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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Kids in the kitchen: chaos or bliss? NPR's Ayesha Rascoe and her children join Mark Bittman to try out some kid-friendly recipes from his new book "How To Cook Everything Kids." -
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with Victor Cha of Georgetown University about the role of North Korean troops in assisting Russia with its war against Ukraine.
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With North Carolina now a toss-up this presidential election, both parties are making appeals to Black men. An older farmer and a younger restaurant owner share what's driving their votes. -
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Prof. Dev Niyogi from the University of Texas about his research showing urban topography and pollution exacerbate rainfall.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Mushfiq Mobarak, a Professor of Economics at Yale University, about how regional powers will view the overthrow of Bangladesh’s authoritarian leader last week.
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Director and writer Mikko Mäkelä says he wasn't interested in creating yet another sex worker drama focused on trauma. Instead, Sebastian is a knowing but conflicted young man learning about himself. -
Extreme temperatures have caused problems for the beverage service on some Southwest Airlines flights, with hot cans exploding when opened.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Stefano Schiavon, a professor at University of California, Berkeley, on the benefits of using fans in conjunction with air conditioners.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Arizona rancher Mike Gannuscio about why the number of the nation's beef cow herd are at their lowest in 63 years.
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As warmer temperatures continue to plague Florida, the state has become more Republican — and less willing to take steps to curb the carbon dioxide emissions that accelerate climate change.
