The first week of the World Cup is arguably the best: three matches a day, none at the same time. It is Soccer Christmas for futbol fans, and it's hard to get much work done at the office.

PJ Morton, the keyboardist for Maroon Five, has a lot to say. At a moment when music and pop culture have become hyper-politicized, Morton has released a solo album. He says he wants it to do what other artists’ songs did during the civil rights era, and help push a movement forward.

You can hear an unplugged version of Morton’s new album here:

How does Morton work as both an artist and entrepreneur?

Here's the thing about There There, the debut novel by Native American author Tommy Orange: Even if the rest of its story were just so-so — and it's much more than that — the novel's prologue would make this book worth reading.

Updated at 12:10 p.m. ET

The U.S. Supreme Court essentially punted on extreme partisan gerrymandering Monday, declining to address the central questions at the heart of whether the practice is constitutional.

The court took up two cases, one out of Wisconsin and one out of Maryland, with lines drawn by both parties.

It declared that the plaintiffs in Wisconsin don't have standing to sue, because they didn't try to prove that their vote had been diluted in their own district.

Updated at 1:50 p.m. ET

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong took ownership of the Los Angeles Times in style with a full-page note to his readers and his new employees on Sunday.

Soon-Shiong bought the newspaper from its former corporate owners, the Chicago-based Tronc newspaper company. NPR spoke to Soon-Shiong about his ambitions for the newspaper.

Updated at 12:35 p.m. ET

"We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period," Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says, as top Trump administration officials call out critics of its "zero tolerance" policy that calls for separating families who cross the border illegally.