On Sundays, Weekend Edition combines the news with colorful arts and human-interest features, appealing to the curious and eclectic. With a nod to traditional Sunday habits, the program offers a fix for diehard crossword addicts-word games and brainteasers with The Puzzlemaster, a.k.a. Will Shortz, puzzle editor of The New York Times. With Hansen on the sidelines, a caller plays the latest word game on the air while listeners compete silently at home. The NPR mailbag is proof that the competition to go head-to-head with Shortz is rather vigorous.
Another trademark of Sunday's program is "Voices in the News," a montage of sound bites from the past week, poignant in its simplicity. Hansen also engages listeners in her discussions with regular contributors, who cover a wide range of national and international issues.
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The Tennessee drag law that was struck down last year was written so broadly that it would have forbidden any public performance where actors impersonate someone of another gender.
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Chanel Miller talks about her new book for children, "Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All." Set in New York City, it's about a little girl and her friend who reunite people with their lost socks.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks New York Magazine writer Tirhakah Love about the ongoing feud between Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and other rappers.
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The two major party presidential candidates are very well known, but millions of dollars are still being spent on ads to try to persuade voters. (Story first aired on Morning Edition on April 18.)
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Delays in military aid have cost Ukraine's forces lives, time, and territory. Passage yesterday of nearly 61 billion dollars in US funding has Ukrainians relieved, but uncertain about the future.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to sports columnist Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal about the explosion of sports gambling and all the scandals that come with that growth.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Clyde Francks, a geneticist in the Netherlands, about the latest research into what makes people left or right-handed.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with Milo Fett of New Carlisle, Ohio and puzzle master Will Shortz.
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Another huge patch of seaweed from the Sargasso Sea is floating towards Caribbean and South Florida beaches. Scientists are trying to predict where and when it will reach the shore.
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The jury is now selected and oral statements begin Monday in the hush money criminal trial of former President Donald Trump.