Translating Great African Composers. "In this mesmerising performance and talk, Derek Gripper explains how he painstakingly translated the works of the great Toumani Diabate from the 21-string kora, onto six string guitar. He gives context to the virtuosity of Diabate himself, and an insight into how African music traditions are passed down. In the process of this translation, Derek is also capturing these African masterpieces onto guitar scores, providing a new way for the works of great African composers to be preserved and interpreted by musicians worldwide."

Toumani Diabaté & Sidiki Diabaté - Jarabi Toumani Diabete - bio. Derek Gripper on NPR's Tiny Desk. "Earlier this year, Gripper finally made it to Mali, where his efforts received the blessing of Toumani Diabate himself; the two even jammed together."

The 24 Universal Melodic Figures [of Western music] "Have you ever found yourself humming along to a song that you'd never heard before? How is this even possible? Could it be that you possess some musical superpower? You may indeed be an extraordinary person, but this particular skill is unexceptional. Every melody you know—plus every melody you don't yet know—draws from just 24 melodic patterns or "figures." You see, there are just so many ways to arrange the notes in a major or minor key into patterns that "make sense"—that "sound like music.""

Indian Shrimp: The True Price of a Cheap Appetizer. "IN JANUARY, Farinella finally decided to go public with what he knew about the plant and contacted a journalist. "I think it is likely that I was hired not to manage the facility, but to be the American face that provides the appearance of legitimacy," he said. For a plant with so many problems, he added, "I'm afraid I can't be that face.""

The Problem with Behavioral Nudges. "When we gave participants one website as a default—in other words, we nudged them to choose it—70% opted for it, compared with 48% who chose the same one when it wasn't preselected. That's typically how default nudges work: People are much more inclined to pick the default, which presumably will be the one that is best for them or society. Next came the important part. We waited..."

"...We tracked how often the study participants visited their website membership over eight months. Those who were nudged to choose the default plan visited the site 42% less often than people who chose an identical plan without nudging."