The Toils and Triumphs of Woody Guthrie, in the words of his friends, family and fellow travelers. And “Working on a Building” with New Orleans’ building craftsmen: The Black Men of Labor. Includes music for your picnics and parties from Sarah Vaughn, Fats Domino and the Grateful Dead.

Music from as many great radio formats as we can find. Plus a visit with gospel host Sister Pearlie Tolliver, Monroe, Louisiana’s “Queen of the Dial.” Followed by New Orleans’ DJ Billy Delle, the man who loves scratchy 45s to death on his show called “Records from the Crypt.”

American Routes tackles the musical Big Apple with singing cabdrivers, subway bluesmen, and banging on a can. Naturally there’ll be club jazz and folk, Jewish klezmer, Latin rhythms, Irish sessions, a touch of Broadway, and atmospheric avant-garde—from the sidewalks to the skyscrapers, from the East Side to the West, from the Village to Harlem.

Jazzman Olu Dara takes us from Natchez, Mississippi to New York City. We’ll ride the Southern Crescent overnight, and listen to music about railroading from Duke Ellington, Doc Watson and Steve Reich. Plus a subway surprise from documentarian David Isay.

A tribute to the late guitarist Jerry Garcia who passed away 4 years ago this August. Featured is an exclusive interview with Garcia made during his 1989 visit to the Smithsonian Institution. Roots and branches of the Grateful Dead's sound take center stage in this mid-summer celebration in music and memory.