Saturday mornings are made for Weekend Edition Saturday, the program that 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 Peabody Award winner 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 ESPN.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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The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.2 trillion budget package, but only with help from Democrats. Some GOP members object.
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks to ICU doctor Nahreen Ahmed about her time visiting hospitals in Gaza.
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NPR's Scott Simon talks with Yale historian Timothy Snyder about what another 6-year presidential term for Russian leader Vladimir Putin might mean for Ukraine and the West.
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Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani's longtime interpreter fired over allegations of illegal gambling, and March Madness begins. NPR's Scott Simon talks with Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media.
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Shakira's new album, "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran," is her first in seven years and is being marketed as a comeback after a highly-publicized romantic breakup.
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks with author John Schu about his new, semi-fictional memoir, "Louder than Hunger."
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Oxford University scientist Alexandra Morton-Hayward about how some brains are preserved thousands of years after a person's death.
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A new documentary looks at Freaknik, an annual spring break party in Atlanta during the 1980s and 90s which became a victim of its own success.
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College campuses around the country are returning to their roots, replacing lawns and shrubs with native plants. Students at The College of New Jersey joined the movement with a planting day.
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Michael Lockshin, director of "The Master and Margarita," an immensely popular film in Russia but one that's also been attacked by pro-Kremlin bloggers.