
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.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks veteran American peace negotiator Aaron David Miller for his thoughts on the new peace process unfolding between Israel and Hamas.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with writer and director Harris Dickinson and actor Frank Dillane about their new film "Urchin," which depicts the struggles of an unhoused Londoner.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Quan Barry about her latest book, "The Unveiling: A Novel." It tells the story of a mishap that leaves several passengers of a luxury Antarctic cruise stranded.
-
Musician Khalid tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about his new album, "after the sun goes down," and about being outed last year.
-
Two comets and a meteor shower may be visible to stargazers this month.
-
Federal workers, many already furloughed, may now face unemployment as the White House uses them as leverage in negotiations to end the federal government shutdown.
-
President Trump is due to fly to Israel and Egypt to mark the end of the Gaza war, as Hamas and Israel prepare to release hostages and prisoners.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Reverend Quincy Worthington, from Highland Park Presbyterian Church, about what he's seeing on the ground during ongoing ICE protests in Chicago.
-
Scientists discovered a 675-year-old shoe perfectly preserved in a vulture's nest in Spain. Researchers say a lot can be learned about human history and ecology from studying bearded vulture nests.
-
Last year's Supreme Court decision giving Donald Trump and future presidents broad immunity from prosecution may be fueling Trump's maximalist approach to executive power this year.