Weekend Edition Saturday

Two U.S. planes went down in the war in Iran on Friday, even as President Trump said the conflict will end soon.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the latest developments in the war in Iran.

We look at the escalations in the war with Iran, including what we know about the downed U.S. F-15 jet, the latest targets struck in Iran, and its retaliatory attacks on countries in the region.

New data from the Labor Department shows stronger than expected jobs growth. NPR's Scott Simon asks Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, for her reaction.

Jonathan -- the world's oldest land animal -- lives! NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Joe Hollins, veterinarian of 194-year-old tortoise, and Nigel Phillips, governor of St. Helena, about a crypto hoax.

President Trump claimed victory in Iran during a prime-time address to the nation. Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi is out, and the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on birthright citizenship.

NPR's Scott Simon and sportswriter Howard Bryant discuss the Final Four.

Maria de Jesús Estrada Juárez returned to the U.S. this week after being wrongfully deported. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Estrada Juárez and her daughter, Damaris Bello, about their experience.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with singer, pianist and composer Bruce Hornsby about his new album "Indigo Park" and 40 years since the release of his biggest hit, "The Way It Is."

Scientists discover what makes basketball shoes squeak on the courts, and celebrate their discovery by making music.

The federal debt continues to grow, topping $39 trillion this month. Like a shopper who buys more than he earns every week, the nation's credit card bill is compounding. Just paying the interest now costs more than every other government program except Social Security.

Staff at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium have reared a special kind of fish known as a warty frogfish for the first time in captivity. Their success may hold broader lessons for raising marine species.

The White House has depicted the war in Iran online with videos that weave real life images of missile strikes and destruction with clips from video games, sports clips, and action movies.

NPR's Scott Simon talks with House Armed Service Committee ranking member Adam Smith, D-Wash., about the war on Iran, now a month old, and DHS funding.

When Maddie Christine Brokop learned she was dying, she invited her friends to help weave the tray she will be buried in.

As the war with Iran enters its second month, the U.S. has determined with certainty that about one third of Iran's missile arsenal has been destroyed.

NPR's Scott Simon and sports reporter Michele Steele talk men and women's March madness.

Protests against the Trump administration are planned to take place around the country today. Organizers say there may be more than 3,000 rallies across 50 states.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Sina Toossi, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy, about the power structure in Iran, and how things have changed within it since the start of the war.

The UK Parliament still has 92 unelected lawmakers who inherit seats by bloodline. They're all elderly white men. A new law now phases them out, for the 1st time in nearly 1,000 years.

Residents in and around Washington braced themselves for damaging storms earlier this week, but turns out it was a forecast flop. One local meteorologist apologized.

The Pentagon is sending two Marine units to the Middle East despite President Trump's denials that he will call for ground troops to fight in Iran.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Ariane Tabatabai, the Public Service Fellow at Lawfare, about the nature of Iran's nuclear program, and whether it, as President Trump has said, posed an "imminent threat."

After RFK Jr. began overhauling the CDC, Colorado has taken vaccine policy into its own hands. It's going to follow the scientific recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

President Trumps looks to allies for help with the war in Iran, then says the U.S. doesn't need it. The Pentagon requests 200 billion dollars in additional funding. The Senate debates the SAVE Act.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to World Refugee & Migration Council Chair Ninette Kelley about the condition of people displaced by war in Iran and the impact on countries in the region.

Scott Simon and former director Deborah Rutter look out over a soon-to-be shuttered Kennedy Center.

Heavy airstrikes overnight in Tehran as President Trump says he's considering winding down military operations.

Dozens of people were killed in an Israeli raid in south Lebanon looking for an Israeli airman captured 40 years ago

In South Carolina, some parents embrace vaccines, others opt out. Why do people make such different choices? A mix of politics, distrust and misinformation is pushing neighbors apart.

Researchers looking at foodcrusts on the pottery shards of ancient humans say there's evidence of a wide variety of ingredients, indicating that they may have been experimenting with "recipes."

Investigators in the U.S. search for motives in three recent instances of targeted attacks, and whether they are related to the war in Iran.

NPR's Scott Simon and sportswriter Michele Steele discuss Iran's World Cup participation and college basketball as it heads into March Madness.

A group of New Jersey friends love to dance so much that when they got sick of the club scene they started a monthly dance party called, "All My Friends."

Lawmakers want an explanation for the Feb. 28 missile attack on a Tehran girls' school. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded.

The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran two weeks ago. Most recently, six U.S. personnel died in a plane crash in Iraq, Iran vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, and more Marines are headed to the region.

NPR's Scott Simon asks former Israeli deputy national security adviser Chuck Freilich, now at Columbia University, about Israeli domestic politics and their effect on the Iran war.

New Yorker staff writer Dexter Filkins tells NPR's Scott Simon about Marco Rubio's role as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor to a president shaking the world order.

Escalation of the Iran conflict is sending shockwaves through global markets — driving up oil, fuel, and commodity prices, stoking inflation and recession risks worldwide. We hear from three NPR reporters in Europe, Asia and Russia.

Sydney Peterson is among the U.S. athletes heading to the 2026 Winter Paralympics. A neuroscientist in training, Peterson is studying movement disorders, similar to her own condition.

Tired of listening to other people's music, shows, and phone conversations in flight, the people at United Airlines have written a rule that lets them kick you off the plane if you don't put on headphones.

A regional coalition of Latin American countries will make up "The Shield of Americas," which becomes official this weekend in Miami. What does the Trump Administration want from this new initiative?

Many tribes are encouraged by Trump's choice of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a member of the Cherokee nation, as the new DHS Secretary. ICE agents have been accused of racially profiling Native Americans.

Europeans are divided over how to respond to the US/Israel war with Iran. German leaders have been measured, while Spain's prime minister has been critical of the Trump Administration and of Israel.

In the week since the U.S. began bombing Iran, more countries in the Middle East are launching strikes.

Iranians are streaming across the border with Turkey, fleeing constant bombardment. But some are also going the other way -- returning to Iran out of worry for loved ones they can't otherwise reach.

Messaging from the Trump Administration over the war on Iran has been mixed and confused. There are tensions in the MAGA base over the war. Plus, a new Secretary of Homeland Security is in the works.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Michael Wahid Hanna of the International Crisis Group about how the spillover of the war between Iran, Israel, and the U.S. into other countries might change regional dynamics.

Iran has retaliated to U.S. and Israel strikes. Several countries that host American military bases in the region including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain say they have been attacked.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the International Crisis Group, about U.S. and Israel strikes on Iran.