CapRadio Welcomes Code Switch, Life Kit And Throughline To Broadcast Schedule

CapRadio is thrilled to unveil a new program schedule that features invigorating conversations about race and identity, lifelong learning and history by adding three popular NPR podcasts.

Check out our full schedule below

Starting this week, Code Switch and Life Kit will debut as a combined hour-long show at 1 p.m. Fridays. Listeners can explore how race affects every part of society — such as politics, pop culture and sports — and get practical tips and guidance on a wide range of topics from workplace microaggressions to saving money.

“One of the things we’re most excited about is reaching new people who may not be podcast listeners, but who are as fascinated by these complicated questions about race and identity as we are,” said Gene Demby, the host of Code Switch. 

“We’re excited to partner with Code Switch on this new radio show, and to be able to offer tips for being human with even more listeners," said Meghan Kane, managing producer of Life Kit.

Beginning this weekend, Throughline will air at 4 p.m. Sundays as part of our expanded Sunday afternoon Storytelling Block. Each episode in this immersive, sound-rich narrative series hosted by Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei tackles the history behind today's headlines, and takes the listener back in time to understand the present.

"To understand today's conversations about major issues and events, we need to know the complete history of things like immigration, US-Iran relations and the opioid epidemic," said Arablouei.

"We want to bring history to life and make it feel urgent," said Abdelfatah. "Throughline is an auditory experience. With sound design and music, we create a world that listeners can immerse themselves in."

Our popular Storytelling Block will now start an hour earlier — at noon each Sunday, immediately after NPR’s most listened-to weekend show, Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me — and take listeners right up to All Things Considered at 5 p.m.

It kicks off with The Moth, which has proven an instant hit since joining our broadcast schedule last summer. Snap Judgment’s “Storytelling with a Beat” slides up to 1 p.m.; Radiolab, with its creative sound and science stories, moves from Friday evenings into the 2 p.m. slot; and the inimitable This American Life shifts to 3 p.m. leading into Throughline at 4 p.m.

“These are quite honestly five of the best radio shows being produced right now, and it’s amazing to have them now share the same day, back to back,” said CapRadio’s Andrew Garcia, who hosts our local breaks during the Storytelling Block while sprinkling in a few fun and moving anecdotes of his own. “It's a bounty of listening goodness that I am excited for our audience to hear every week!”

Other program changes of note:

• We’re pleased to restore Fresh Air to our Friday lineup. When we removed it last fall to make way for some temporary program changes leading up to the presidential election, we promised our audience it would return. Listeners can now hear Terry Gross’s peerless interviews Monday through Thursday at 1 p.m. and every weekday at 8 p.m.
• We’re adding a second airing of It’s Been a Minute at 6 p.m. Sundays following All Things Considered. Our listeners have loved the weekly show hosted by Sam Sanders featuring conversations that help us cope with the week’s news, distract and entertain us, and uplift us. Latino USA slides back an hour to 7 p.m., and now that we’ve escaped the presidential campaign season, Our Body Politic moves from Friday afternoons into the 8 p.m. slot.
• Sadly, we say farewell to four shows. NPR has made the difficult decision to cancel Ask Me Another, and Says You is ending production of new episodes. CapRadio has also decided to replace TED Radio Hour and The Splendid Table — two well-respected programs that have struggled to attract consistent audiences but are still available as podcasts.
• The final episode of California State of Mind was released on Oct. 1, 2021. We really enjoyed this year-long experiment with a weekly California politics show as we explored how politics works in the Golden State.

The new schedule changes take effect Friday, August 27 on CapRadio’s news stations in Sacramento, Stockton-Modesto, Tahoe-Reno and Quincy.

Ben Adler is CapRadio’s director of programming and audience development.