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.
-
The White House is renewing threats to send military force to Chicago. Meanwhile there seems to be no progress in ending the federal government's shutdown.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Boston Globe Meteorologist Ken Mahan about the drought hitting the state of Massachusetts.
-
Extortion and exploitation at the gravesite amplify grief for many Nigerians.
-
Ellie Rowsell and Joel Amey of the British rock band Wolf Alice speak about their primal screams and shattering their insecurities in their new song "Bloom Baby Bloom."
-
In Portland, Ore., a local nonprofit collects fresh food from restaurants, farms, businesses, and events that would otherwise be thrown away. The group then redistributes it to people in need.
-
Lorelai and Rory Gilmore's fictional hometown of Stars Hollow was born after Gilmore Girls creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, stayed in northwestern Connecticut. The show premiered in the fall of 2000. -
Known as the mother of Colombian corals, at 70, marine biologist Elvira Alvarado is still diving — and pioneering "coral IVF" to help save endangered reefs. -
Gen Z protesters from Indonesia and Nepal to Madagascar and Morocco, are rallying behind an unexpected banner: a grinning skull in a straw hat. -
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with Minnesota Public Radio listener Erin Rhode of Plymouth, Minnesota along with Weekend Edition Puzzle Master Will Shortz. -
In 1999, Tony Hawk's "900" trick put a fresh spin on skateboarding. Now the board, helmet and other gear he used to land it have sold big at auction. Hawk tells us how it all came together.
