Weekend Edition Sunday is NPR's Sunday morning news magazine, carried by 794 public radio stations nationwide. Every week, the show 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 crisis in Ukraine.
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. Recent hosts include Audie Cornish (2011–2012), Rachel Martin (2012–2016) and Lulu Garcia-Navarro (2017–2021.)
In 2022, Ayesha Rascoe was named the host of Weekend Edition Sunday, and she will transition to that role March 27. Rascoe is currently a White House correspondent for NPR. She is covering her third presidential administration. Her White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast.
Prior to joining NPR, Rascoe covered the White House for Reuters, chronicling Obama's final year in office and the early days of the Trump administration. Rascoe began her reporting career at Reuters, covering energy and environmental policy news, such as the 2010 BP oil spill and the U.S. response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011. She also spent a year covering energy legal issues and court cases. She graduated from Howard University in 2007 with a B.A. in journalism.
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President Trump's latest executive orders allows ranchers to sell meat directly to consumers. Ranchers have been upset over Trump's plan to boost beef imports in a bid to lower prices.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks New York Law School's Heather Cucolo about the insanity defense and how often such defenses are successful.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with singer Ravyn Lenae about her latest album "Blue Island" and about handling the pressure that comes with viral fame.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with Ali Breland, who covers the far-right for The Atlantic, about the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, now one year after Charlie Kirk's assassination.
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Gloria Steinem founded Ms. Magazine in 1971 as a national voice for the feminist movement. Its groundbreaking coverage drew loyal readers and scared off many advertisers.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with filmmaker Adam Wingard, whose latest film is the action thriller "Onslaught."
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A floating island is playing peekaboo on Williston Lake in British Columbia. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe chats with BC Hydro's Bob Gammer about this natural mystery.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to former State Department energy envoy David Goldwyn about how the war in Iran continues to affect gas and diesel prices.
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The Metropolitan Opera has reimagined a version of Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" set at Coney Island in the 1950s. Live snakes were auditioned and a large boa constrictor named Princess has been cast.
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Public sentiment against data centers is running high this election season, leaving politicians of all stripes scrambling to respond. We look at how this is playing out in Pennsylvania.