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NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Matthew J. Smith, director of the Center for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at University College London, about the commonwealth's complicated history.

Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen talks with Scott Simon about how Russia went from communism back to authoritarianism without a stop at democracy in her new book, The Future Is History.

We explore the history of the bells that have become so tied with the Christmas season: jingle bells.

Our body's largest organ is the skin, something many people fail to realize. The history of skin is the history of humanity and reveals much about who we are. Nina Jablonski's new book, Skin: A Natural History, takes a closer look at this intimate and universal subject.

NPR's Scott Simon asks writer A.J. Jacobs about the history of Labor Day and the labor movement.

Victoria Hui, a Hong Kong native and political scientist at the University of Notre Dame, explains Hong Kong's political history as protests continue there.

The violin takes center stage in an exhibit at the Library of Congress. The instrument's popularity has cut across economic, racial and regional lines and helped drive new forms of American music, from blues and jazz to bluegrass and swing.

Pundits, politicians and journalists are apt to call this chaotic congressional moment unprecedented. NPR's Juana Summers speaks with historian John Farrell about whether that is true.

Sir Ernst Gombrich wrote A Little History of the World in 1936, in German. The book for young readers was translated into 17 languages. Late in life, Gombrich began an English version. That edition is being published this fall by Yale University Press.

NPR's Michel Martin discusses ways to reckon with the history of slavery with journalist Rachel Swarns, public historian Niya Bates and law professor Sherri Burr.