NPR's Scott Simon wonders why teaching children about the Holocaust is not mandatory in most states and the lessons they are missing.

NPR's Scott Simon wonders about 8 characters on an old runestone found in Norway. It goes on display today, so others may look and ponder. It is a curse? A love poem? A receipt for Viking take out?

NPR's Scott Simon remembers Charles Simic, former U.S. poet laureate who was born in Belgrade right before World War II. He died this week after a long career of writing and teaching.

NPR's Scott Simon praises the humble bagel as an American cultural icon.

NPR's Scott Simon recounts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's words to a joint session of Congress this week, and how his country has managed to survive, so far, against Russian aggression.

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on the life Joseph Kromelis, Chicago's famous "Walking Man", and the harsh conditions that many unhoused people live with every day.

NPR's Scott Simon notes how common mass shootings have become in the U.S., and asks how this violence affects how we think about our everyday lives.

Mike Gerson, the Washington Post columnist and former speechwriter for George W. Bush, died this week from cancer at the age of 58. NPR's Scott Simon has an appreciation.

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on several electoral races in which candidates were posthumously elected.

There is humanity in the evidence that a Stone Age child was interred wrapped in a cloak and with a dog.

NPR's Scott Simon ponders a diminishing and vanishing election year tradition: candidate debates.

NPR's Scott Simon is an unabashed, unreformed, unapologetic lover of pumpkin spice. He knows his ardor is not universal. He does not care.

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on President Vladimir Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons in Russia's war against Ukraine.

In this week's essay, NPR's Scott Simon reminds us to look up from our screens and take note of the beauty in the regular routines and rituals around us.

A new drama series on Netflix is about one of the country's most notorious serial killers. It has NPR's Scott Simon thinking maybe it's the names of his many victims we should remember.