NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday

Saturdays, 7am - 9am
Scott Simon

Saturday mornings are made for Weekend Edition Saturday, the program wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.

Drawing on his experience in covering 10 wars and stories in all 50 states and seven continents, Simon brings a humorous, sophisticated and often moving perspective to each show. He is as comfortable having a conversation with a major world leader as he is talking with a Hollywood celebrity or the guy next door.

Weekend Edition Saturday has a unique and entertaining roster of other regular contributors. Marin Alsop, conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, talks about music. Daniel Pinkwater, one of the biggest names in children's literature, talks about and reads stories with Simon. Financial journalist Joe Nocera follows the economy. Howard Bryant of EPSN.com and NPR's Tom Goldman chime in on sports. Keith Devlin, of Stanford University, unravels the mystery of math, and Will Grozier, a London cabbie, talks about good books that have just been released, and what well-read people leave in the back of his taxi. Simon contributes his own award-winning essays, which are sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant.

Weekend Edition Saturday is heard on NPR Member stations across the United States, and around the globe on NPR Worldwide. The conversation between the audience and the program staff continues throughout the social media world.

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6:58am

Sat June 23, 2012
Presidential Race

Presidential Campaign Takes On A Spanish Accent

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. The presidential campaign shifted focus a bit this week as President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney both reached out to the fast-growing population of Latino voters. The two men spoke to a national gathering of Hispanic politicians in Florida. Immigration, of course, is an urgent issue after Mr. Obama's decision last week to try to stop deporting some illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

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6:58am

Sat June 23, 2012
Presidential Race

Contrasting Romney And Obama On Immigration

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

We get two perspectives on President Obama's policy shift on immigration and the election year efforts to reach Hispanic voters. Host Scott Simon speaks with Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, co-chair of Obama campaign and head of Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who served alongside Mitt Romney when he was governor in Massachusetts and is now an adviser to the campaign.

6:58am

Sat June 23, 2012
Europe

Euro Mini-Summit Takes New Focus

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. With the eurozone crisis well into its third year, the leaders of the four major eurozone countries tried once again in Rome to reach agreement on how to try to salvage the single currency. For the first time, the focus shifted away from austerity to growth and job creation. But as NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports, agreement was not reached on how to end the sovereign debt crisis.

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6:58am

Sat June 23, 2012
Sports

Soccer Fails To Give Greeks Much-Needed Boost

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The soccer game - they call it football - between Greece in Germany in Poland yesterday was always about more than just sport. Of course, there's friction between these two countries because of that eurozone crisis and both sides said they'd try to set aside politics for the day just to enjoy the entertainment. Now, of course, as has been widely reported, Germany won the game. They head to the semi-finals of the European championship. NPR's Philip Reeves was there and he sends us this account of an unusual day.

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6:58am

Sat June 23, 2012
Remembrances

Mathematician's Work Lives On In Everyday Life

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

The British computer pioneer and wartime code-breaker Alan Turing was born 100 years ago Saturday. With today's world so dominated by the computer, Turing's work impacts all our lives on a daily basis. Host Scott Simon talks with Stanford professor Keith Devlin about this remarkable man.

6:58am

Sat June 23, 2012
Middle East

Syrian Conflict A Haunting Reminder Of Bosnia

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

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6:58am

Sat June 23, 2012
Sports

Sports: The Heat's Glow, Olympics And Title IX

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is Weekend Edition from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. It's time for sports. We're joined by NPR's Tom Goldman.

Morning, Tom.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.

SIMON: And, of course, Jerry Sandusky was convicted late last night for the sexual abuse of 10 young boys. A longtime assistant football coach at Penn State, a pillar of the community, known for his charitable work. You were in State College to cover the story when it broke.

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6:58am

Sat June 23, 2012
Sports

In Sports Opportunities, Women Still Lag

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Though Title IX encompasses many aspects of education, most people associate the law with athletics. Title IX's been credited with opening competitive sports to millions of American girls and women. For more now, we're joined by Nancy Hogshead-Makar. She's a three-time Olympic gold medal swimmer, former president of Women's Sports Foundation, and she's now a professor teaching federal gender-equity law at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville. She joins us on the line from Kenilworth, Illinois. Thanks so much for being with us.

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6:58am

Sat June 23, 2012
Around the Nation

The Art Of Moose Calling Alive And Well In Maine

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

Maine is hosting its first World Invitational Moose Calling Contest as part of the state's annual 2012 Moose Lottery. Contestants will be judged on their moose-calling finesse in four categories: their bull call, cow call, attraction techniques and showmanship. To learn more about the art of moose calling, host Scott Simon talks with competition organizer Roger Lambert.

6:37am

Sat June 23, 2012
All Tech Considered

Baby Robot Takes First Steps Toward Learning Language Formation

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 12:51 pm

Credit Tom Bullock / NPR

6:37am

Sat June 23, 2012
Around the Nation

'Who Would Believe A Kid?' Sandusky Found Guilty

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:15 pm

Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky spent what could be the first of many nights behind bars Friday after a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period.

In Bellefonte, Pa., Friday night, a crowd outside the county courthouse cheered when the guilty verdicts were announced.

The cheers continued as Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly praised the investigators and prosecutors at her side.

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5:24am

Sat June 23, 2012
Critics' Lists: Summer 2012

Rich Reads: Historical Fiction Fit For A Queen

Originally published on Tue July 3, 2012 10:33 am

Credit Harriet Russell

I have always loved a great story set in the past. Give me a high-powered historical plot, and I will keep turning those pages until my eyes cross. Kings or consuls, functionaries or janissaries, it doesn't matter, only that it pounds onward to the conclusion — volcano explosion, battle or market crash. It's literary dessert, and I devour every bite.

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5:23am

Sat June 23, 2012
U.S.

What Title IX Didn't Change: Stigma About Shop Class

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 12:05 pm

Forty years ago, President Richard Nixon signed Title IX, which said no person shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from any education program or activity. Vocational education courses that barred girls — such as auto mechanics, carpentry and plumbing — became available for everyone. But it's still hard to find girls in classes once viewed as "for boys only."

Zoe Shipley, 15, has a passion for cars and tinkering with engines.

"It's just kind of cool to learn how to fix a car or learn about it," she says.

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5:23am

Sat June 23, 2012
Movies

Shirley Clarke's 'Connection': Will It Click At Last?

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

Fifty years ago, a movie called The Connection opened in New York — then closed after two showings. Police shut down the theater and arrested the projectionist.

The movie is about drug addicts, and the language is sometimes frank — too frank for 1962 standards. The director was an independent pioneer named Shirley Clarke, whose movie has been restored and is back in theaters, soon to be followed by restorations of nearly all her work.

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5:23am

Sat June 23, 2012
Author Interviews

Lessons For Europe From 'The Second World War'

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 11:47 am

For most people, the start of World War II means German soldiers marching into Poland. Historian Antony Beevor begins and ends his new book, The Second World War with something different: the story of a German soldier who was actually Korean, was captured in Normandy, and wound up living in Illinois.

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