Weekend America

A History of Super Tuesdays

More than two dozen states will hold primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5. This weekend the campaigning is intense, as the surviving candidates try to hit more states than ever before. Barbara Norrander, a political science teacher at the University of Arizona, tells Weekend America host Desiree Cooper about how Super Tuesday came to be, and why it may be a relic by the next election cycle.

Election 2008

Electro Pop Election

What does Super Tuesday sound like when it goes electro pop? Like this!

Bill's Values

Deciding to Have a Second

Fertility rates in the U.S. are at an all-time high. It might be good for the future of social security; not so much for the environment. Weekend America host Bill Radke weighs the arguments as he and his wife contemplate having another child.

The Kids are All Right

Listeners took issue with our panelists' take on the intentions of children. We take the opportunity to learn about the history of children's rights.

The People of the Ice

Anne Aghion is probably less cold than you. She's spent four months filming the Ice People of Antarctica. They're a strange tribe: scientists who spend months working in the freezing Arctic.

Black History: Barack Obama to Timbuktu

Of course we'll hear about Dr. King and Malcom X, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass during Black History Month, but of course, there's more. Dr. Lisbeth Gant-Britton, a UCLA professor, says specialty months are important to remind people that there are great people of all kinds and that diversity is the foundation upon which this country was built.

Election 2008

The Mountain Goats do Super Tuesday

What Super Tuesday Needs is a song!

A Candidate Blind Taste Test

Weekend America gets a lot of letters about coverage of the campaign, and one complaint keeps coming up about media coverage in general: too much focus on the personalities, not enough on the issues. So we decided to run a little experiment. We've taken the remaining candidates for president, given them pseudonyms, and summarized what they stand for. Can you guess who stands for what?

Election 2008

A Sleep Deprived Election Season

This year's presidential candidates are criss-crossing the country daily, often on only a few hours of sleep a night. What exactly happens to the brain after months of sleep deprivation? To answer that, Weekend America host Desiree Cooper speaks with Matt Walker, director of the Sleep and Neuro-imaging Lab at the University of Calif. at Berkeley.

Good News, Bad News, No News

More on the Election

This week it's Super Tuesday, the Super Bowl and other things super. We hear from political commentator and writer David Frum, comedy writer Dana Gould, and conceptual and performance artist damali ayo.

The MLK and LBJ Tapes

The working relationship between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and President Lyndon Johnson has come up in the campaigns of Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Weekend America host Desiree Cooper speaks with Nick Kotz, historian and author of "Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Laws That Changed America."

They Made It Through That Water

While Hurricane Katrina forced out many established brass bands, surviving bands now have more work than ever. Weekend America correspondent Joel Rose follows one band around as they make their rounds.

The Head of a Patriot

There's wearing a team's colors, and there's tattooing them all over your head. Reporter Shannon Mullen visits one Patriots fan in New Hampshire that's let his team's success go to his head.

The Dot-Com Super Bowl

In the 2000 Super Bowl, St. Louis defeated Tennessee by six points and 17 fledgling Internet companies forked over an average $2.2 million for 30 second ads. Companies like Epidemic.com, LifeMinders.com and Pets.com, most of them now defunct. Mike Ford and Mike Zapolin were one duo behind the crazy spree. Remember Computer.com?