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NPR's Stephen Thompson reports on two new bands that are topping the Billboard charts despite being fictional K-pop groups from a new Netflix movie.

After 15 months, management and the musicians have agreed on a contract that will settle their dispute. The performers agreed to pay cuts and to pay more of their health care expenses. Management did not get concessions that were as large as they first sought.

A new study says sixth-graders do better when they attend K-8 schools, so they're not the youngest.

California's gas prices, well above the national average, have gone into overdrive, topping $6 a gallon in October. Why is gas so expensive in a state that's synonymous with the automobile?

The '70s Memphis-based rock band Big Star won rave reviews for their albums and influenced countless followers, but never managed to become stars. Rock and Roll historian Ed Ward says a new box set and a collection of recordings by founding member Chris Bell offer a chance to look back on the band's troubled life.

Lead vocalists have gotten quieter over the decades, compared with the rest of the band. That's the conclusion of a new study that analyzes chart-topping pop tunes from 1946 to 2020.

Linda talks with Ron Chapman, Band Director for Crawford High School in the town of Crawford, Texas, his bands upcoming performance in the inaugural parade. The band won't march, but will be stationed near the White House, to perform one hour before the parade and one hour after. The band will make its way to Washington by bus.

There's an unusual bi-partisan effort to get the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to release information about certain Superfund cleanup sites, pieces of land that have been deemed too toxic for development. The EPA says sharing some information about the sites could discourage companies from cleaning up their environmental messes.

David Greenberger reviews a new CD that jokingly delivers a "battle of the bands". It's a 2-CD set, from two different pop/rock bands, both led by musician Scott McCaughey. One band is called The Young Fresh Fellows; the other is The Minus Five. The battle is billed as The Young Fresh Fellows versus The Minus Five. The CD's liner notes even has instructions for tallying up a point count for each of the two contenders. The label is Mammoth Records, copyright 2001.