MPR announces weekend program changes

MPR News has announced changes to its weekend radio schedule that will begin Saturday, Jan. 19. Listeners will hear fewer repeats and several new programs. A few old favorites will have new start times.

"This is a fun mix -- fresh, original and innovative public radio," said Chris Worthington, managing director for MPR News. "The new programs, paired with audience favorites like A Prairie Home Companion and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, will provide great weekend entertainment programming."

• Above: Watch a video chat by MPR's Tom Crann with the hosts of the new weekend programs.

• See the complete schedule of MPR News programming here.

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The Saturday schedule changes include moving RadioLab an hour earlier to 2 p.m. and adding The Dinner Party at 3 p.m. Weekend All Things Considered and A Prairie Home Companion follow.

Saturdays at 7 p.m., listeners can tune in for a new quiz show, Ask Me Another, which will be followed at 8 p.m. by MPR's hit variety show Wits. Studio 360, which covers arts and pop culture happenings, airs at 9 p.m., followed at 10 p.m. by The Strand from the BBC World Service.

On Sunday morning, Lynne Rosetto Kasper and The Splendid Table move to a new time, 10 a.m.

There's also a fresh lineup on Sunday night. At 6 p.m., the best of TED Talks come to the air with the TED Radio Hour, followed by On Being with Krista Tippett at 7 p.m.

Sunday night will feature storytelling with audience favorite This American Life at 8 p.m., followed by two new acclaimed shows, Snap Judgment at 9 p.m. and The Moth at 10 p.m.

Saturday programming between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. is unchanged.

ABOUT THE NEW SHOWS

The Dinner Party, airs Saturdays at 3 p.m.
The Dinner Party is an hour-long celebration of culture, food, and conversation designed to help you dazzle your friends at this weekend's get-together. In every episode you'll learn a joke, meet an artist of note (say, Spike Lee or Willie Nelson), and learn the answers to your burning etiquette questions.

Ask Me Another, airs Saturdays at 7 p.m.
Ask Me Another is a lively hour of puzzles, word games, and trivia played in front of (and with) a live audience. It's like Weekend Edition Sunday's Puzzle Segment meets Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me.

Wits, airs Saturdays at 8 p.m.
Wits brings world-class comedians, actors and musicians to the stage of St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater. Hosted by public radio veteran John Moe, Wits mixes improv, sketch comedy, conversation and music in a program praised as "one of the rare public radio comedy shows that's actually funny" (Huffington Post).

Studio 360, airs Saturdays at 9 p.m.
The Peabody Award-winning Studio 360 is public radio's smart and surprising guide to what's happening in pop culture and the arts. Each week, host Kurt Andersen introduces you to the people who are creating and shaping our culture.

The Strand, airs Saturdays at 10 p.m.
The Strand highlights the best of the arts from a British point of view. Wide-ranging and with eclectic interests, it features discussions, reviews, big-name interviews and reports, as well as live studio performances and Hollywood gossip.

The TED Radio Hour, airs Sundays at 6 p.m.
The TED Radio Hour offers a step back from the frenetic pace of news. And for the most part, it's hopeful. Discussions cover astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, new ways to teach and learn.

Snap Judgment, airs Sundays at 9 p.m.
Snap Judgment tells intriguing stories about extraordinary and defining events in people's lives. The program's raw, intimate, and musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see a sliver of the world through another's eye.

MPR News wants to hear what you think of our new weekend lineup. Email us at mail@mpr.org or join the conversation on the Minnesota Public Radio Facebook page.

Tune in: These programs can be heard weekends on all MPR News stations, including 91.1 FM in the Twin Cities and online.

• See the complete schedule of MPR News programming here.