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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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group about Iran's objectives in launching what Tehran said was a retaliatory drone and missile strike against Israel.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with the Brookings Institution's Natan Sachs about how Israel's possible responses to the overnight attack by hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers about friendships, divinity studies, and the music from her new album, "Don't Forget Me."
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with David and Nathan Zellner about their new, absurd film "Sasquatch Sunset," which is about a family of sasquatches.
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Venezuela faces a deadline this week to commit to holding free and fair elections or face the return of US oil sanctions.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Dr. Jeanine Ronan about the growing doctors shortage in the US and why fewer physicians are going into pediatrics.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Frank Close, a physics professor at Oxford University, about theoretical physicist Peter Higgs. Higgs died on Monday at the age of 94.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby about Iran's strikes on Israel and what the Biden administration thinks the response should be.
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U-S electricity demand is growing and many utilities plan to generate more power from fossil fuels like natural gas. That's testing the Biden administration's signature climate policy.
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One Sudanese poet's words reflect the pain and the loss of a year of devastating war in Sudan.