Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.
Ron Elving is Senior Editor and Correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News, where he is frequently heard as a news analyst and writes regularly for NPR.org.
U.S. presidents have promised short, decisive wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. All have proved much more difficult than advertised and fallen far short of the political goals set at the beginning.
Retired pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is known for safely landing an airplane on the Hudson River in 2009. This week, he announced that he has Alzheimer's disease.
As rainfall saturates Texas this week, Lorena Guillen reflects on the year it has been since she and her husband tried to save a family from their RV park in the massive Hill Country floods last year.