FEED - Weekend Edition Saturday

Bird lovers around the world are counting birds this weekend for the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, which provides valuable data for avian research.

(Image credit: Courtesy of August Davidson-Onsgard)

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with author Pitchaya Sudbanthad about his novel Bangkok Wakes to Rain. It's a collection of short stories that thread the history of Thailand with the modern world.

After the controversy over a blackface photo in Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook, universities are reviewing their yearbooks for material that could be considered racist or offensive.

Keith Hamilton of Toronto talks about what it's like to be a rent-a-goalie for amateur ice hockey teams.

Colin Kaepernick has reached a settlement with the NFL after alleging collusion to deprive him employment. Meanwhile, the league is keeping Kareem Hunt in its ranks.

Pope Francis has defrocked former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who has been accused of sex abuse.

Thirty years after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russian veterans of that disastrous war muse on their service and the U.S. as it contemplates its own pullout.

The national debt passed $22 trillion this week, the biggest number on record. NPR's Scott Simon asks Business Insider's Bob Bryan why and what the long-term consequences could be.

A mass shooting in Aurora, Ill., has left six people, including the gunman, dead.

The president declared a national emergency in order to supplement the border security funding provided by Congress this week. The question of an emergency will likely end up at the Supreme Court.

NPR's Scott Simon asks Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., about his stance on the president's national emergency declaration and funding for border security.

NPR's Scott Simon asks Rhode Island author Paul Caranci about a provision in his state's tax code that exempts certain works of art from sales tax.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to NASCAR driver Darrell "Bubba" Wallace. Wallace returns to Daytona International Speedway for his second Daytona 500 this weekend.

So far, the U.S. trade war with China hasn't affected consumers much. But without a deal soon, tariffs on thousands of products will more than double.

NPR's Scott Simon asks the Southern Poverty Law Center's Melissa Crow about challenging a policy requiring asylum-seekers at the Southern border to remain in Mexico while their cases are considered.

The president circumvented Congress by declaring a national emergency. James Wallner of the conservative R Street Institute tells NPR's Scott Simon that lawmakers failed to take action to stop Trump.

Listeners Beth Patin, Brett Chapman, Lily Lee and Corynne Jones share stories about racism at school — either recently or in the past.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Stu Zakim, former spokesman for the National Enquirer, about allegations that American Media Inc. tried to blackmail Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

A community-wide memorial service was held on Friday for the 85 people who died in November's Camp Fire. One man whose father died in the fire is trying to figure out where his family goes from here.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Howard Bryant of ESPN about the stark differences between Major League Baseball and the NBA when it comes to free agents.