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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Restaurant earnings and pricing tell us the economy is still troubled by inflation but not badly enough for consumers to give up eating out.
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A wave of political assassinations has swept across Mexico during this election season. One candidate was violently killed on her first day of campaigning.
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Mammograms should start at age 40, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Taskforce. And a new study finds hormone therapy for menopause symptoms is safe.
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Many rural communities lack affordable housing. One university in Alabama is trying to help with some experimental architecture.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Pedro Noguera, dean of the University of Southern California School of Education, about his role leading student protests at UC Berkeley against Apartheid in the 1980s.
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Genetically modified seeds for purple tomatoes hit the market for home gardeners recently. But how did a purple tomato get splashed across the cover of a seed catalog specializing in non-GMO plants?
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with director Caitlin Cronenberg about her first full-length feature film, "Humane," about a future where people must sacrifice themselves to make life on earth sustainable.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with WAMU listener Joshua Green of Columbia, Maryland and puzzle master Will Shortz.
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A Charlotte, N.C., family is chronicling the removal of thousands of bees from their home.
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Nearly seven six months into the war between Israel and Hamas, the conflict seems headed for an open-ended Israeli military presence in Gaza.