From Manhattan's Ground Zero to the back streets of Sarajevo, Chicago, Baghdad and Kabul, Scott Simon brings a well-traveled perspective to his role as host of National Public Radio's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. Jeff Yorke of the Washington Post calls Simon's show, "the most literate, witty, moving, and just plain interesting news show on any dial." Brett Martin of Time Out New York echoes that praise, saying the show, "may be the most eclectic, intelligent two hours of broadcasting on the airwaves."

In 1987, Simon received the Presidential End Hunger Award for his coverage of the Ethiopian civil war and famine, and in 1990 he received a special citation from the Peabody Awards for his weekly essays, which were cited as "consistently thoughtful, graceful, and challenging."

Simon was one of the first co-anchors of Weekend Today on NBC television. His 1982 PBS special, The Paterson Project, won a national Emmy. Over the years Simon has hosted many PBS specials and series, including the award-winning Running Out of Time, The Fight for Democracy in the Middle East, Affluenza and a two-hour special from the Rio earth summit meeting.