Sam Sanders’ popularity as a radio and podcast journalist is driven by his insightful takes on news and culture delivered in an engaging, eminently listenable style. Though his on-air career—first as an NPR reporter and producer, and then as a host of the NPR talk show It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders—came with barely a hint of Texas twang, Sanders attributes his style in part to his childhood in Texas. “Growing up a Texan, you learn how to have a certain kind of kindness and charm and warmth with new people that translates into a very clear interview skill,” he says. “So much of the work in these interviews is getting folks comfortable with you enough to really open up.”
Born in New Braunfels, Sanders lived in Seguin, Converse, and Schertz before attending San Antonio’s University of the
