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Making More Than Just Beautiful Music Together

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Making More Than Just Beautiful Music Together

Carol-Anne Drescher and Robert McMahon Carroll were musicians in the same wedding band for more than a year before their own love story began.

Both had joined the Dane Wright Band of Hank Lane Music, a production company that coordinates live bands, in April 2019 and met on their first gig that month at the Mansion at Oyster Bay, in Woodbury, N.Y. Mr. Carroll joined as the keyboard player, and Ms. Drescher is a singer for the group.

“We were filling a void for two members who got married to each other and moved,” Ms. Drescher said. “I found Rob intimidating, because he was very stone-faced and had a few tattoos.”

Mr. Carroll, though, was attracted to Ms. Drescher. “When I looked at Carol-Anne, I thought, ‘Uh-oh, I’m in trouble.’”

“Every time I tried to talk to Rob, he gave me one-word answers and didn’t engage,” Ms. Drescher, 32, said.

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Mr. Carroll, 33, said he had found Ms. Drescher “too forward and loud.”

The two became friends that August when Mr. Carroll drove Ms. Drescher to her apartment in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood after a wedding job in Montauk, N.Y. During the three-hour ride, they discovered their shared interests in reading, weight lifting and alternative rock.

[Click here to binge read this week’s featured couples.]

They began chatting outside of work, by text and phone, usually late into the night. “We used to send each other memes or swap names of cool books we had read,” Ms. Drescher said. “Rob had become a part of my daily life, and eventually, we started hanging out in person.”

Ms. Drescher had recently moved to New York from Annapolis, Md., and Mr. Carroll, who lived in New Hyde Park, N.Y., helped her explore her new home. “Rob used to take me to museums like MoMA and his favorite bars and restaurants,” she said.

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Mr. Carroll and Ms. Drescher also performed together at social and corporate events under the name Dane Wright, which is unrelated to their roles in the wedding band.

Their relationship turned romantic on Dec. 15, 2020, when they attended a mutual friend’s birthday party near New Hyde Park. “It got too late for Carol-Anne to take the train to Manhattan, so I offered for her to spend the night on my couch,” Mr. Carroll said. “When we got to my place, we talked and talked and couldn’t get enough of each other.”

At one point, Ms. Drescher grabbed Mr. Carroll’s hands and leaned in to kiss him. “I was worried about ruining our friendship, but the feeling was so strong,” she said. “Luckily, Rob was receptive and kissed me back passionately.”

Ms. Drescher knew she wanted to marry Mr. Carroll when she watched him sing the Chris Stapleton country love song “Tennessee Whiskey” at a wedding in January 2021. “His voice was beautiful, and he looked so sincere,” she said.

Ms. Drescher, who grew up in Annapolis, is a full-time musician who sings and plays several instruments, including the piano, drums, and bass guitar. She has a bachelor’s degree in music from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and another, in nursing, from Farmingdale State College on Long Island.

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Mr. Carroll is also a full-time musician who sings and plays several instruments, including the piano, guitar and drums, and performs at Catholic masses and funerals in Long Beach. He has a bachelor’s degree in music performance from Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y.

When wedding season slowed in February and March 2021, the couple got closer but kept their courtship a secret from bandmates. They spent their days at Mr. Carroll’s home, cooking, watching movies and reading books. “Carol-Anne pretty much lived with me without it being official,” Mr. Carroll said. “It was clear that we were soul mates.”

When weddings picked up again in late April, and the two had no doubt about their commitment, they let their bandmates in on their romance. That same month, they moved into an apartment in Westbury, N.Y.

They became engaged on Aug. 14, 2023. Ms. Drescher walked into their living room to find Mr. Carroll on his knees, holding a box with the diamond ring that they had picked out months before.

In May 2024, the couple bought what they described as their “dream home,” a waterfront three-bedroom colonial, in Lindenhurst, N.Y. In another milestone, Ms. Drescher graduated from nursing school; she plans to pursue a career in the field while continuing as a musician.

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They married on March 7, before 140 guests at the Mansion at Oyster Bay, where they had performed in their first wedding together. Michelle LaRosa, who was ordained by After Hours Wedding Ministry, officiated.

During the reception, Mr. Carroll surprised Ms. Drescher and the crowd with a recording of a slow love ballad he had written for her, called “The One.” “The song is about finding that perfect person, which Carol-Anne is,” Mr. Carroll said.

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Yes, romance & fantasy novels are political. : It’s Been a Minute

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Yes, romance & fantasy novels are political. : It’s Been a Minute
How do romantic tropes and fantasies impact how you understand politics?You might be a fan of Romantic Fantasy, or as the internet calls it: Romantasy. Even if you’re not, you would recognize the tradwives or fascism. Romantasies combine supernatural characters and plotlines with the rush of a whirlwind romance novel, and, in this episode, we’re exploring how the politics of some of these books have an effect on politics in the real world.Brittany is joined by Netta Baker,  Advanced Instructor of English at Virginia Tech, and Princess Weekes, video essayist and online pop culture critic. They get into how this genre demolishes misogyny while reinforcing conservative politics.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.
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Supermodel Carol Alt ‘Memba Her?!

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Supermodel Carol Alt ‘Memba Her?!

American model Carol Alt was only 22 years old — and 5′ 11″ — when she shot to stardom after she was featured on the cover of the 1982 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

Alt was featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Cosmopolitan, as well as, scoring sought after ad campaigns like Cover Girl, Hanes, Givenchy and Diet Pepsi.

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‘Fireworks’ wins Caldecott, Newbery is awarded to ‘All the Blues in the Sky’

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‘Fireworks’ wins Caldecott, Newbery is awarded to ‘All the Blues in the Sky’

Fireworks, by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Cátia Chien has won the Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children, and All the Blues in the Sky, written by Renée Watson has been awarded the Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.

Clarion Books; Bloomsbury Children’s Books


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Clarion Books; Bloomsbury Children’s Books

The best books for children and young adults were awarded the country’s top honors by the American Library Association on Monday.

Illustrator Cátia Chien and author Matthew Burgess took home the Caldecott Medal for the book Fireworks. The Caldecott is given annually to the most distinguished American picture book for children. Fireworks follows two young siblings as they eagerly await the start of a July 4th fireworks show. Paired with Chien’s vibrant illustrations, Burgess’ poetic language enhances the sensory experience of fireworks.” When you write poems with kids, you see how immediately they get this,” Burgess told NPR in 2025 in a conversation about his book Words with Wings and Magic Things. “If you read a poem aloud to kids, they start to dance in their seats.”

The Newbery Medal, awarded for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature, went to Renée Watson for All the Blues in the Sky. This middle-grade novel, also told in verse, follows 13-year-old Sage, who struggles with grief following the death of her best friend. Watson is also the author of Piecing Me Together, which won the 2018 Coretta Scott King Award and was also a Newbery Medal honor book. “I hope that my books provide space for young people to explore, and say, “Yeah, I feel seen,” Watson told NPR in 2018. “That’s what I want young people to do — to talk to each other and to the adults in their lives.”

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This year’s recipients of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards include Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes (author award) and The Library in the Woods, by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (illustrator award). Arriel Vinson’s Under the Neon Lights received the Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

Los Angeles based artist Kadir Nelson was honored with the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. His work has appeared in more than 30 children’s books.

This year’s Newbery Honor Books were The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli, by Karina Yan Glaser; A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez by María Dolores Águila and The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri.

Caldecott Honors books were Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan, Our Lake by Angie Kang, Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave by Drew Beckmeyer, and Sundust by Zeke Peña.

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Edited by Jennifer Vanasco and Beth Novey.

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