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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The fallout from changes in Georgia's case against Donald Trump. Plus, third parties can make a big difference in this year's presidential race.
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas about the growing tensions between her country and its neighbor Russia over the war in Ukraine.
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NPR's Scott Simon and ESPN's Michele Steele discuss March Madness, the new world of paid college athletes, and bobblehead crime.
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NPR's Scott Simon asks "The English Patient" author Michael Ondaatje about his new collection of poems, "A Year of Last Things."
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A new study raises doubts about the high rate of maternal mortality in the U.S. that was officially reported.
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NPR's Scott Simon muses on his family's life with animals — a dog, a foster cat, a hamster in a hamster ball — and all that entails.
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The Chinese Nobel Prize-winning author Mo Yan is being sued for allegedly insulting national heroes. NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Cornell Professor Jessica Chen Weiss about the case.
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The ruling Hindu party in India has secured support from some Muslims, even though the party has been hostile to the religion.
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Amazon is crowded with copycat books that appear to have been written by AI — and they're attached to real authors who didn't write them. (Story first aired on Morning Edition on March 13, 2023.)
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The Belgian national soccer team has adopted away uniforms that resemble the outfit worn by the famous Belgian comic figure Tintin.