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.
-
We remember Kevin Klose, former NPR president, who helped secure financial stability for the network while supporting and encouraging its journalism. -
A ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is fragile while the one between the U.S. and Iran is more stable.
-
New data shows last year was one of the most volatile years ever for naturalizations, as immigration policy changes and scrutiny affected people's desire to make the final leap to become an American.
-
NPR's Scott Simon speaks to James Kraska - a professor of international maritime law at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island - about the legality of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
-
Ukraine launches political Russian studies program to better understand wartime enemy.
-
In the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, flocks of colorful macaws that once brightened city skies now face disappearing nest sites — and with them, a unique urban bond. -
Cambodia is recognizing the life-saving contributions of a rat named Magawa with a statue. The late rat sniffed out landmines for a non-profit group, and in a short career helped find more than 100.
-
The District of Columbia's Tidal Basin cherry blossoms attract a quarter million visitors annually but there are more cherry trees in a park in Newark, N.J.
-
The Orion crew module containing the four Artemis II astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean Friday evening. -
NPR visits the last detention camp for ISIS wives and children in an increasingly precarious northeastern Syria.
