What We Learned From Britney Spears' Conservatorship Hearing

Plus, a Tiny Desk (home) concert from Easter Island.

View this email online by Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Image This week marked a new chapter in the ongoing conservatorship case of Britney Spears, which dates back to 2008. Until recently, Spears has remained relatively quiet on the arrangement, under which her father, Jamie Spears, maintains control over her business opportunities and estate. But on Wednesday, Spears remotely addressed a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, requesting an end to the legal guardianship. “I feel ganged up on, I feel bullied and I feel left out and alone,” Spears said. “And I'm tired of feeling alone.” Spears described the arrangement as “abusive,” and offered detailed insight into her situation; you can read a transcript from a leaked audio recording of part of Spears' court statement, which was posted on YouTube and verified by NPR. To better understand Spears’ situation, NPR spoke with a professor at the Cardozo School of Law and an expert on elder law, disability law and conservatorships, about what conservatorships are and how they are supposed to work. And in an opinion piece for the site, our colleague Anastasia Tsioulcas explained the way Spears’ case has reignited conversations about broader cultural questions: about “the intersection of gender and autonomy,” mental health, toxic family dynamics, “and the pressures that the entertainment industry and the media often put on young performers, especially female performers.” Despite the grim arrangement Spears described in her testimony, Anastasia says Spears now has some strong forces at her back: her fans and their #FreeBritney movement, increased media attention and “a public that these days seems less willing to turn Spears — and other women in music — into a punchline, or to simply stand by and consume tragedies as they unfold.” Newsletter continues after sponsor message Joni Mitchell's Blue Turns 50 This week, Joni Mitchell’s classic and beloved album Blue celebrated its 50th anniversary. (Among its many accolades, Blue topped our 2017 list of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women.) To mark the occasion, we published a remarkable essay by our colleague Ann Powers, about the album’s perception as the apex of confessional songwriting – and what it might mean instead to consider it as a paradigm-shifting work of care and craft. Ann also hosted a listening party for Blue featuring a conversation with songwriter Brandi Carlile, who performed her own tribute to the album in 2019. Plus, this week’s NPR Classical playlist is dedicated to “the classical side of Joni,” featuring “lush orchestrations, a paean to Beethoven and music that accompanied a ballet.”  New Music This week’s New Music Friday edition of All Songs Considered might just be our most jam-packed episode ever, featuring 10 – yes, 10! – new albums from some of our favorite artists, including Lucy Dacus, Tyler, The Creator, Faye Webster and more.  On Pom Pom Squad’s full-length debut, Death of a Cheerleader, Mia Berrin queers the ideal of an American adolescent experience, constructing love songs that explore autonomy and self-sufficiency with sonic interplay indebted to both blistering punk and pop novelties. Tiny Desk NPR Easter Island, called Rapa Nui by its residents, is located some 2,000 miles off the coast of Chile. That’s where pianist Mahani Teave is from, where she returned to after years of international study and where she built the Toki School of Music. For her (home) concert set recorded at the Toki School, Teave performs Handel and Chopin, but also an ancestral Rapa Nui song.  And from Easter Island to Marfa, Texas (if not physically, then spiritually): This week, we also featured an acoustic set from country superstar Miranda Lambert, who was joined by Jack Ingram and Jon Randall to perform tracks from The Marfa Tapes. And for her (home) concert, Liz Phair highlighted music from Soberish, her first new album in more than a decade. Plus, we asked singer-songwriter Brandy Clark to share a playlist of her favorite Tiny Desk concerts with us. Featuring “To be proudly gay as a composer in the 1970s was brave enough; to be Black and gay in that world, even more so,” writes Tom Huizenga about the work of the late, visionary composer Julius Eastman. “But that confident self-awareness enabled Eastman to write music that was challenging, mischievously irreverent and sometimes ecstatic.” Today, his work is making a richly deserved comeback thanks to a curious younger generation; a new interpretation of his 1974 work Femenine is out now. This year, our Turning The Tables project is asking writers to tell us about one album that changed their life. In the latest installment, our colleague LaTesha Harris describes how Beyoncé’s 4 gave her a much-needed guide to freedom and womanhood – and how it paved the way for Beyoncé’s career as a groundbreaking artist.  From Jazz Night In America: Step into the world of 1950s Chicago for a tale of love, suspense and show business with guest host Kurt Elling’s jazz radio drama “The Big Blind,” featuring highlights from the 2019 world premiere performance at Rose Theater. This week, our friends at WNXP in Nashville shared a video of hip-hop artist Daisha McBride performing her song “Pump Fake.” Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: nprmusic@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Books, Pop Culture, Health and more! 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