The OBS gents go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Royce Vavrek, creator of such works as "Breaking the Waves", "Dog Days", and "JFK"... How should we be selling opera for newbies? NPR’s got opinions... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, there's talk about everyone’s convenience store, 7-11...

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We go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with stage director Jennifer Williams, an artist who’s created numerous immersive and site-specific opera productions. Plus, we recap the winners and near-misses at last night’s Grammy Awards, and take a peek into the Listener Mailbag. And in the ‘Two Minute Drill’, plumbing problems at Bayreuth and everything else you need to know in Operaland...

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In ‘Chalk Talk’, it’s an MLK celebration with a closer look at three notable artists: a composer, a singer and a director... A recent article from the 'Daffodil Perspective', a website that champions gender equality in classical music, outlined “the real reasons classical music is inaccessible and 10 easy ways to solve them immediately”. The OBS boys tackle that list... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, there're anti-Domingo protests in Berlin, and everything else you need to know from the past week in Operaland...

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American soprano Tamara Wilson joins Oliver and Weston 'Inside the Huddle' via phone from Texas, where she headlines in Houston Grand Opera’s upcoming production of Verdi's "Aida"… It’s a 'Chalk Talk' about gig work, and why its prevalence in the opera world could mean trouble for small companies in California right now... In ‘The Two Minute Drill’, will Anna Netrebko ever do new music? And why are only eight of the top 100 conductors in the world women...?

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The OBS knuckleheads go 'Inside the Huddle' with last year’s Grammy Award winner for Best Classical Vocal Solo album, Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman... In 'Chalk Talk', the hosts handicap the Grammys for later this month, and they tell you how to put your thumb on the scale for the International Opera Awards... In ‘The Two Minute Drill’, the Prototype Festival gets underway and vandalism strikes Bach’s home town...

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Tonight... We go 'Inside the Huddle' with soprano Elyse Kakacek to talk about her new album "Untethered". We’ll also get her take on the highlights and lowlights from Operaland over the past year...

And then… It’s the decade in review! We talk about what changes Operaland has gone through during the 2010s, and what we predict will happen in the roaring twenties...

Plus... In the 'Two Minute Drill', Paris is on strike, and it turns out classical music impacts climate change...

Wherever you are, however you're listening, however you celebrate the holidays, do it with light, with love and with opera!

The OBS-ers are back on Monday December 30 at 9 pm CT for the Best and Worst of 2019 in Operaland... only on WNUR 89.3 FM & HD1 Evanston-Chicago and streaming on wnur.org/popup.

Team OBS bids farewell and good riddance to OBS co-founder and co-host Tobias Wright. They talk with Tobias about his career change, watch with horror as he inducts himself into the OBS Hall of Fame, listen to some of his favorite singers and recap the highlights and lowlights of his own checkered career on the airwaves... Plus, in ‘The Two Minute Drill’, who do you think gets paid more, Peter Gelb at the Met or Dominique Meyer at the Vienna State Opera...?

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The OBS lads go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with American mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen, who just finished a run of Philip Glass’ “Akhnaten” at the Metropolitan Opera. They talk to her about performing in HD and why this show is returning to the Met so soon... South Korean conductor Eun Sun Kim was just appointed music director at San Francisco Opera. Hear how she got to SF and what her hire means for the company and for the art form... In ‘The Two Minute Drill’, “Porgy and Bess” is extended at the Met, and Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo is fired at the Met...

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Rapper Kanye West’s opera premiered in Hollywood a few weeks ago. The OBS crew are joined by guest co-host K. F. Jacques to take a closer look into the piece itself and if the harsh critical reception was justified... In ‘The Hometown Team': Lyric Opera of Chicago recently announced that it was getting new seats in its home. The OBS team spitballs about what sort of amenities their dream opera house would have... Then, they go on to make some predictions on the upcoming Grammy awards in the classical music division... In ‘The Two Minute Drill’, a legendary director exits stage right...

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