Weekend Edition Sunday

Not too long ago, certain attention-getting molecular gastronomy cookbooks just dared you to go buy xanthan gum and a sous-vide machine. But now the summer cookbooks have arrived, and they evince a plainspoken, blushing charm that puts that prior fuss and fanfare to shame.

Last October, Nathan Schram was giddy with anticipation. He was only a year out of Indiana University and he'd just joined a prestigious program, designed to help classical musicians like himself take on the challenges of building a 21st-century career.

He did it through The Academy, a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education

On Sunday, President Barack Obama visits the tornado-ravaged city of Joplin, Mo. The death toll from last Sunday's tornado stands at 139, the deadliest tornado to hit the U.S. in more than 60 years. Host Liane Hansen talks with NPR's national political correspondent Mara Liasson.

In Joplin, Mo., the search operation continues with hundreds of firemen and volunteers and dozens of trained dogs, as they comb fields, ponds and ruins. NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports.

Nature's fury has shown itself in killer tornadoes that have swept the Midwest and the South. Now comes hurricane season, which officially begins on Wednesday. Essayist Diane Roberts has seen both kinds of storm and knows which she'd rather deal with.