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Jackie Robinson, the first African-American baseball player in the major leagues, is the subject of an upcoming biopic. Chadwick Boseman plays the groundbreaking athlete in 42; he joins NPR's Scott Simon to talk about what it felt like to take on a cultural hero.

Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon talks with University of California-Santa Cruz graduate student Peter Cook, who trained a sea lion to bob her head in time with music. This challenges a leading theory on rhythmic entrainment that only animals with the capabilities of vocal mimicry could keep a beat.

Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon speaks with NPR's Tom Goldman about the scandal at Rutgers University, and the NCAA basketball finals for both men and women this weekend.

Former SNL cast member Julia Sweeney has written a new memoir of her life as a Midwestern mother. She speaks to NPR's Scott Simon about her decision to adopt from China, how her daughter got to be named Mulan (yes, after the Disney character), and gaining a new appreciation for her own mother.

These days, a hit show can run not just for years but for decades. So how do you keep it fresh for new audiences? Reporter Jeff Lunden talks to people who work on three of Broadway's biggest hits to find out.

The remnants of a typhoon have forced over a thousand people to evacuate from rural villages in Western Alaska. Many of those leaving are Alaska Native people with generations-long connections to the land.

Roger Ebert wrote simply, abundantly, gorgeously — and on deadline for 46 years at the Chicago Sun-Times. Over the years, his work reminded us that empathy is the grace note of a good life, not just great art.

Over the weekend there were violent clashes between federal agents, witnesses and protesters. Locals say the festivities were muted this year, and fear more violence is in store for the city.

Despite the disappointing jobs numbers released Friday, there are some bright spots in the economy. The recession forced some workers to reconsider their careers and, in some cases, find new ones. Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon talks with two people who have rebounded into completely new fields: Donna Latta of Shelton, Conn., and Chris Cluck of Springfield, Mo.

April is famously the cruelest month — according to the poem — but it's also the month we celebrate poetry. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith says we all need poetry, and even those of us who don't write poems can still learn how to see and hear the world through poetry.