Weekend Edition Saturday

Republicans stripped Planned Parenthood and several other healthcare providers of Medicaid funding for one year, but now clinics can resume billing Medicaid for non-abortion services.

Poets like Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes have written movingly about America.

We say goodbye to longtime NPR arts reporter Elizabeth Blair with this encore of her piece on one of the most American of songs: "This Land is Your Land."

Today's Independence Day celebrations may be tamped down by severe heat and, according to a NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, worry about the future.

Authorities in Beijing broke their silence about a small plane that crashed into the skyscraper headquarters of one of China's largest state-owned financial conglomerates.

The U.S. is turning 250 this weekend. To mark the anniversary, we discuss the films and TV series that best depict the American dream.

NPR's Scott Simon and sportswriter Michele Steele discuss the World Cup and speculate about LeBron James.

Emails from CDC officials released by Sen. Bernie Sanders reveal agency leaders dealing with political pressures during the Trump era and highlight challenges for the next director.

Severe heat is forcing Independence Day event organizers across the country to change and even cancel festivities.

Atlanta's Venezuelan community, one of the largest in the U.S., is gathering aid for earthquake victims.

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on the popularity of ranch dressing among international visitors to the U.S. during the World Cup games.

Anthropic pulled two new AI models offline after the Trump administration said they were too dangerous for foreigners to use. Rival OpenAI agreed to let the administration vet users of its newest model.

Texas students will be required to read Bible passages and learn about the role of Christianity in the state's history under new reading lists and social studies curriculum expected to be approved Friday.

Three days after twin earthquakes hit Venezuela, rescue teams race against time amid mounting casualties, strained relief efforts, and mounting criticism of the governments response.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Karol Bassim, senior program manager at International Medical Corps about the situation on the ground in Venezuela after two devastating earthquakes there this week.

This week the Supreme Court gave the Trump administration a green light to expel hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants who've been living and working legally in the U.S.

NPR's Scott Simon and sportswriter Howard Bryant have a World Cup knockout stage preview and discuss Serena Williams' return to Wimbledon.

President Trump has an interest in a piece of voting legislation, called the SAVE America Act, that is not shared by all of his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill.

Prof. Ajay Narendra from Macquarie University in Australia tells NPR about his team's discovery of a particularly rare, and high-powered, hunting method of the informally named "ballista spider."

In China, the northeast Dongbei region looms large. Once a gritty, industrial hub, now this rust belt area is the source of music, literature, comedy and culture that have gained wide popularity.

President Trump's beautification project of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become plagued with a robust algae bloom, despite a $14 million investment and a coating of "American flag blue."

Loons, beloved American waterbirds, face threats from climate change and pollution. An oil spill settlement funds a new phone app helping non-scientists to aid research on these birds.

The ceasefire agreement between the U.S, and Iran extends to Lebanon, but the fighting there has yet to stop and Israel says it is not withdrawing.

SpaceX stock hit the market last week. Here's how it could turn up in your retirement or investment portfolio.

What's brown and sticky? A stick, of course. NPR's Scott Simon talks to Paul Silvia, a psychology professor at UNC Greensboro, about new research on what makes a good dad joke.