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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Recently, there's been a rise in online hate against people of South Asian descent. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Raqib Naik, executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate.
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The U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term October 5th, with cases involving climate change, guns, and religious rights.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Sam Green about his new documentary, "The Oldest Person in the World."
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Brazil heads to election day with left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro locked in a razor-thin race, setting the stage for a closely watched vote.
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Lee Clarke doesn't want to fight in Vietnam. So he's headed to Canada, saying goodbye to his family along the way. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with Patrick deWitt about his new novel, "Dodge City."
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Fox News is being sued by families of two journalists killed in Ukraine four years ago. They say the network failed to keep their loved ones safe.
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A group of dads in the Houston suburbs discovered they could use drone deliveries to send each other potatoes. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with one of them, Nathan Edwards, an editor for The Verge.
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Voters are already voting in the midterms. This year, some voters are trying something new to get ready for the election: asking AI to help research their ballot and even decide who to vote for.
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As polls come out with increasing frequency closer to the midterm election, how much credence should voters give them? Meanwhile, President Trump continues campaigning for GOP candidates.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to rapper Quavo about his nephew Takeoff's death four years ago, the future of his group Migos and his new album, "QRÖMELIFE."