The NFL pre-season began last week for all 32 teams, including the Atlanta Falcons. The Dirty Birds are hoping to shake off last year’s mediocre 8-8 season. The Falcons will head across the street to Mercedes-Benz stadium after this season, will their last year in the Georgia Dome be a memorable one? We ask GPB sports correspondent Jon Nelson what he thinks of the Falcon’s chances this year and their prospects for the future.

We add two more songs to our essential Georgia Playlist. All submissions have to be written or performed by a Georgian. And musicians can't pick one of their own songs to go on the playlist. Maria Zouves and Sherrill Milnes spent years performing opera, and now they're trying to build up the opera scene in Savannah. One way they're doing that is through the Savannah Voice Festival. For the Georgia Playlist, they choose two songs by Johnny Mercer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NaY9y1sMSI

Savannah is known as one of America's most haunted cities. So it fits that the Savannah Voice Festival would commission an opera about ghosts. "Alice Ryley" is about the first woman hanged in Georgia. The ghost opera will return to the Savannah Voice Festival stage Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Westin Savannah Harbor Ballroom. We talked last year with composer Michael Ching and actor James Wright, who plays Alice Ryley's lover. WATCH A FEW SCENES FROM "ALICE RYLEY"

The NFL pre-season began last week for all 32 teams, including the Atlanta Falcons. The Dirty Birds are hoping to shake off last year’s mediocre 8-8 season. The Falcons will head across the street to Mercedes-Benz stadium after this season, so will their last year in the Georgia Dome be a memorable one? We ask GPB sports correspondent Jon Nelson what he thinks of the Falcon’s chances this year and their prospects for the future. Next, a collection at Emory University sheds light on the HIV/AIDS

Atlanta is the fifth-highest metro area for new HIV diagnoses, according to federal data. A collection at Emory University sheds light on the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s by showcasing photos by Atlanta photographer Billy Howard. He documented dozens of people who were HIV positive and asked them to write a reflection on their photograph. We talk with Howard about the exhibit, and we hear from Doug Lothes, who in 1987 agreed to be photographed for the collection. We also check in with AID

Savannah blues musician Victor Wainwright adds two more songs to our Georgia playlist, a collection of the best songs from or about Georgia. Wainwright is known as the “Piana from Savannah” and won the 2016 B.B. King Entertainer Award from the Blues Hall of Fame earlier this year. Wainwright adds two of his favorite songs to the Playlist: "Diggin' The Boogie" (1951) by Piano Red and "Statesboro Blues" by Blind Willie McTell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnWxZtI3ONY

A legal battle over debt has left a cargo ship and its crew stranded off the coast of Tybee Island for nearly four months. U.S. marshals seized the ship when its owners foreclosed on the loan, and the crew was forced to wait out until the legal dispute was settled. The ship was sold this past week, which means the crew is one step closer to going home. We speak with attorney Todd Baiad, who represents the lenders, about the sale of the chip and what happens next to the crew. After that, a

A Georgia father faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of his twin daughters. Police say the toddlers died after he left them in a hot car. In addition to the twins, another Georgia child died in a hot car in January. In total this year, there have been at least 26 children who have died in vehicles from heatstroke. We talk about the dangers of leaving children in hot cars with State Sen. Greg Kirk (R-Americus), who sponsored legislation last year on this very issue. We also

A Filipino cargo ship crew has been stranded off Tybee Island since April. The vessel's owners stopped paying their bills, so the U.S. marshals seized the ship. That left the crew members in an awkward position because they didn't want to return to the Philippines and they weren't allowed to come into the United States. This week, the ship was auctioned for nearly $7.5 million, which means the crew onboard could soon be going home. We get the latest on this case from Savannah attorney Todd Baiad

The Breakroom gang joins host Celeste Headlee to weigh in on the week's news. The panel includes Democratic Strategist Howard Franklin, former NPR correspondent Kathy Lohr, Georgia State University professor Hector Fernandez, and blogger Jessica Szilagyi.