Saturday mornings are made for Weekend Edition Saturday, the program that 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 Peabody Award winner 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 ESPN.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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NPR's Scott Simon talks to film director John Patton Ford about his latest movie, "How To Make a Killing."
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Laura Atkinson and Justin Hicks of Louisville Public Media about shape note singing and its influence across the American musical tradition.
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks with former Poet Laureate of Mississippi Beth Ann Fennelly about "The Irish Goodbye," a book of micro-memoirs about childhood, marriage and the death of her sister.
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Andrew Krivak, whose novel, "Mule Boy," is about the life of a child worker in a coal mine, and all the danger and trauma that he carried through his life as a result.
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President Trump says he hasn't decided whether to attack Iran. While he weighs his options, a military buildup over the past month means the U.S. now has an expansive presence in the region. -
In the semifinal, Slovakia had few answers for the American onslaught. Now, the U.S. men will meet Canada for a chance to win the team's first Olympic hockey gold since the "Miracle on Ice" back in 1980. -
Drinking water around the District of Columbia hasn't been contaminated. But scientists say the environmental damage could be severe. -
In the new animated film, "Arco," a time-traveling boy gets trapped in the year 2075 and must evade captors, robots and wildfires. NPR's Scott Simon talks to writer and director Ugo Bienvenu.
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He will have you for dinner: what is it about an unapologetic cannibal that so captured readers and audiences? NPR's Scott Simon talks with Brian Raftery about his new book, "Hannibal Lecter: A Life."
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Fiona Hill, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center on the United States and Europe, about the Trump administration's strategy to end Russia's war with Ukraine.
