Ayesha Rascoe Ayesha Rascoe is the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and the Saturday episodes of Up First.
Ayesha Rascoe, photographed for NPR, 2 May 2022, in Washington DC. Photo by Mike Morgan for NPR.
Stories By

Ayesha Rascoe

Mike Morgan/NPR
Ayesha Rascoe, photographed for NPR, 2 May 2022, in Washington DC. Photo by Mike Morgan for NPR.
Mike Morgan/NPR

Ayesha Rascoe

Host, Weekend Edition Sunday and Up First

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.

Story Archive

Sunday

What Iran hoped to achieve with its retaliatory strikes on Israel

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How Israel is likely to respond to overnight strikes by Iran

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Maggie Rogers on her new album, songwriting, and religious studies

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David and Nathan Zellner on their absurdist film 'Sasquatch Sunset'

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She went viral playing an Oompa Loompa. Now, she's bringing Wonka to L.A.

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U.S. says it helped Israel take down incoming drones launched by Iran

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Politics chat: Biden vows to continue support for Israel, aid package in the works

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Iran launches retaliatory strikes against Israel

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NSC spokesman John Kirby on the Biden administration and Israel's response to Iran

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Hilde Ostby's memoir 'My Belly' traces the root of body image issues and self-loathing

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How nations in the Middle East are responding to Iran's strike on Israel

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Fewer doctors are going into pediatrics. That's leaving a huge gap in hospitals

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Sunday

There are people still aboard the ship that crashed into the Baltimore Bridge

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Here's what NASA's looking for in the next generation of astronauts

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A new documentary follows hundreds of high school girls forming a mock government

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Matt Lowell of Lo Moon on the group's new album and going back to high school

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The Apple Pay app on an iPhone in New York. Consumers tend to spend about 10% more when they adopt mobile contactless payment methods, a researcher says. Jenny Kane/AP hide caption

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Using your phone to pay is convenient, but it can also mean you spend more

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A group of volunteers will shepherd Lake Michigan fish's journey upstream

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6 months of war: Israelis say Netanyahu isn't doing enough to bring home the hostages

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White House economist on the latest jobs report and where we stand with inflation

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Threats and vulnerabilities cast a shadow on NATO's 75th anniversary

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6 months of war: Palestinians say the U.S. government lacks empathy for their plight

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