One summer afternoon in 2021, I was driving around town doing errands. All Things Considered was on the radio, with Ari Shapiro interviewing the singer-songwriter Yola about her album Stand For Myself ...

Last month, when I sat down for my own conversation with Yola at the NPR bureau in Manhattan, I wasn't feeling too smiley. On my way from California, I'd been stuck for seven hours at Dulles airport ...