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.
Stephen Fowler is a political reporter with NPR's Washington Desk and will be covering the 2024 election based in the South. Before joining NPR, he spent more than seven years at Georgia Public Broadcasting as its political reporter and host of the Battleground: Ballot Box podcast, which covered voting rights and legal fallout from the 2020 presidential election, the evolution of the Republican Party and other changes driving Georgia's growing prominence in American politics. His reporting has appeared everywhere from the Center for Public Integrity and the Columbia Journalism Review to the PBS NewsHour and ProPublica.
Seven families are suing Arkansas school districts over a law requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Americans United is among the groups backing the challenge.
With nearly all refugee resettlement to the U.S. halted, agencies across the country are still working to provide services for people starting over in the U.S.
Music Moves is hosting Freedom Fest, a free celebration of Juneteenth, in Springdale on Saturday. The festival features food, music and activities from mid-afternoon to night, now centered around the refurbished Luther George Park.