State and National News

Allergies are on the rise these days, especially in children. Nearly half of all kids are now allergic to something, be it food, animals, or plants. Federal health officials say that rate is two to five times higher than it was 30 years ago.

And as researchers are trying to understand why, they're increasingly looking at kids who grow up on farms.

Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson performs as The Tallest Man on Earth. That's just his stage name, though: Matsson himself stands at about 5 feet 7. His new album, There's No Leaving Now, comes out Tuesday.

Matsson has been praised as a poet, and is frequently compared to Bob Dylan. He often sings about nature, inspired by the scenery near his home in Falun, Sweden.

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Audio for this feature is no longer available.

Audio for this feature is no longer available.

At a glance, the script for The Cherry Thing might have been recycled: A global pop star returns from a long hiatus with an album of covers, backed by a jazz band. But nothing about this record's sound — or its backstory, for that matter — even remotely suggests Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt or Paul McCartney singing standards.

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In case you were confused by the start of Spirit Fiction, the new album by saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, here's a hint: Think in twos. He divides his quartet in half, sets both duos loose on their own paths and aims for their intersection. It's a scheme for improvising: "A real energy and wholeness, hopefully, is created," he says.

Spain will borrow as much as 100 billion euros from Europe's bailout fund, European leaders announced this weekend. The government will use the loan to support Spain's teetering banks.

In this week's podcast of weekends on All Things Considered, what happens after the Supreme Court rules on health care. Also, a rookie congressman's unlikely rise and how Bear Grylls has stayed alive. Plus, the return of James Bond's fashions and the catchiest song of the summer, maybe.

We'll be here at 7:45 p.m. to live-blog the 2012 Tony Awards, with Marc Hirsh and me monitoring the ceremony at home and Trey Graham on site at the Beacon Theater.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

GUY RAZ, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.

At some point this month, maybe next week, maybe even tomorrow, the Supreme Court will decide whether all or parts of the Affordable Care Act, the health care law backed by the White House, is constitutional or not. And for that reason, a man in Oregon named Rocky King isn't sleeping very well. Have you slept in the past two years?

ROCKY KING: Three times.

RAZ: Three times in the past two years.