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.
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Ayesha Rascoe talks with New York Governor Kathy Hochul about Saturday's mass shooting that killed 10 people and injured three at a grocery store in Buffalo.
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Ayesha Rascoe talks with Kinley Salmon, Africa correspondent for The Economist, about the widespread fuel shortages affecting the continent.
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Ayesha Rascoe speaks with author Anne Heltzel about her gothic horror novel, "Just Like Mother," where a young woman reunites with her cousin after escaping a cult.
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Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Darius Pridgen, the president of the Buffalo Common Council and a local pastor, about Saturday's mass shooting that killed 10 people.
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An old story about the undead is getting a new life, of sorts: Bram Stoker's blood-thirsty vampire has found fresh victims with "Dracula Daily," delivered in small — ahem — digestible chunks.
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FIFA, the world's governing body for soccer, and Electronic Arts have announced an end to their partnership that's created best selling videogames.
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Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Politico's Helena Bottemiller Evich about the reasons behind the national shortage of baby formula.
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Ayesha Rascoe speaks to epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera about the current COVID-19 surge, and what people should be doing when it comes to testing and taking the anti-viral drug Paxlovid.
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If Roe v. Wade is overturned, it could affect medical care for early pregnancy loss. Ayesha Rascoe talks about this with Dr. Lauren Thaxton, a Texas-based OB-GYN and medical professor.
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Ayesha Rascoe talks with Buffalo, N.Y., mayor Byron W. Brown about yesterday's deadly supermarket attack, and what he wants to happen for his community.