Scott Simon

After the shooting death of Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo, NPR's Scott Simon reflects on the living conditions and deaths of other animals, such as the ones we raise for food.

NPR's Scott Simon remembers the work of John Hersey, who visited with people who lived through the bombing of Hiroshima. His reporting filled an entire issue of the New Yorker magazine in 1946.

NPR's Scott Simon just spent time waiting in a long security line at the airport. He says that even though it's easy to grow impatient, the security measures exist to protect lives.

The National Bison Legacy Act establishes the bison as the national mammal. NPR's Scott Simon muses on the bison's legacy and current significance.

NPR's Scott Simon considers the breathtaking toll of the violence in Syria.

A cooking show featuring Kim Jong Un is reportedly a hit in North Korea. Though it's a setup ripe for satire, NPR's Scott Simon says millions of starving North Koreans make it too serious for jokes.

Inky the octopus escaped from the National Aquarium of New Zealand and into Hawke's Bay. NPR's Scott Simon celebrates his ingenuity, and second-guesses the octopus's inclusion on his dinner plate.

NPR's Scott Simon spent some time with the country legend aboard his tour bus in 2001. Simon remembers a man who'd come a long way since his imprisonment at San Quentin, where he did time for robbery.

Why would someone pose for a picture with a supposed suicide bomber? In this commentary, NPR's Scott Simon wonders about seeking the price of fame during a dangerous situation.

A local leader of Germany's far-right NPD party, which has campaigned for closed borders, crashed his car. NPR's Scott Simon reflects on the irony of what happened next: refugees stopped and helped.

Now is the time to pick up a Pataki for President bumper sticker. Or a Huckabee button, a Jim Webb yard sign, or keychains, ballpoint pens, and window scrapers imprinted Jindal, Paul, Perry, Chafee, Walker, Graham, Santorum, Lessig, and O'Malley for President.

It's already a kind of autumn in the ...

Another cover-up is in the news.

Italy's Premier Matteo Renzi and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani held a press conference inside Rome's Capitoline Museum this week to announce $18 billion in new business between their countries, now that sanctions against Iran are ending.

But some of the celebrated ancient statues the ...

Greggor Ilagan, a Hawaii county councilman who is running for the state senate, decided to try to reach that vital demographic of young voters by appearing on social networking sites. And also Tinder, a dating app.

When he announced his candidacy last summer, Mr. Ilagan told local Hawaii press he ...

There's a house for sale in Los Angeles: 29 rooms, tennis court, swimming pool, and wine cellar, a guest house, game house, movie theater, and a grotto, which is not to be confused with any grotto you've read about in the Bible.

The owner wants $200 million dollars. Local realtors ...

Mein Kampf has been published in Germany for the first time in 70 years. What does a limited new publication of a repugnant old book say about modern Germany?

Mein Kampf -- "My Struggle" — sold at least 10 million copies, from the time it appeared in 1925 to the ...

Famous names can be hard to live up to. Those who carry them are born with expectations, as well as advantages, and the sons and daughters of famous people have to make their mistakes and learn their lessons under a lot of watchful eyes.

When we spoke with Natalie ...

One of the pleasures of being a parent is the chance to discover things you missed as a child the first time. This week I found a copy of Mark Twain's "A Letter from Santa Claus" that he wrote in 1875 for his 3 year old daughter, Susie, to see ...

Frank Sinatra was born a hundred years ago today. Even if you think his music just isn't your music, it's hard to get through life without uttering what I'll call a "Frank Phrase" from one of his songs at telling times in our lives.

"So set 'em up, Joe ...

Last week week I spoke with Josh Kun, co-founder of the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation, about the songs of Hanukkah. And in response, many listeners wrote in.

Shoshana Hoose of Portland, Maine, for instance, took issue with what she found to be "a lack of understanding of ...