NPR Music critic Ann Powers says David Bowie's Blackstar "carries us into the next realm but at the same time violently engages with the struggle to live and to die."
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Blackstar, the album Bowie released days before his death in January, set the tone for a fraught year. "This was an album that many of us returned to to cope with 2016," says NPR's Ann Powers.
Friends and family members attend a memorial service for 17-year-old twin brothers Edward and Edwin Bryant who were shot and killed in October. Chicago has logged more than 700 homicides this year, more than any other major U.S. City
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Alabama running back Derrick Henry celebrates with teammates and reporters after the College Football Playoff national championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers last January.
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NPR Music critic Ann Powers says David Bowie's Blackstar "carries us into the next realm but at the same time violently engages with the struggle to live and to die."
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Migrants pray in a tent city in Rome, on Aug. 1. The migrants are mostly from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan. In 2016, more migrants arrived in Italy than in Greece, which was the top destination a year earlier. Most of those reaching Italy are from sub-Saharan Africa rather than the Middle East.
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