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 January 2012, Rachel Martin began hosting the program. Previously she served as NPR National Security Correspondent and was part of the team that launched NPR's experimental morning news show, The Bryant Park Project. She has also been the NPR religion correspondent and foreign correspondent based in Berlin.
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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Food pantries were running low last week in a North Carolina county where about 1 in 4 residents receive SNAP assistance.
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Homeland Security says its agents have deported more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants since January and that the vast majority are criminals. There's evidence this is not accurate.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Suzanne Rowan Kelleher of Forbes about how travelers can try to minimize delays now and in the holiday season given the FAA-mandated flight cancellations.
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Charles Guiteau shot President Garfield, but the story of that assassination isn't well known. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with Matthew Macfadyen about his role in the TV series "Death by Lightning."
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Mumbai's civic body has banned pigeon feeding. It says the growing pigeon population is causing respiratory issues. Pigeon-lovers are fighting back.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to scholars Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita about their new book on nuns, "Convent Wisdom," and what we can learn from them.
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A Michelin-star chef in Brittany is showing a way to help save global fish stocks one diner at a time.
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A new survey asked adults about social divisions. Those who found them to be a significant source of stress were more likely to say they felt isolated and left out than others.
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Penny production will stop next year. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Wake Forest Economics Professor Robert Whaples about the penny shortage already hitting some businesses.
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The Trump administration is pushing for a ceasefire in Sudan. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Sudan scholar, Alex de Waal, about the challenges in bringing an end to the conflict.