Photo of Sam Sanders

Article by Michelle Keenan

The world is complicated, and NPR reporter and host Sam Sanders wants to talk it out. He does that each week on It’s Been A Minute  where he engages with journalists, actors, musicians, and listeners — about news and pop culture — to gain the kind of understanding that can only be reached through conversation.

Sanders’ trademark curiosity and empathy made him a favorite of the very popular NPR Politics Podcast.  Now he’s bringing It’s Been A Minute to Blue Ridge Public Radio where he’ll take that same approach for current events en masse — talking not just about what’s behind the week’s headlines, but what it felt like to process them.

“I want this show to sound just like the way I talk with my friends, when we get together and catch up on the week. We don’t just talk about politics or Beyoncé, or international diplomacy or memes — we talk about all of it,” said Sanders. “And we do it without pretense. I want to the show to sound just like that, and make the same kind of connections.”

BPR Director of Programming Barbara Sayer says It’s Been A Minute joins our Saturday morning line-up beginning at 10:00 am, “Sam stood out as a perceptive reporter who combined that with wit and off-beat observations on the campaign trail. When NPR announced the new weekend show with him we thought it would be a good match for BPR.  Our audience cares about facts and real conversation – with a healthy dose of not taking yourself too seriously.”

Sanders joined NPR in 2009 as a Kroc Fellow, and since then has worn many hats, including field producer and breaking news reporter. As a key member of NPR’s election unit, he covered the intersection of culture, pop culture, and politics in the 2016 election. He was one of the original co-hosts of the NPR Politics Podcast when it launched in 2015.