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As A Lyricist And Novelist, The Mountain Goats’ Lead Man Writes About Pain

“I really think there’s a lot of music you can use to heal and save yourself. It’s not like I have some magic power and I reached inside somebody and said, ‘Oh, you didn’t know this about yourself until I wrote this song.’ That’s not true. What I did is I made a thing, and somebody who needed to find something found mine and chose to meet me out on that ground.”

– John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats

Darnielle’s novel, Wolf in White Van, which was nominated for the 2014 National Book Award, is now out in paperback.

[Originally broadcast September 2014]

skunkbear

The dwarf planet Ceres (a giant rock located in the asteroid belt) has two bright spots in the center of one of its craters. As the Dawn spacecraft has approached Ceres, those spots have become more distinct - but scientists still have no idea what they’re made of. Ice? Salt? Volcanic rock?

Dawn has also peered down at the tallest feature on Ceres, a 4-mile-tall mountain. Again, scientists aren’t sure what forces could have shaped it, or why it has dark streaks on one side, and bright streaks on the other.

It’s a mystery!

Credit:NASA/JPL