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.
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Republicans stripped Planned Parenthood and several other healthcare providers of Medicaid funding for one year, but now clinics can resume billing Medicaid for non-abortion services.
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Poets like Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes have written movingly about America.
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We say goodbye to longtime NPR arts reporter Elizabeth Blair with this encore of her piece on one of the most American of songs: "This Land is Your Land."
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Today's Independence Day celebrations may be tamped down by severe heat and, according to a NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, worry about the future.
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Authorities in Beijing broke their silence about a small plane that crashed into the skyscraper headquarters of one of China's largest state-owned financial conglomerates.
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The U.S. is turning 250 this weekend. To mark the anniversary, we discuss the films and TV series that best depict the American dream.
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NPR's Scott Simon and sportswriter Michele Steele discuss the World Cup and speculate about LeBron James.
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Emails from CDC officials released by Sen. Bernie Sanders reveal agency leaders dealing with political pressures during the Trump era and highlight challenges for the next director.
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Severe heat is forcing Independence Day event organizers across the country to change and even cancel festivities.
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Atlanta's Venezuelan community, one of the largest in the U.S., is gathering aid for earthquake victims.