Ayesha Rascoe
Ayesha Rascoe is the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and the Saturday episodes of Up First. As host of the morning news magazine, she interviews news makers, entertainers, politicians and more about the stories that everyone is talking about or that everyone should be talking about.
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.
She graduated from Howard University in 2007 with a B.A. in journalism.
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A cult leader in Kenya was charged with murder after the discovery last year of more than 400 bodies in a remote forest. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to journalist Carey Baraka about the case.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with Representative Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, about recent developments in former President Trump's legal battles.
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We add context to answers given by Representative Nancy Mace's interview on the Trump trials.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with cyber security specialist Ram Dantu about disruptions earlier this month to 9-1-1 systems in Nevada, South Dakota, and Nebraska.
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Political roasts at last night's White House Correspondent's dinner, plus how the election-year landscape is shaping up for control of each chamber of Congress.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to cyber security expert Timothy Edgar about the legalities of banning TikTok.
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UNRWA lost international funding after Israel said a significant number of its employees were part of Hamas. An independent review now says Israel hasn't provided evidence to support this accusation.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks New York Magazine writer Tirhakah Love about the ongoing feud between Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and other rappers.
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The Chattanooga sister trio Call Me Spinster talks about how new identities as parents and partners shape their music, particularly their song "Feet Are Dirty."
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Speaker Mike Johnson pushes military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan through the House, plus a measure on TikTok.