

South African writer, actress and first-time playwright Pamela Gien. Her off-broadway one-woman show is The Syringa Tree. It's a semi-autobiographical play about the love between two families, one black, one white. She plays 28 different characters in it.

Aboard the International Space Station this week are five astronauts and one "space flight participant" -- to use NASA's words. Mark Shuttleworth is the world's second space tourist. The 28-year-old South African Internet businessman is paying $20 million for the trip. Advocates of space tourism see Shuttleworth's voyage as the long-overdue dawning of a new era. For All Things Considered, David Kestenbaum reports.

While the creators of a a new opera about Emmett Till hope it will inspire white people to confront racism, others worry it depicts Black trauma for white entertainment while masquerading as activism.

The protest comes a couple of days after dozens of prominent leaders in Jamaica publicized a letter demanding that Britain apologize and award its former colony slavery reparations.

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with columnist Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the city's history and a battle with Confederate monuments.

European researchers are developing a tool to help identify animal emotions through a vocal recognition system. It aims to help people who work with pigs identify whether the animals are in distress.

Evolutionary biologist and journalist Olivia Judson. In her new guide to the evolutionary biology of sex, Judson, explores the sex lives of animals and insects. Posing as Dr Tatiana, sex-advice columnist, she answers 'letters' posted by such creatures as the fairy wren, the stalk-eyed fly, and the African elephant. Her new book is Dr Tatianas Sex Advice to All Creation.. Judson has also written for The Economist,Nature, and Science.