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Most American history textbooks paint a romantic picture of the the Underground Railroad. A new book tells the story of a bi-racial movement animated by moral outrage, religious fervor and radical politics.

NPR's Kelsey Snell speaks with Harvard history professor Gabriela Soto Laveaga about her recent op-ed titled, "Every American needs to take a history of Mexico class."

Conductor, arranger and musical historian John McGlinn frequently stripped classic musicals to their roots by returning to original orchestrations and reinstating lost songs. McGlinn died on Feb. 14; Fresh Air remembers him with interviews from 1989 and 1992.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates the First Battle of Puebla, a battle in 1862 between Mexican and French forces.

In An Ocean of Air, author Gabrielle Walker plunges into the Earth's atmosphere, exposing its layers and colorful history. From Galileo to global warming and wind storms, Walker explains the role of this complex substance on Earth.

Oxford professor Ben Ansell says we are witnessing a battle between nationalism and liberalism that will write our own time indelibly into the history books of tomorrow.

In a vast warehouse off an undistinguished highway in Maryland, storage cartons and suitcases hold the treasures of the as-yet-unbuilt National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

Men and women have long made music to accompany their labor, and musician Ted Gioia says that work songs are more than a musical genre, they're a transformational tool. The author of the new book Work Songs, shares some of his favorites with us.

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with columnist Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the city's history and a battle with Confederate monuments.