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.
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Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, but on earth it's in short supply. And Iran's retaliatory strikes on helium-rich Qatar have made it even more scarce.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, professor of Economics at Virginia Tech, about the potential impact of a strike on oil facilities on Iran's Kharg Island.
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Both the Senate and President Trump have taken action recently to address the high cost of housing. But many different economic realities are colliding in the housing market.
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The rise of the far-right movements in France has changed the nature of politics in Paris and other French cities. We look at how this might affect the results of thousands of mayoral elections today.
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The war with Iran has caused diesel prices to spike nationwide. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with energy analyst Patrick De Haan about the implications for all the industries that rely on the fuel.
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The driest place in North America is covered with an explosion of wildflowers right now. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with ecologist Tiffany Pereira about Death Valley's superbloom.
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The El Niño weather pattern will likely emerge this summer and persist through the rest of the year, boosting global temperatures and affecting regional weather around the world.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Lauren Kahn of Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology about the role of artificial intelligence in war.
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Armadillos are making North Carolina their home. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with wildlife biologist Colleen Olfenbuttel about how Texas' state mammal has gotten a foothold in the Tar Heel State.
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We look at President Trump's shifting objectives in the war with Iran, as well as the last front on his fight to impose global tariffs on dozens of countries.