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Over the first half of the year, we listened, argued and collected nearly 200 songs we loved from nearly a dozen genres. You can hear every single one of them here.

The Pennsylvania capital Harrisburg is more than $300 million in debt. The budget is controlled by a state-appointed custodian. City and law enforcement services are under strain and residents worry violent crime may be growing.

Looking thin and pale, Gilad Shalit returned to Israel after more than five years in Hamas captivity. The 25-year-old tank crewman was freed in exchange for the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hundreds of those prisoners were freed Tuesday, returning to scenes of jubilation.

Six years ago, the mystery writer sent Easy Rawlins off a cliff, seemingly killing him. Now, Easy's back on the streets his creator once called home. Mosley says other than Los Angeles, he and his detective hero don't have much in common, but NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates begs to differ.

After more than 20 years as a performer, the New York veteran says he's enjoying the unglamorous work of building a record label.

Democrats were quick to attack House Republicans' budget plan, which calls for an overhaul of the program. Leading the charge is Vice President Joe Biden, who told senior citizens in Florida not to be fooled. Republicans, though, see the proposal as necessary for the next generation.

Polio is deadly, but so is what's required to stamp it out once and for all in Pakistan: facing down Islamist extremists. The virus thrives in Pakistan's lawless — and largely inaccessible — tribal regions. To stop polio's spread, health workers must be courageous, clever and relentless.

The Obama Foundation named Tod Williams and Billie Tsien as the architects of the presidential museum and library. Scott Simon talks to Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin.

Read an exclusive excerpt of Scott Lynch's long-awaited new Gentleman Bastard book, The Republic of Thieves. In this installment, dashing thieves Locke and Jean are hired to help fix an election in the city of Karthain. The twist? The opposition has hired their own dirty trickster — Locke's long-lost love, Sabetha.

An endless number of personal finance apps help consumers keep track of their money. Host Michel Martin speaks with Lisa Gerstner of Kiplinger's Personal Finance, about the different options for tracking savings and spending on mobile devices.

Over the weekend, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney named Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate. David Greene talks to Ryan Lizza, a reporter for The New Yorker, who recently profiled Ryan for the magazine.

Apollo Sunshine blends '60s psychedelic folk with the arena rock hugeness of the '70s and the lo-fi noise pop aesthetics of '90s groups like My Bloody Valentine or the Olivia Tremor Control. The cover art for the Boston, Mass.-based trio's third record, Shall Noise Upon, depicts a Jackson Pollock-like, color-splattered globe surrounded by constellations of religious and spiritual icons from every corner of the earth. The image suggests the record somehow takes the disparate cultures of a large world and unifies them into a single, genre-breaking, stargazing album. It may seem like an impossibly lofty goal, but the songs deliver.