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 talks to sports columnist Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal about the explosion of sports gambling and all the scandals that come with that growth.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group about Iran's objectives in launching what Tehran said was a retaliatory drone and missile strike against Israel.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with the Brookings Institution's Natan Sachs about how Israel's possible responses to the overnight attack by hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers about friendships, divinity studies, and the music from her new album, "Don't Forget Me."
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with David and Nathan Zellner about their new, absurd film "Sasquatch Sunset," which is about a family of sasquatches.
-
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby about Iran's strikes on Israel and what the Biden administration thinks the response should be.
-
With support from U.S. forces, Israel's defense systems took down hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles that were launched in what President Biden called "an unprecedented attack."
-
Amid an attack by Iran, President Biden vows continued support for Israel and House leaders say they'll take up an aid package this week.
-
The Biden administration said U.S. forces helped take down incoming drones and missiles after Iran launched its attack on Israel.
-
The Willy Wonka experience in Scotland went viral for all the wrong reasons. It's having an unlikely comeback in LA. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks about it with Kirsty Paterson, who plays an Oompa Loompa.