Conceived as a cross between a Sunday newspaper and CBS' Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt, Weekend Edition Sunday features interviews with newsmakers, artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, writers, theologians and historians. The program has covered news events from Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from a South African prison to the capture of Saddam Hussein.
Weekend Edition Sunday debuted on January 18, 1987, with host Susan Stamberg. Two years later, Liane Hansen took over the host chair, a position she held for 22 years. In that time, Hansen interviewed movers and shakers in politics, science, business and the arts. Her reporting travels took her from the slums of Cairo to the iron mines of Michigan's Upper Peninsula; from the oyster beds on the bayou in Houma, La., to Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park; and from the kitchens of Colonial Williamsburg, Va., to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
In the fall of 2011, NPR National Desk Reporter Audie Cornish began hosting the show. During 2012, Audie took an assignment filling in for Michele Norris as host of All Things Consideredalongside Robert Siegel and Melissa Block. National Security Correspondent Rachel Martin is hosting in the interim.
Every week listeners tune in to hear a unique blend of news, features and the regularly scheduled puzzle segment with Puzzlemaster Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor of The New York Times.
-
Chanel Miller talks about her new book for children, "Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All." Set in New York City, it's about a little girl and her friend who reunite people with their lost socks.
-
The Tennessee drag law that was struck down last year was written so broadly that it would have forbidden any public performance where actors impersonate someone of another gender.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks New York Magazine writer Tirhakah Love about the ongoing feud between Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and other rappers.
-
The Chattanooga sister trio Call Me Spinster talks about how new identities as parents and partners shape their music, particularly their song "Feet Are Dirty."
-
Speaker Mike Johnson pushes military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan through the House, plus a measure on TikTok.
-
President Biden has called for more tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. Both Democrats and Republicans have adopted more protectionist policies in the run-up to the November election.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with area ecologist Kate Wollen about Forestry England's efforts to save dormice. And yes, the rodents are terrifically cute.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta about the company's new virtual reality headsets and Meta's plans to have the headsets used in classrooms.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Clyde Francks, a geneticist in the Netherlands, about the latest research into what makes people left or right-handed.
-
Another huge patch of seaweed from the Sargasso Sea is floating towards Caribbean and South Florida beaches. Scientists are trying to predict where and when it will reach the shore.