PUBLIC ARTS: A few months back, PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger visited the staff here at KERA to talk about her vision for the network. One of the things she mentioned as a focus going forward was arts programming, saying that PBS is one of the few places where you can watch shows dedicated to the arts. That dedication is going to see an uptick in the fall, when PBS plans nine straight Fridays of arts programming. “We constantly look at what areas are being underrepresented,” Kerger tells the AP. “From my perspective, the arts is really at the top of the list.” Among the shows will be a look at American roots music hosted by Steve Martin called Give Me the Banjo. How could that not be good?

IN THE ALL TOGETHER: If you’ve heard about Second Thought Theatre’s Red Light Winter, there’s one reason above all else – the consistent onstage nudity. (Check Jerome’s review.) But the actors tell Lawson Taitte what you probably would expect them to – that it’s really not that big of a deal. At least Natalie Young admits to some initial trepidation. “To prepare, I went to the gym a lot. I wanted to go in not worried about it,” she says. “I never look down and see myself, so in a way it’s not real.”

QUOTABLE: “I don’t care what hall I am at in the world, but I want the sound of the Concertgebouw in a way. The acoustic is always in my system. It’s like a beautiful instrument.”

Dallas Symphony Orchestra music director Jaap van Zweden, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times ahead of the DSO’s performance at Carnegie Hall this week.