Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

There is still a week to go at the Olympics, but it's a good bet that after all the drama ends, Britons will look back on last night as the moment the Games turned in their favor - maybe not in the overall medal count but the host country got a huge psychological lift as Team Great Britain snagged three track and field gold medals on the Games' biggest stage. NPR's Tom Goldman reports.

It was a big day for sprinters in track and field Saturday. NPR's Mike Pesca joins guest host Linda Wertheimer with news from the 2012 London Olympics and the many ways to break a tie.

India's massive power outages last week shocked many people who thought that India was on course to become a new economic super power, like China, where such outages are unheard of. NPR's Julie McCarthy and Frank Langfitt join guest host Linda Wertheimer to discuss attitudes toward infrastructure in the two emerging economies.

NPR's Joe Palca will be at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California to monitor the Mars mission landing Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. PDT. Palca talks with guest host Linda Wertheimer about the Mars landing and purpose of the mission.

Two Swedish economists have studied the survival data from shipwrecks over the last three centuries and found that women are less likely to survive than men. Guest host Linda Wertheimer has more.

Weekend Edition Sunday is beginning a series of conversations with economists, asking them to explain their positions and what they think ought to be done to improve the economy. Guest host Linda Wertheimer talks to Greg Mankiw, former chairman of the Council of Economic advisers under President George W. Bush. He's also an informal adviser to the Romney campaign.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's family began vacationing on Campobello Island, in the Bay of Fundy, in the early 1880s. The Roosevelt Campobello International Park used to attract around 150,000 visitors a year, including tours of FDR's home. Maine Public Radio's Jay Field reports it's still trying to recover from economic hard times, while attracting new visitors.

Guest host Linda Wertheimer talks with Tabish Khair about The Thing About Thugs, his new novel about the myths of murderous Indian cult of "thugees."

Marilyn Monroe died 50 years ago Sunday at the age of 36. Host Linda Wertheimer speaks with film expert Murray Horwitz about Monroe's film legacy and her comedic skills.