It’s summertime and the living’s easy. Jump in as we hit the road in search of new faces and places. Head north out of New Orleans, across Lake Pontchartrain, to the Abita Mystery House and UCM Museum in Abita Springs. And much further north, to the Musical Wonder House in Wiscasset, Maine. Plus, a refreshing visit to a local New Orleans favorite, Hansen’s Sno-Bliz, servin’ up the best sno-cones you’ve ever tasted.

Find the connections between the literary landscape and soundscape. We talk with Columbia University jazz scholar Robert O’Meally about the music writings of Ralph Ellison, the Harlem Renaissance author best known for the novel Invisible Man. And visit with songsmith and wordsmith James Talley. Plus music about writing, reading and talking by Hank Williams, Cassandra Wilson and Bob Wills.