STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
So, Leila, I know you've had a chance to travel a little bit already this summer.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Yes.
INSKEEP: In a few weeks, a couple weeks, my family's going to be on a road trip driving around the Midwest. And our staff was talking about what people do to kill time on a road trip, what they listen to. So what are your thoughts?
FADEL: Well, first of all, I don't like road trips...
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
FADEL: ...Because I'm a are we there yet type of person. I was the very annoying child in my family. So I love music on a road trip, everything from, like, Janet Jackson to Saweetie to Shakira to, like, George Wassouf, who's a super famous Lebanese singer.
INSKEEP: Oh, cool.
FADEL: Like, I like something upbeat, too, to keep me awake. So I do a lot of Arabic music because it's, like, a lot of drums.
INSKEEP: Oh, I bet that's great. Yeah.
FADEL: It's really fun. And now there's a lot of crossover.
INSKEEP: You mean it's, like, kind of traditional, but also pop.
FADEL: Modern, yeah. They're trying to break into world music, and I'm loving it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAMA EH")
ELYANNA: (Singing in Arabic).
FADEL: But then I have to do, like, a serialized podcast, like, a story. Otherwise I can't keep my attention or stay awake.
INSKEEP: Yeah, yeah.
FADEL: And then when I'm out of options, I call my mom and we just talk.
INSKEEP: Really?
FADEL: Yeah.
INSKEEP: Does she yell at you to make sure you're hands-free?
FADEL: Yeah, we're hands-free, and then we just chat.
INSKEEP: OK.
FADEL: What about you? What do you do?
INSKEEP: Well, I mean, when I get the opportunity to choose the music, which is not often...
FADEL: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: I will pick music that somehow fits the geography that I am in. We were in California some months ago, and I turned on the Eagles because it makes me think of Southern California.
FADEL: I love that.
INSKEEP: We were in Colorado, and I was listening to the Lumineers, this Denver-based band. And there are also weird choices that come over me when I'm overseas. I have this memory - I realize this is not a universal experience - but during the Iraq War, driving around some part of Iraq and listening to Louis Armstrong.
FADEL: That's an interesting one. He's definitely not - he didn't come from Baghdad.
INSKEEP: No, no, no, not from Baghdad.
FADEL: No (laughter).
INSKEEP: But there was something about being an American in a very, very different place, at a very, very strange time...
FADEL: Yeah.
INSKEEP: ...That "Mack The Knife" felt like an appropriate thing to be playing while going through Kirkuk.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MACK THE KNIFE")
LOUIS ARMSTRONG: (Singing) Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear. And he shows them pearly white.
INSKEEP: But I got to be honest. I mean, there're kids in the car if I'm traveling with the family, and so they're going to make, you know, 90% of the...
FADEL: How do you - they make the choices?
INSKEEP: They just win, they just win.
FADEL: So there's a lot of Taylor Swift is what you're telling me. Your road trip...
INSKEEP: Oh, my gosh, yes. Absolutely.
FADEL: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: Or, you know, just the hit music radio, you know?
FADEL: Actually, yeah, your daughters and I would get along. I like hit music radio.
INSKEEP: Oh.
FADEL: I'll come on your road trips (laughter).
INSKEEP: Oh, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CRUEL SUMMER")
TAYLOR SWIFT: (Singing) So cut the headlights, summer's a knife. I'm always waiting for you just to cut to the bone.
FADEL: But actually, Steve, we only listen to NPR podcasts and NPR News shows.
INSKEEP: Right.
FADEL: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CRUEL SUMMER")
SWIFT: (Singing) Oh, it's new, the shape of your body. It's blue, the feeling... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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