2000 Weekend Edition Saturday Features

12.27.00: White House (Music Cues)
Scott Simon comments on those "W" keys that went missing from White House computers during the transition.

12.23.00: Wilbert Rideau
Scott Simon comments on the case of Wilbert Rideau, whose 1961 murder conviction was overturned. If the state of Louisiana wants to keeep him behind bars despite his personal reform, they have to retry him or set him free after 39 years.

12.16.00: Frank Sinatra and the 2000 Presidential Election (Music Cues)
Scott Simon uses the case of the 2000 election debacle to prove there may be a Sinatra tune for just about any occasion.

12.09.00: Clinton's Last Days (Music Cues)
Scott Simon reflects on a Rolling Stone feature about President Clinton's final days in office.

12.02.00: When I Grow Up... (Music Cues)
One measure of America's democratic majesty used to be the boast that in America any young boy or young woman can grow up to be president. Scott Simon wonders how many actually want to these days.

11.25.00: Chads (Music Cues)
Scott Simon ponders how dangling bits of punched-out paper came to be called chads.

11.18.00: Voter Fraud
Scott Simon says that in Chicago, various forms of vote fraud have historically been considered a kind of civic art, like jazz.

11.11.00: Government (Music Cues)
Susan Stamberg's solution for avoiding future election messes: let's go back to a monarchy.

05.22.00: Home and Away : Memoir of a Fan
Preview the first chapter of a book by Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon.

05.22.00: Claire Ellis and Scott Simon discuss Home and Away
They talk about everything from the Chicago Bulls to Scott's ballet ambitions.

04.29.00: The Millenial March for Gay & Lesbian Rights (Music Cues)
In light of their march on Washington, D.C., Scott Simon comments on the current political climate for gays and lesbians.

04.08.00: The Battle Over Elian (Music Cues)
Scott Simon believes that the care that people in Miami have shown for the child--or the interest of the U.S. government--doesn't have to disappear.

04.01.00: The Supreme Court and Strippers (Music Cues)
Scott Simon points out that famed choreographer Bob Fosse honed his craft by observing strippers. His persisting popularity might remind us that vulgarity, too, has the power to inspire as well as apall.

03.04.00: Rosetta Pedro Was Born This Week, Out of a Biblical Swirl of Flood Water (Music Cues)
Scott Simon relates the story of Sgt. Stuart Buck, a South African soldier who rescued a brand-new mother from the floods in Mozambique.

02.26.00: Amadou Diallo (Music Cues)
The Amadou Diallo case was a reminder that the criminal justice system is fallible. Its rate of error may make an irreversible penalty like capital punishment unacceptable.

02.19.00: Who Wants to Elect a Millionaire? (Music Cues)
Scott Simon says it's not in the nation's best interest to televise so many electoral debates.

02.12.00: Political Birth Rights (Music Cues)
Every four years, prominent American politicians who are spending a fortune to try to live in the White House often try to sound as if they would really be happiest in a log cabin. That sentiment rings false to Scott Simon.

02.05.00: Adlai Stevenson
During elections, Scott Simon says he often finds himself missing Adlai Stevenson.

01.29.00: Children at War (Music Cues)
A new documentary reminds Scott Simon of a sad and despicible fact: dictators and terrorists have discovered that children make good soldiers.

01.22.00: Abe Pollin (Music Cues)
Scott Simon pays tribute to Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin, who recently brought in Michael Jordan as a partner.

01.22.00: Glory: Photographs of Athletes
We profile Richard Corman's book, Glory: Photographs of Athletes, which features not only well known athletes like Michael Jordan, Cal Ripken and Muhammed Ali, but also ballet dancers, skateboarders, kids on bicycles and Special Olympians.

01.22.00: 100 Best Album Covers
Graphic designer Storm Thorgerson discusses the dying art of album cover design with host Scott Simon.

01.15.00: Government and the Media (Music Cues)
Scott Simon talks about the consequences of a government pact with Hollywood that rewards studios financially for incorporating anti-drug messages into show plotlines.

01.08.00: John Rocker (Music Cues)
Scott Simon says a ride on the Number Seven train in New York will expand his mind a lot more (and cost less) than spending time on a psychiatrist's couch.

01.01.00: The New Millennium
Creating an audio summary of the century seemed fun exercise at first: what history to cite, what music to use? But when you get down to producing such a story, you begin to doubt and second-guess your arbitrary judgement, and just hope that the audience finds something worthy.