If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the news and searched for a way to make sense of it all — through conversation and laughter — CapRadio’s newest show might be exactly what you’re looking for.
Effective Saturday, June 27, we’re thrilled to add one of NPR’s top podcasts and weekend shows, It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, to our program schedule. It’ll air each Saturday at 11 a.m.
“The world is complicated,” says Sanders, a former NPR political reporter and host of the chart-topping NPR Politics Podcast. “With everything going on right now, none of it feels real until you talk it out with your friends. It’s Been a Minute is another way of saying, ‘Let’s catch up!’”
Listen: Sam Sanders on CapRadio's Insight
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Each week, Sanders talks with journalists, newsmakers, and listeners about news, popular culture, and the Internet. He says he tries to make his show an irreverent, casual space for listeners who don't know how to process the pace of current events, but can't think about anything else.
“I want to welcome CapRadio’s listeners in the Sacramento region and beyond,” Sanders says. “Thank you so much for listening — we are honored to be on your airwaves!” You can hear more from Sanders in our Q and A with him here.
We’re adding the show now because we think it strikes a perfect tone at this moment of isolation, polarization and upheaval: conversations that help us cope with the week’s news, distract and entertain us, and uplift us.
And to give It’s Been a Minute every chance to catch on with our audience, we’re adding it at the prime time slot of 11 a.m. Saturdays following the highly popular NPR news quiz Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me.
The show currently running at that hour, Ask Me Another, has demonstrated its popularity with CapRadio listeners. You'll now be able to hear it Sunday at noon — where it will follow Wait Wait’s Sunday morning rebroadcast.
In turn, Live from Here and The Splendid Table will each start one hour later on Sunday afternoons, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively. On the Media will continue to be available as a podcast but will no longer be part of CapRadio’s broadcast schedule.
The schedule changes take effect Saturday, June 27 on CapRadio’s news stations in Sacramento, Stockton-Modesto, Tahoe-Reno and Quincy.
Four Questions with Sam Sanders:
Q: Why did you decide to make It's Been a Minute?
A: What I really see the show doing is taking the conversations I have with my friends and colleagues all the time, about current events, and everything -- taking those conversations and putting them on the radio. Smart conversations. Newsy conversations -- but loose, and conversational. Also, when I talk with my friends, we talk about everything. That new Lorde album AND the state of the nuclear Iran deal. That thing that's trending on Twitter, and your friend who just had a baby. The show purposefully includes our listeners sharing some of the joyful stuff going on in our lives. That's the goal of the show. Having those wide-ranging smart conversations that feel a bit like the ones you might have at the watercooler, or happy hour.
Q: What do you hope listeners take away from listening to the show?
A: We hope the show hits them like a good novel. We hope they hear truths and ideas about the week's events that resonate with them, but that they maybe hadn't articulated in their own head. But also -- ideas and voices that challenge them, that are new to them, that surprise them. And the pipeline for all that stuff is good, fun, human conversation. We also hope the show reminds people that it's ok to still have questions, and to still be figuring out just how to feel about everything going on in the world right now. And in some parts of the show, particularly some of those deep dives and our "Best Thing All Week" segment, we're really trying to remind people that we're all still human, that regardless of the crazy in the news cycle, we can still find some joy, and even humor in all of our weeks.
Q: Who's your dream interviewee or panelist, and why?
A: I'd really enjoy a conversation with former President Obama. And I've been itching to talk with Senator Lindsay Graham since I was on the campaign trail. Also Kate McKinnon from SNL. I think we could have a conversation that would be the perfect mix of politics, comedy and pop culture. (And J.Lo, because I'm fascinated in the amazing longevity of her career.)
Q: In the spirit of your segment “Best Thing All Week,” what's the best thing about making a show like this?
A: For sure our listeners. We couldn't do this without them. They helped us create the show in (the app) NPR One, and their voices are a big part of every episode each week.
FAQ about CapRadio’s schedule changes:
Q: I miss hearing Ask Me Another on Saturdays and Live from Here and The Splendid Table at their earlier Sunday times. Are there other ways I can find those shows?
A: If the new airtimes don’t work for you, you can listen on demand at these links:
Live from Here also continues to air on our CapRadio Music stations (including 88.9 KXPR in Sacramento and this web stream) each Saturday at 6 p.m. Check out CapRadio’s full weekly program schedule here.
Q: Didn’t I just read that Live from Here has been canceled?
A: Yes, we were sorry to hear last week that American Public Media had to make the difficult decision to end the longtime public radio hallmark that for most of its run was named A Prairie Home Companion. APM will continue to distribute repeat broadcasts of Live from Here until mid-September. CapRadio is exploring opportunities for replacements on both our News and Music stations and will roll them out in the coming months.
Q: Why are you no longer broadcasting On the Media?
A: We’ve heard that you value keeping up with the news on the weekends but you want it in a lighter package — to be entertained, while also being informed. That's one reason why we're adding It's Been a Minute to our schedule. We constantly evaluate your feedback and other factors as we try to best serve our audience, which is why we do reschedule or remove programs from time to time. However, you can still listen to On the Media anytime you wish on demand.
Q: Oh, by the way, what happened to The National Conversation with All Things Considered?
A: You might recall that earlier this spring, we made some changes to our weeknight program schedule driven by a combination of necessity and opportunity. One of them was to run the full 6 p.m. hour of All Things Considered to allow you to hear NPR’s temporary program The National Conversation — a live hour focused on engaging you to address your coronavirus questions. At the start of this month, NPR ended The National Conversation for the moment. But the concept proved successful and could conceivably reemerge in the future. For now, we’re keeping the full 6 p.m. hour of ATC on the air, along with Marketplace at 7 p.m. and The Daily at 7:30.
Ben Adler is CapRadio’s director of programming and audience development.
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