Ayesha Rascoe
Ayesha Rascoe is the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and the weekend host of Up First. As host of the morning news magazine show, she interviews newsmakers, entertainers, politicians and more about the stories that everyone is talking about or that everyone should be talking about.
Rascoe is also the editor of HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience, a book of essays about the impact of historically Black colleges and universities. Rascoe is an alumnae of Howard University, an HBCU in Washington, D.C.
Known for her southern roots and signature wit, Rascoe has been a mainstay on NPR's programs since joining the outlet in 2018.
Prior to her role as host, Rascoe was a White House Correspondent. She covered three presidential administrations, gaining a reputation for her sharp questioning in the White House briefing room. Rascoe's reporting included a number of high-profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she was also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast.
She's also guest hosted NPR's It's Been a Minute podcast and radio show and been a frequent guest on Pop Culture Happy Hour.
Before joining NPR, Rascoe spent the first decade of her career at Reuters, rising from a news assistant to an energy reporter to eventually covering the White House. While at Reuters, Rascoe covered some of the biggest energy and environmental stories of the past decade, including the 2010 BP oil spill and the U.S. response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011. She also spent a year covering energy legal issues and court cases.
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If you're looking for an (adorable!) break from the news, we have a furry suggestion: The Smithsonian's cheetah cam, showing five cheetah cubs bonding with their mother.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Danielle Ponder about her new album, "Everything Has Changed."
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Heather Gay, author and "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" cast member, about her new body horror novel, "Eternal Glow."
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We look at the Justice Department's investigation into whether five major television networks violated federal antitrust laws when they suspended pool coverage of President Trump.
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President Trump announced a deal to import Russian fuel to the U.S. We look at what this means for the sanctions he recently signed off on against Russia, as well as the U.S.'s support for Ukraine.
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The Civil Rights Division, long the crown jewel of the Justice Department, has been radically reshaped under President Trump, using its enforcement powers to pursue the president's MAGA agenda.
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In the British comedy, "Small Prophets," a bereaved man turns to magic to discover what happened to his missing partner. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to the writer and director, Mackenzie Crook.
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Listeners of NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday may already know that host Ayesha Rascoe loves horror. But why do scream queens (and kings) like her like what's frightening? The answer may surprise you.
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Recently, there's been a rise in online hate against people of South Asian descent. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Raqib Naik, executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate.
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The U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term October 5th, with cases involving climate change, guns, and religious rights.