Ayesha Rascoe
Ayesha Rascoe is the host of "Weekend Edition Sunday" and the Saturday episodes of "Up First." As host of the morning news magazine, she interviews news makers, entertainers, politicians and more about the stories that everyone is talking about or that everyone should be talking about.
Known for her southern roots and signature wit, Rascoe has been a mainstay on NPR's programs since joining the outlet in 2018.
Prior to her role as host, Rascoe was a White House Correspondent. She covered three presidential administrations, gaining a reputation for her sharp questioning in the White House briefing room. Rascoe's reporting included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she was also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast.
She's also guest hosted NPR's "It's Been a Minute" podcast and radio show and been a frequent guest on "Pop Culture Happy Hour."
Before joining NPR, Rascoe spent the first decade of her career at Reuters, rising from a news assistant to an energy reporter to eventually covering the White House. While at Reuters, Rascoe covered some of the biggest energy and environmental stories of the past decade, including the 2010 BP oil spill and the U.S. response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011. She also spent a year covering energy legal issues and court cases.
She graduated from Howard University in 2007 with a B.A. in journalism.
-
In Norway, Easter is celebrated by reading crime fiction. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe investigates this holiday tradition with author and former homicide detective Jorn Lier Horst.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks former State Department energy envoy David Goldwyn about oil and gas prices as the war with Iran continues.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Meredith Alloway, who directed the new movie "Forbidden Fruits," and Lola Tung, who stars in it.
-
Iceland Air is hiring a photographer to come to their country and take pictures of beautiful landscapes. The main requirement for candidates is that their photography skills must be terrible.
-
Special forces troops rescued a U.S. Air Force colonel after his plane was shot down Friday over Iran.
-
Politically, President Trump is on his back foot as he prosecutes an unpopular war and seeks to break campaign promises on entitlements.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law's Allen Weiner about international law and an open letter calling the war with Iran a violation of the U.N. charter.
-
The American Heart Association is releasing dietary guidelines on the heels of confusing guidelines announced by the federal government.
-
Practicing OB-GYN Mary Fariba Afsari bought an RV and started a mobile clinic in 2022. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Afsari about her book, "Labor: One Woman's Work."
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to children's book critic Melissa LaSalle about audiobook recommendations for kids.