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Weekend Edition Saturday

Saturdays from 6:00 - 9:00 a.m.
Scott Simon

Whether revealing events in small-town America or overseas, or profiling notable personalities, Weekend Edition from NPR News appreciates the extraordinary details that make up every story. This two-hour morning newsmagazine covers hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.

Genre: 
News/Talk
Composer ID: 
5187cb80e1c8a892ebf233fd|5187cb66e1c8a892ebf2339a

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National Security
5:00 am
Sat June 8, 2013

Civil Liberties Group Concerned Over NSA Programs

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Originally published on Sun June 9, 2013 3:39 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. The news that the National Security Agency is collecting reams of telephone data and tracking Internet behavior has alarmed civil liberties groups. President Obama believes U.S. citizens have no need to worry.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: One of the things that we're going to have to discuss and debate is how are we striking this balance between the need to keep the American people safe and our concerns about privacy, because there are some tradeoffs involved.

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Code Switch
3:55 am
Sat June 8, 2013

Fifty Years Later, 'A Better Chance' Trains Young Scholars

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Credit Courtesy of Sylvester Monroe
Sylvester Monroe and then-wife Regina at his graduation from Harvard University in 1973.
Credit Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR
Frank Hernandez is a senior at The Thacher School. He'll be attending President Obama's alma mater, Occidental College, in the fall.
Credit Shereen Marisol Meraji / NPR
Mahogany Monette is a junior at The Thacher School. She's thinking of applying to Northeastern University in Boston.
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Originally published on Sun June 9, 2013 3:39 am

Fifty-five boys — all poor and almost all African-American — were a part of a bold educational experiment in the early 1960s. They were placed in an intensive summer school program. If they finished, the headmasters of 16 prep schools agreed to accept them. Tuition paid.

Planning for that experiment started in 1963 at the height of the civil rights movement, one year before President Lyndon B. Johnson declared his "War on Poverty." Today, what began with 55 students and 16 schools has become an institution celebrating its 50th anniversary. It's called "A Better Chance."

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Music Interviews
3:26 am
Sat June 8, 2013

Aoife O'Donovan: Digging Up Musical 'Fossils'

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Aoife O'Donovan's first solo album is called Fossils.
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Originally published on Sun June 9, 2013 8:12 am

Alison Krauss recorded "Lay My Burden Down" a couple of years ago for her No. 1 country album Paper Airplane, but the song was written by Aoife O'Donovan. The singer, best known as the voice of the alt-bluegrass band Crooked Still, is releasing her first solo album this week.

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It's All Politics
3:25 am
Sat June 8, 2013

WWII Vets Have All But Vanished From The Halls Of Congress

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Credit Douglas Graham / AP
Military pallbearers carry the coffin of the late New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg into the Senate chamber on Thursday. He was the only remaining World War II veteran in the Senate.
Credit J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., is celebrated by friends and colleagues on Capitol Hill on Friday, as he becomes the longest-serving member of Congress in history.
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Originally published on Sun June 9, 2013 3:39 am

Sen. Frank Lautenberg was buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday. There was a steady rain. Soldiers fired rifle volleys, a bugler played taps and mourners paid their final respects.

The New Jersey Democrat was 89 when he died this week — and his death marked a somber milestone.

For the first time since the end of World War II, there are no veterans of that war in the U.S. Senate. Lautenberg had been the only one remaining.

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News
3:25 am
Sat June 8, 2013

NSA Scandal Looms Over Obama-Xi Talks

Credit Evan Vucci / AP
President Obama walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a retreat on Friday in Rancho Mirage, Calif., where the two leaders are meeting for talks.
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Originally published on Sun June 9, 2013 3:39 am

President Obama always intended to talk about spying this weekend. But not like this.

He's getting to know China's new leader at a sprawling estate in the Southern California desert this weekend, but domestic controversies have followed him there.

The president veered off his talking points Friday to spend more than 10 minutes defending a pair of massive surveillance operations that the media recently disclosed.

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Pop Culture
7:11 am
Sat June 1, 2013

How To Speak Teen

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Teenagers can seem sullen, moody and uncommunicative, unless you know how to listen to them. James Harbeck does. He's an editor and linguist in Canada who's analyzed sounds that can be distinctly annoying to adults. James Harbeck joins us from the studios of the CBC in Toronto. Thanks so much for being with us.

JAMES HARBECK: Hi. Nice to be here.

SIMON: First, what made you devote any scholarship to this?

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Movie Interviews
6:30 am
Sat June 1, 2013

Charting The Career Of The 'Evocateur' Of Talk

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Morton Downey Jr. was the loudest mouth on television. He treated guests like guys on the other side of the wrestling ring - bullying, hectoring and blowing smoke in their faces.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE MORTON DOWNEY JR. SHOW")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Why?

MORTON DOWNEY JR.: Why? What the hell do you mean why? Are you nuts? Get him out of here. Get this guy out...

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Middle East
4:39 am
Sat June 1, 2013

Peaceful Protest Over Istanbul Park Turns Violent

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Originally published on Tue June 4, 2013 5:55 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is Weekend Edition from NPR News, I'm Scott Simon.

(SOUNDBITE OF RIOTING)

SIMON: Turkish riot police fired tear gas and water cannons on demonstrators in downtown Istanbul during a second day of protests. The clashes were triggered by the government's plan to build a shopping mall in a downtown park. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has called for an immediate end to the protest. NPR's Peter Kenyon joins us from Istanbul. Peter, thanks for being with us.

PETER KENYON, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.

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Around the Nation
4:39 am
Sat June 1, 2013

More Storms, Tornadoes Batter Parts Of Oklahoma

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

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Politics
4:39 am
Sat June 1, 2013

What's On Obama's Agenda With China's President?

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Next week, President Obama will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at an estate in California. Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon speaks with Ken Lieberthal of the Brookings Institution about what issues the two world leaders are likely to discuss.

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