Is it the raw talent or the intense dedication to performance? Or maybe it’s the attitude, the ‘IT’ factor, that charms audiences all around the world. From Aretha to Beyonce to Celine — we bring you podcasts about some of the mightiest women in music.

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Making Beyonce: "Before the Grammys, before the platinum records, before Destiny's Child, there was just a shy girl growing up in Houston. We follow Beyoncé Knowles from the stages of local talent shows to her first crack at a record deal with the group Girls Tyme."

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Dolly Parton's America: "One of Dolly's most iconic and successful songs is "Jolene," a song that, at first listen, is about a romantic rival trying to steal her man: a prime example of the classic "cheating song." But some see it as flipping a popular country music trope on its head. This idea takes shape when Nadine Hubbs, a professor at the University of Michigan, writes a fourth verse to "Jolene," which makes us reimagine Dolly's songs in entirely new ways."

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Switched on Pop: The Switched on Pop team join forces with producer Gina Delvac to talk about the evolution of Rihanna and her much anticipated ninth studio album.

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The Big Story: "Céline Dion has been many things throughout her career, but 'cool' has rarely been one of them. As one of the bestselling artists to call this country home Céline should have won us all over long ago. But she never quite broke through to the more cynical younger generation.Until that generation stopped being cynical, that is. It turns out Céline Dion was always cool. She was just waiting for us to come to her. And over the past few years, we have, by the millions."

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Inside the Junos: "Alanis Morissette burst on the scene with 'Jagged Little Pill' and shook up the music world. Her magic says Chilly is, 'that strange yodel, that weird break in her voice that makes the vocal performance so raw and so real.'"

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Heat Rocks: "Heat Rocks had always planned to sit down with DJ Lynnée Denise, an LA-based DJ and music scholar, but when Aretha Franklin passed on August 16th, we invited her to come talk with us about the Queen's life and legacy as part two of our series Women Behaving Boldly."