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At the American Museum of Natural History, a lost world is taking shape. Artists, writers and scientists have joined forces to create the most up-to-date dinosaur show ever. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

Paris, the City of Light, once was the city of pig manure. It's a story told in Alistair Horne's The Seven Ages of Paris, a history of the French capital that captures medieval filth as well as modern grandeur. Horne speaks to NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Choreographer Martha Clarke's dance theater piece Vienna Lusthaus debuted 15 years ago, and recently made a brief return. It's a dreamlike work that draws on Vienna's violent history. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Clarke about the impact of the performance.

An exhibit called "Petra, Lost City of Stone" is opening at the American Museum of Natural History. The city of Petra, cut into the cliffs of what is now Jordan, was a great trading crossroads of the ancient world. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and Craig Morris, co-curator of an exhibit.

A new exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library offers a glimpse at correspondences four centuries old. "Letter Writing in Renaissance England" includes letters penned in invisible ink, sealed in wax and silk, and sent to and from some of the most famous figures in history.

Melissa Block talks with John Beatty, who teaches a course on Shakespeare's Macbeth at Brooklyn College, about his efforts to rehabilitate the Scottish king's image. Macbeth is portrayed in Shakespeare's play as bloodthirsty, but Beatty says history suggests he was a respected king.

There's a clever new adaptation of the play Cyrano de Bergerac now being performed at the Shakespeare Theater in Washington D.C. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with the playwright Barry Kornhauser about the show, and they talk about the history of the classic French play.

Forty years ago this summer, civil rights activists orchestrated a massive voter registration drive aimed at African Americans in Southern states. Today, some social activists have resurrected the idea of Freedom Schools, popularized during that time to spur the voting effort by teaching classes on literacy, black history and civil rights. Matt Hackworth of KCUR in Kansas City, Mo., reports.

Educator and producer Camille O. Cosby, whose play Having Our Say was nominated for a Tony Award, has teamed up with Emmy Award-winning journalist Renee Poussaint on a written and audio history project. Their collaboration looks at the professional and personal stories of African-American visionaries who helped shape America.

Poet Billy Collins shares memories of his father's puckish spirit as part of the StoryCorps national oral history project. Hear Collins' conversation with friend Nancy Cobb, recorded in a booth at New York City's Grand Central Terminal.