''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or new ...

programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio (

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...

''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' and ''Weekend Edition Sunday'', each of which airs for two hours, from 8:00a.m. to 10:00a.m. Eastern time, with refeeds until 2:00 p.m. ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' is hosted by

Scott Simon Scott Simon (born March 16, 1952) is an American journalist and the host of ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' on NPR. Early life Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of comedian Ernie Simon and actress Patricia Lyons. ...

, while ''Weekend Edition Sunday'' is hosted by

Ayesha Rascoe Ayesha Rascoe (born June 10, 1986) is an American journalist named host of Weekend Edition Sunday in February 2022. She previously served as the White House reporter for NPR. Rascoe covered the Obama White House for Reuters before moving to NPR in ...

, a White House correspondent for NPR, whose first broadcast as permanent host was March 27, 2022. Rascoe and other NPR correspondents alternated hosting ''Weekend Edition Sunday'', after previous host

Lulu Garcia-Navarro Lourdes "Lulu" Garcia-Navarro is an American journalist and an Opinion Audio podcast host for ''The New York Times.'' She was the host of National Public Radio's ''Weekend Edition Sunday'' from 2017 to 2021, when she left NPR after 17 years at t ...

departed in October 2021. The programs feature longer stories than most NPR news magazines, and more arts and culture stories.

Format

Weekday sibling ''

'' breaks up each hour into five segments, none more than twelve minutes long; ''Weekend Edition'' uses only three segments per hour, accommodating longer stories than ''Morning Edition'' typically accommodates. ''Weekend Edition'' begins with a sixty-second billboard. Both Simon and the Sunday host use the billboard as a general discussion about what's coming up in the hour, infused with soundbites from selected stories. A standard five-minute NPR newscast follows, until six past the hour. A thirty-second

music bed Music in advertising refers to music integrated into mass electronic media advertisements to enhance its success. Music in advertising affects the way viewers perceive the brand by different means and on different levels, and "can significantly aff ...

follows the newscast, allowing local stations an opportunity to promote programming or local news/weather/traffic. Segment A begins at 6:30 past the hour (duration 11:29). The most important news of the day is placed here. Regular features (such as, before his death,

Daniel Schorr Daniel Louis Schorr (August 31, 1916 – July 23, 2010) was an American journalist who covered world news for more than 60 years. He was most recently a Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio (NPR). Schorr won three Emmy Awards for his te ...

's weekly news wrap-up) appear in this segment. At eighteen minutes past the hour, a two-minute station break starts. The first minute is a music bed solely for use of the member stations. The second minute, from nineteen to twenty past, is a "headlines" segment in which the NPR newscaster on staff that morning recaps the major stories of the hour. Some stations decide to use the entire two minutes for local purposes, taking the opportunity to deliver their own headlines, underwriting or events calendars. At twenty past the hour, segment B begins, running 14:19 in length. NPR offers local stations a cutaway from the national feed at 34:20 past the hour. The cutaway is identified by the host when he or she says, "You're listening to ''Weekend Edition'' from NPR News". For stations that opt to stay with the national feed, a short interview or commentary piece is delivered, running 2:59 in length. Another two-minute station break, following the same music bed/headlines format as the first, ensues. Segment C, the longest segment of the hour, starts at 40:00 after the hour and runs for seventeen minutes, forty-nine seconds. ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' usually slots musical performances, arts stories or interviews in segment C. ''Weekend Edition Sunday'' uses the time for its popular weekly puzzle segment with

Will Shortz William F. Shortz (born August 26, 1952) is an American puzzle creator and editor and crossword puzzle editor for ''The New York Times''. Early life and education Will Shortz was born and raised on an Arabian horse farm in Crawfordsville, Indi ...

, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' crossword puzzle editor, and interviews and light features. At the end of the segment, the host credits theme song composer B.J. Leiderman and signs off for the hour. Segment C is followed by a forty-second funding credit announcement, and then ninety seconds of music.

Hosts

* ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' **

(1985–1992; 1993–present) **

Alex Chadwick Alex Chadwick is an American journalist best known for his work on National Public Radio, and as a former co-host of the radio newsmagazine ''Day to Day''. He was a part of the development of NPR's ''Morning Edition'' in the 1970s and was an o ...

(1992–1993) * ''Weekend Edition Sunday'' **

Susan Stamberg Susan Stamberg (born September 7, 1938) is an American radio journalist. Stamberg was co-host of NPR's flagship program ''All Things Considered.'' In that role Stamberg was the first female host of a national news broadcast. She's considered one ...

(1987–1989) **

Liane Hansen Liane Hansen (; born September 29, 1951,) is an American journalist and radio personality. She was the host of the National Public Radio (NPR) newsmagazine ''Weekend Edition Sunday'' from 1989 until her retirement in May 2011. Her experience in ...

(1989–2011) **

Audie Cornish Audie N. Cornish (born October 9, 1979) is an American journalist and a former co-host of NPR's ''All Things Considered''. She was previously the host of ''Profile'' by Buzzfeed News, a web-only interview show that lasted one season, as well as ' ...

(2011–2012) ** Rachel Martin (2012–2016) **

(2017–2021) **

(2022–) * Contributors: **

Joe Bevilacqua Joseph K. Bevilacqua (born January 2, 1959) is an American actor, producer, director, author, dramatist, humorist, cartoonist, and documentarian. Biography Early life Bevilacqua was born on January 2, 1959, in Newark, New Jersey, the son ...

(won 2004 Silver Reel Award from the

National Federation of Community Broadcasters The National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB) is a national membership organization of community-oriented, non-commercial radio stations, media organizations and producers committed to community radio in the United States. History N ...

for his personal essay, "A Guy Named

References

External links

*
Weekend Edition Saturday
' *
Weekend Edition Sunday
'
20 Years of ''Weekend Edition'' Sunday (audio)Google group on NPR puzzle, with archiveArchive of synopses of Will Shortz puzzle segments
{{US Newsmagazine American news radio programs NPR programs 1985 radio programme debuts