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.
-
Las Vegas police are refusing to comply with the NFL’s new plan to use facial recognition technology for stadium employees during games. Even though police often use facial recognition to identify suspects, they say giving their biometric data to an unaccountable company crosses a line.
-
Dictionary wants to bring her pages to life but then a hungry alligator chasing a donut crashes into a queen who slips on some soap and chaos ensues. Can Dictionary put herself back together again?
-
Americans are three times more likely to be in interfaith relationships today than in the 1960s. So it's no surprise you'll find two — in opposing parties — at the top of the presidential ticket.
-
Tony Morris, a 72-year-old former bookkeeper and taxi driver, is taking over Glasgow's clubs with his dance music.
-
The re-opening of a uranium mine near the Grand Canyon has the Navajo Nation, and now Arizona's attorney general, questioning its safety.
-
Afghanistan's Taliban codified a long set of rules governing morality, including compulsory beards for men and facial covering for women.
-
The past and present merge for NPR's Scott Simon, who attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as a teen in 1968 and now as a senior citizen.
-
NPR's Scott Simon details some of the new works of the street artist known as Banksy. They include mountain goats, gorillas, and other zoo animals on the streets of London.
-
In the third installment of our series on moving house, we visit June Scott, a 99-year-old woman who moved into an assisted living facility outside Baltimore to be closer to family.
-
In Vermont, a new all-access mountain bike trail system provides plenty of thrills to all kinds of riders — those who use adaptive equipment included.