The original Veronica Mars premiered on television 15 years ago, which, in TV terms, was a whole different era. David Milch's HBO series Deadwood, which just reunited its cast for a fabulous TV movie, premiered that year. So did two major hits for ABC, Lost and Desperate Housewives.

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" rode right into its 16th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 today, tying the record for longest consecutive time in the top spot.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are closing in on a budget deal to raise the debt ceiling past the 2020 elections and set $1.3 trillion for defense and domestic spending over the next two years.

Congressional sources briefed on the deal said the agreement would suspend the debt limit until July 31, 2021, and include parity in spending increases for defense and domestic programs. It would include about $75 billion in offsets for those spending increases.

A formal announcement was expected as early as Monday.

Since Lukas Nelson's last World Cafe visit with his group, Promise of the Real, he's been busy, to say the least. First, he's been continuing his work as Neil Young's band.

President Trump said Iran's claim that it has captured 17 people spying for the U.S. is "totally false," as tensions continue to ratchet up between the two nations after the U.S. said it downed an Iranian drone last week.

On Monday, a senior Iranian intelligence officer told reporters in Tehran that Iran has detained CIA-trained Iranian nationals who were attempting to gather information on the country's military and nuclear capabilities.

Jesús Parra spent four years as a police officer in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. He patrolled the streets, provided security at events and even guarded political prisoners. Now, he parks cars at a funeral home for spare change in the Colombian city of Cúcuta.

This is not what Parra, 27, had in mind when he deserted the police force and sneaked across the Colombian border in March.