Weekend Edition - Saturday

Saturdays 8am to 10am

From civil wars in Bosnia and El Salvador, to hospital rooms, police stations, and America's backyards, National Public Radio's Peabody Award-winning correspondent Scott Simon brings a well-traveled perspective to his role as host of Weekend Edition Saturday.

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NPR Story
11:49 am
Sat June 15, 2013

Moderate Wins Iran's Presidential Election

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. The Iranian interior minister has announced on state TV that Hasan Rowhani has won that country's presidential election. Mr. Rowhani reportedly won 53 percent of the vote. He's considered a moderate on Iran's political spectrum. Karim Sadjadpour is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and joins us. Thanks very much for being with us.

KARIM SADJADPOUR: Thank you.

SIMON: How do you read this election result?

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Law
6:01 am
Sat June 15, 2013

Will The Court's Gene Ruling Stifle Bio Innovatioon?

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday that patenting natural human genetic material must stop. But the court also ruled that synthetically produced DNA is fair. The decision was prompted by patents on a gene test for breast cancer which was issued to Myriad Genetics of Salt Lake City. We're joined now in our studio by Arthur Caplan, who's head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU's Langone Medical Center. Thanks very much for being with us.

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NPR Story
6:00 am
Sat June 15, 2013

"Music Man" Finds A Home For His Vinyl

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Last year, we brought you the story of Music Man Murray. Murray Gershenz was looking for a buyer for the enormous record collection that was shelved in his store in Los Angeles. Now, notice I said record. Most of his music was indeed on old vinyl. Murray was turning 90 and his overstuffed store was becoming more than he could handle.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "MUSIC MAN MURRAY")

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NPR Story
6:00 am
Sat June 15, 2013

Hoops, Hockey Championships Still Undecided

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. And I wait all week to say: time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Finals time - on ice and the hardwood. The Heat and the Spurs are tied at two games each in the NBA Finals. And tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Boston Bruins in game two of hockey's Stanley Cup. Howard Bryant of ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine joins us from the studios of New England Public Radio in Amherst. Howard, thanks for being with us.

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NPR Story
6:00 am
Sat June 15, 2013

How U.S. Arms Will Reach Syrian Rebels

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

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NPR Story
6:00 am
Sat June 15, 2013

Istanbul Reservoir Cools Pakistanis

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Most people look forward to summer, but perhaps not in Pakistan. NPR's Philip Reeves has been out and about in its capitol city and sent us this letter from Islamabad.

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NPR Story
6:00 am
Sat June 15, 2013

Rain, Cooler Weather Slow Colorado Fire

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. In Colorado, cooler weather and some rain has helped crews begin to get a handle on the Black Forest fire that's burning just north of Colorado Springs. Yesterday, several thousand people were allowed back into their homes, but an estimated 30,000 people remain evacuated from the area.

The blaze has claimed two lives and it has destroyed at least 470 homes. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports from Colorado Springs.

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NPR Story
6:00 am
Sat June 15, 2013

Turkish Protesters Refuse To Leave Gezi Park

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Protesters who were camped out in Istanbul's Gezi Park say they won't pack up and go home despite a government offer to avoid bulldozing the park without court approval and a public referendum. Protest organizers say that other demands such as releasing detained protesters have not been met.

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NPR Story
6:00 am
Sat June 15, 2013

What Whitey Bulger Means To Boston

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Whitey Bulger is finally on trial after 16 years on the run. The Boston mobster who was once on the FBI's Most Wanted List is accused of murdering 19 people as well as extortion and racketeering. Prosecution alleges he worked as an FBI informant in exchange for protection. Dick Lehr is the co-author with Gerard O'Neil of "Whitey: The Life of America's Most Notorious Mobster." He joins us from member station WBUR in Boston.

Dick, thanks for being with us.

DICK LEHR: Good to be with you, Scott.

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NPR Story
6:00 am
Sat June 15, 2013

Are The Protests In Turkey Really About A Park?

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

We have to remind ourselves now, the nationwide protests in Turkey began with a small group of people who were protesting the government's plans to pave over a small park in Istanbul. Elif Shafak, an award-winning writer who divides her time between Istanbul and London. We spoke with her yesterday and asked her how what began as a kind of modest stand to protect a city park broadened into nationwide protests.

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NPR Story
6:00 am
Sat June 15, 2013

Flocking To The Fudge Capital

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Tomorrow isn't just Father's Day. It's also National Fudge Day if that didn't come up on your calendar. By most accounts, the first batch of fudge was cooked up in Baltimore in the 1880s, but Mackinac Island in northern Michigan is considered the modern day fudge capital of America.

Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta reports.

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Simon Says
5:22 am
Sat June 15, 2013

Did ATMs Represent The Dawn of the Digital Era?

Credit Timothy A. Clary / AFP/Getty Images
Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon says he now realizes ATM machines represented the dawn of the digital age.

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Sometimes history stares you in the face, and you look in the wrong direction.

As a young reporter in the late 1970s, I did stories about some of the first automatic teller machines as they came into use. Most of my stories bore in on the concerns that seemed most urgent back then: Will people trust getting money from a machine, not a person? What if you ask the machine for $50 and it spits out $20?

Today, those worries sound as antique as wondering if the Iron Horse would put a lot of blacksmiths out of business — which I guess the automobile did.

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The Record
3:28 am
Sat June 15, 2013

Songwriters' Group Calls Pandora's Radio Station Buy A Stunt

Credit Jim Herrington / Courtesy of the artist
Blake Morgan's songs were played some 28,000 times over a 90-day period on Pandora, earning $1.62 in royalties.

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

This week, the Internet radio broadcaster Pandora made what seems like a backward move — technologically speaking. Pandora purchased a local radio station in Rapid City, S.D. The company says it's aiming to get the more favorable royalty rates given to terrestrial broadcasters, but the move has songwriters and composers up in arms.

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Around the Nation
3:27 am
Sat June 15, 2013

'I'm Not The Only One': Transgender Youth Battle The Odds

Credit Gloria Hillard for NPR
Once homeless herself, Kimberly McKenzie now works for Lamp Community, a nonprofit that helps the homeless.

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Despite a number of victories for gay rights and national polls reflecting a growing acceptance of gay men and women, there is a population within the LGBT community that often feels left out of the national debate.

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National Security
3:25 am
Sat June 15, 2013

High-Tech Surveillance Targets Evolving Terrorist Tactics

Credit NSA / Reuters /Landov
The National Security Agency's headquarters in Fort Meade, Md.

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 2:40 pm

Since public revelations that the National Security Agency is collecting telephone records and reviewing Internet communications in the U.S. and abroad, officials have been making the case that the programs are vital. They argue that the tactics match the new ways terrorists are planning and communicating.

There was a time when America's enemies conspired face-to-face, or communicated through couriers, or by leaving messages for each other somewhere. But in the digital age, that has changed.

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