Saturday mornings are made for Weekend Edition Saturday, the program wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.
Drawing on his experience in covering 10 wars and stories in all 50 states and seven continents, Simon brings a humorous, sophisticated and often moving perspective to each show. He is as comfortable having a conversation with a major world leader as he is talking with a Hollywood celebrity or the guy next door.
Weekend Edition Saturday has a unique and entertaining roster of other regular contributors. Marin Alsop, conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, talks about music. Daniel Pinkwater, one of the biggest names in children's literature, talks about and reads stories with Simon. Financial journalist Joe Nocera follows the economy. Howard Bryant of EPSN.com and NPR's Tom Goldman chime in on sports. Keith Devlin, of Stanford University, unravels the mystery of math, and Will Grozier, a London cabbie, talks about good books that have just been released, and what well-read people leave in the back of his taxi. Simon contributes his own award-winning essays, which are sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant.
Weekend Edition Saturday is heard on NPR Member stations across the United States, and around the globe on NPR Worldwide. The conversation between the audience and the program staff continues throughout the social media world.
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We remember Ai, a highly intelligent chimpanzee who lived at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University for most of her life, except the time she escaped and walked around campus.
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Protests against a surge of federal immigration officers into the city are continuing, while the threat of President Trump invoking the Insurrection Act hangs in the air.
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NPR's Scott Simon asks Grace and Manuel Rojas about their popular foam hats, a riff on the cheese-shaped hats Green Bay Packers fans wear.
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Many residents in Kyiv are suffering through freezing temperatures with no heat or electricity after Russian strikes on energy infrastructure.
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks with A., an Iranian who recently left the country after participating in several days of protests.
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Only 21 merit badges are required to advance out of Eagle Scouts, the highest rank in Scouting America. One dedicated Missouri scout has earned 140--that was every merit badge offered by Scouting America during his time as a Scout.
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A high school teacher gives his students projects that offer opportunities to help others. He finds these projects generate a lot of enthusiasm in the classroom.
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A visit to the Gaulier clown school - home to alumni including Sacha Baron Cohen and Emma Thompson - reveals that clowning is all about the art of failure.
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The Administration for a Healthy America is RFK Jr.'s plan to tackle chronic disease, addiction and other persistent problems. But so far it's not being set up like previous new agencies.
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Renee Good won a national prize six years ago for her poem "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs," which muses on science and faith. Good was shot to death by an ICE agent this week in Minneapolis.