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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.

The Colorado Rockies are going to the World Series for the first time in the team's history, after completing a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks last night. The Rockies will face the winner of the Red Sox/Indians series.

The small town of Cambridge, Md., went up in flames 40 years ago this summer. A speech by black activist H. Rap Brown helped incite unrest there. But the town's problems were rooted in a painful history of racial discrimination.

In the first part of a series on popular college courses, NPR's Anthony Brooks sits in on a Harvard law history class that's in such demand that students must enter a lottery to attend.

NBA Commissioner David Stern hands down some of the toughest penalties in league history for a brawl in Detroit between pro basketball players and fans. Ron Artest of the Indiana Pacers was suspended for the rest of the season. A total of nine players were sanctioned. Hear NPR's Tom Goldman.