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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The Israeli government approved a ceasefire deal that could bring an end to the 15 months of war in Gaza. It's slated to go into effect Sunday morning.
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Syrians are still celebrating the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime, but that enthusiasm is tempered these days.
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We look at what the Department of Justice has and hasn't done on war crimes under outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland.
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President Joe Biden wraps up his term with a flurry of activity before Inauguration Day, and cold weather moves President-elect Donald Trump inside the Capitol for his oath of office and address.
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Even as an anti-immigrant president takes office in the United States, migrants are moving north. NPR asks, why?
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As insurance companies stop covering high-risk properties, or they leave markets altogether, more than 30 states now offer so-called "last resort" insurance. NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Doug Heller, at the Consumer Federation of America, who says putting all risky plans in one basket is a disaster waiting to happen.
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Five years after the start of the COVID crisis - is the U.S. more prepared to handle another pandemic?
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NPR's Scott Simon talks to Michele Steele of ESPN about the NFL playoffs, the college football national championship, and remembers Milwaukee Baseball legend Bob Uecker.
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Yossi Mekelberg of Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Program, about the Israeli political response to a negotiated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
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José "Cha Cha" Jimenez, a Puerto Rican activist in Chicago, died last week. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with DePaul University professor Jacqueline Lazú about his life and legacy.