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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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 asks "The English Patient" author Michael Ondaatje about his new collection of poems, "A Year of Last Things."
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About 150 of Washington, D.C.'s famous cherry trees near the National Mall will be removed this spring in order to repair a crumbling sea wall. But only after the upcoming cherry blossom festival.
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Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approves a plan to invade the heavily populated city of Rafah in southern Gaza. Plus, the first food aid to arrive by sea.
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Families of American hostages being held in Gaza visited the UN Friday to push for the release of the hostages.
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The Haitian prime minister has agreed to step down in an attempt to quell violence there. But several obstacles remain to ensure a peaceful transition of power to new leadership.
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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 muses on his family's life with animals — a dog, a foster cat, a hamster in a hamster ball — and all that entails.