Natalie Merchant has also been kind of fascinating to me. She’s a cross between every cool English teacher you’ve ever had and the girl in your class who wears peasant skirts every day. And like so many really interesting artists, the “hits” she’s scored are never that representative of what she actually does. But she still sounds great, and she totally got that water bottle at Whole Foods.

(I want to work at NPR more than ever…)