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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Sarah Manriquez tells a dramatic story of driving a tour bus up a remote highway in a winter storm. It was originally performed for the Alaska storytelling show and podcast Dark Winter Nights.
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Why does the song "All I Want For Christmas Is You" still take the airwaves by storm every holiday season? Billboard's Gary Trust breaks it down.
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For NPR's series, "We Hold These Truths," Scott Simon spoke to film critics Wesley Morris and Mark Harris about movies that have shaped how Americans think of democracy.
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Scott Simon asks ESPN's Michele Steele about a Chinese tennis star's new video, NHL players skipping the Olympics, and about NFL and NBA games this weekend.
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People are understandably stressed this Christmas, including Santa.
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Scott Simon notes Alligator Records' 50th anniversary year with founder Bruce Iglauer.
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During the pandemic, some secular Jews have taken up learning Yiddish to reconnect to their heritage.
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The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope ever put into space, launched December 25. Astronomers are watching and waiting at mission control in Baltimore.
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The day after her beloved Baba Bazorg dies, a little girl remembers some of her favorite things about him: his striped slippers, the mints in his pockets and the fig cookies he always shared.
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From NPR's yearly reading list, Books We Love, we hear suggestions for four memoirs that are well worth your time.