“For centuries, millennia, we humans have looked at the stars and wondered about our place in the universe and what’s beyond. That’s what I wanted to dig into,” reflects musician-composer-producer Caroline Shaw on her latest work, The Listeners.

WFMT observes the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day with a fitting broadcast: Chicago composer Stacy Garrop’s oratorio Terra Nostra, which celebrates our planet and explores the relationship between humankind and the natural world.

Throughout his 52 years at WFMT, Studs Terkel showcased and championed poets from across the globe.

As an outsized figure in literature and poetry, Poe has inspired composers like Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Philip Glass, and composer-conductor Leonard Slatkin, who set Poe’s “The Raven” to music in 1971.

April is National Poetry Month, so there’s no better time to share, revisit, or discover wonderful poetry. Here are our picks.