Weekend Edition

Scott Simon/ Audie Cornish

The program wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories.

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Art & Design

4:31 am

Sat February 23, 2013

'Nordic Cool' Illuminates D.C.'s Kennedy Center

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Credit Yassine El Mansouri / Courtesy: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Nordic Cool Facade.

Credit Yassine El Mansouri / Courtesy John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The Hall of Nations is transformed by a plywood installation called Sup-Plywood, or How to Be Singular in the Plural. Plywood is one of the most used materials in Nordic design. The installation was created by the Norwegian architecture firm Snohetta.

Credit Yassine El Mansouri / Courtesy John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Northern Lights illuminate the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., during its monthlong festival, Nordic Cool 2013. The festival includes performances and exhibits from more than 750 artists. The exhibit runs through March 17.

Credit Yassine El Mansouri / Courtesy John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Among the countries represented in the exhibits and shows at the Kennedy Center are Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Greenland. The festival attempts to answer the question, "What is Nordic?"

Credit Yassine El Mansouri / Courtesy John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The Five Nordic Houses exhibit displays homes commissioned by Denmark's Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Five architects were commissioned to build small homes that suit the style and needs of their home country, including this house by the Finnish firm Lassila Hirvilammi.

Credit Yassine El Mansouri / Courtesy John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Another home in the Five Nordic Houses exhibit was created by the Norwegian architecture firm Jarmund/Vigsnaes.

Credit Yassine El Mansouri / Courtesy John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The Nordic design exhibit includes a lava rock, which Jukka Savolainen, director of the Design Museum in Helsinki, says reminds him of a gnome. The collection showcases the region's design roots, which include references to Bauhaus and 20th century modernism.

By Amy Walters

Originally published on Mon February 25, 2013 12:18 am

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What is Nordic cool?

Right now, it's a massive festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with artists and designers displaying art and culture from their very top sliver of the globe.

The festival arrives at what seems like just the right moment for Americans.

From the Danish modern furniture of the 1950s to the omnipresence of Ikea, Americans have long been attracted to the austere design of Nordic countries.

Africa

4:12 am

Sat February 23, 2013

Fighting Stream Of Terrorist Capital, Kenya Cracks Down on Somali Businesses

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Credit Spencer Platt / Getty Images

People walk down a market street in Eastleigh, a predominantly Muslim Somali neighborhood in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2009. The neighborhood has come under scrutiny as the U.S. cracks down on terrorism financing.

Credit Spencer Platt / Getty Images

A woman shops in an Eastleigh market in 2009.

By Gregory Warner

Originally published on Sat February 23, 2013 9:26 pm

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U.S. counterterrorism efforts include choking off the flow of cash to extremists, and urging friendly countries to help. But in Nairobi, Kenya, suspicion of Somali money — and an increase in terrorist attacks — has prompted a country-wide crackdown, with Kenyan police accused of extortion and arbitrary arrests of thousands of Somali refugees.

But how do you tell the difference between tainted money and honest cash?

Take Eastleigh, a neighborhood in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The Salt

4:10 am

Sat February 23, 2013

A Dramatic Way To Uncork The Bubbly: Use A Sword

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Credit About.com

Brice from the Bubble Lounge in New York City demonstrates how to saber a bottle of champagne.

Credit iStockphoto.com

A Champagne expert says you can also cut the top off a bottle with the back of a chef's knife, or any sturdy instrument.

Originally published on Sat February 23, 2013 8:07 pm

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Around the Nation

6:05 am

Sat February 16, 2013

Jesse Jackson Jr. Charged With Illegally Spending Campaign Funds

By Carrie Johnson

Originally published on Sat February 16, 2013 9:05 am

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Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Now to another remarkable fall from grace. Just three months after he resigned from Congress, Jesse Jackson, Jr. is preparing to plead guilty to a criminal conspiracy charge. Prosecutors say the Illinois Democrat used $750,000 in campaign funds to buy a Rolex watch, mink coats, sports memorabilia. His wife Sandy will plead guilty to a tax change for failing to report that money to the IRS.

NPR's Carrie Johnson has the story.

Politics

5:41 am

Sat February 16, 2013

New Gun Laws Still A Touchy Subject In Congress

Originally published on Sat February 16, 2013 9:05 am

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Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

President Obama's also trying to get the government more involved in trying to stop gun violence, but his supporters in Congress face an uphill battle in getting new gun control measures passed. Senator Richard Durbin's Senate judiciary subcommittee held hearings this week. The senator from Illinois, who is also majority whip, joins us now. Thanks for being with us.

SENATOR RICHARD DURBIN: It's good to be with you, Scott.

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