Hear a deep and searching live conversation from Big Ears 2025 between NPR Music critic and author Ann Powers and three remarkable artists whose practices reach far beyond the boundaries of genre — vocalist, double bassist and composer ganavya, multi-instrumentalist and scene-connector Carlos Niño, and British poet, saxophonist and troubadour Alabaster DePlume. 

In this wide-ranging interview, they explore themes of interdependence, the evolving meaning of “community,” and the porous line between art and everyday life. They challenge the language we use to describe music and the commodification of creative labor, while offering alternative frameworks grounded in love, joy, ancestry, and intuition.