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PODCAST

The Sam Sanders Show

KCRW & Sam Sanders

The Sam Sanders Show from KCRW is your guide to entertainment. Find out what makes your favorite artists tick, dissect the trends that shape our culture, or just make sense of that random meme you can’t stop thinking about. Join us every week to unpack the pop culture we love. Sign up forSam’s Newsletter to get behind the scenes stuff from every interview each week. Sam Sanders is an award-winning podcast and radio host. He’s been named best podcast host by both The

society & culture

All Episodes

42:45

Woodstock '99: Mosh Pit at the Apocalypse with Sam...

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/07/04

Today we’re sharing an episode from our friends at The Big Flop!Every week, the show unpacks pop culture’s most fascinating flops, frauds, and fiascos. In this episode, host Misha Brown throws back to Woodstock '99 with Sam and Lindy West (Text Me Back!). The music fest was meant to commemorate the original 1969 festival with “three days of peace and music” but instead became "three days of rage and chaos." If you thought Fyre Fest was bad… At

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51:16

Is Allison Williams Afraid of Her Own Movies?

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/06/27

Allison Williams became a millennial icon as Marnie on HBO’s Girls — but her second act is even more thrilling. From Get Out to M3GAN, she’s carved out a new space as a horror star and unexpected scream queen. In this episode, Allison joins Sam to unpack what draws her to morally messy characters, and why she keeps playing women we love to hate. They dive into her newest film, M3GAN 2.0, and what it says about AI, parenting, and the eerie ways tech is shaping

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52:46

A United Nations of Red Flags (From Normal Gossip)

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/06/20

We’re taking a little break from the show week, but very excited to share an episode from the Normal Gossip podcast. It’s a hilarious show with a simple premise: listeners send in the strangest, juiciest gossip they’ve heard, then host Rachelle Hampton dishes it all out. In this episode, Sam and Rachelle break down a case of “accidental” love-bombing at a Colombian hostel.Enjoy! Sign up forSam’s Newsletter to get behind the scenes stuff from

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53:38

Jeff Hiller: Can Faith And Queerness Coexist?

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/06/13

Actor Jeff Hiller opens up about his journey from church kid in Texas to queer fame in Hollywood. Jeff and Sam swap stories of growing up gay in conservative Christian spaces, where church was both a sanctuary and a source of shame. They unpack the complicated ways faith and queerness collide. They also break down how Hollywood struggles to tell stories about people who are queer, religious, working class — and simply human.Jeff Hiller’s new memoir is called Actress

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50:28

Who’s On Your Queer Hollywood Mount Rushmore?

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/06/06

This week, we’re building the ultimate Queer Hollywood Mount Rushmore. Who belongs on the mountain of the most iconic LGBTQ+ entertainers in history?Sam is joined by comedians Cameron Esposito and Jay Jurden for a fast, funny, and heartfelt debate covering everyone from RuPaul to Little Richard, Janelle Monáe to George Michael, and Abraham Lincoln. Yes, we put Lincoln on the list. No, we’re not taking it back. Along the way, they unpack what it really means

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49:49

What happened to Britney Spears and the Millennial...

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/05/30

We all know the saga of Britney Spears. Her meteoric rise, followed by a grim downfall and a troubling conservatorship. Her story captured a generation. But what does it say about America and ourselves?Sam reflects on it all with journalists Andrea Domanick and Jeff Weiss. They break down Britney’s impact on music, the tabloids that encroached on her private life and how she became a symbol for America’s downfall. Jeff is the author of the new book Waiting For

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51:01

Zainab Johnson: Is It Still Radical Just to Exist?

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/05/23

Comedian Zainab Johnson joins Sam for a smart, funny, and unfiltered conversation about identity, comedy, and power.They dive into her standup special Hijabs Off (now on Prime Video), where Zainab explores what it means to be Black, Muslim, and a woman in America — and why that trifecta still feels radical. She opens up about performing in a post-DEI Hollywood, navigating Islamophobia, and finding freedom in standup. They also unpack the rise of crowd work, the hustle of

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52:11

Can Hollywood Learn from Its Biggest Bombs?

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/05/16

Some movies are so bad, they become iconic. Think Cats, Joker: Folie à Deux, Madame Web, and The Flash—massive flops that cost studios millions and spark endless debate.Sam breaks down why these high-profile films failed – and whether Hollywood is learning anything from its most embarrassing box office bombs. Lizzie Bassett and Chris Winterbauer of theWhat Went Wrong podcast join him to explore VFX disasters, star power misfires, and the curse of franchise

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53:23

Is Pop Culture in a Recession? Hot Takes Round 2

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/05/09

The ice bucket challenge is back, Lady Gaga’s making dance-pop again, and everyone’s hoarding tinned fish. Could it all mean… a recession?Comedians Zach Zimmerman and Eliot Glazer join us to unpack the internet’s funniest (and eeriest) recession indicator memes — from “recession blonde” to layaway coachella tickets to the return of vampire movies. Then, the hot takes fly: Zach argues that daytime TV needs to be mean again (bring back

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50:58

Has Marvel Lost Its Magic?

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/05/02

After almost 20 years of box office dominance, is the Marvel Cinematic Universe starting to fall apart?Sam dives deep into the highs and lows of Marvel with two sharp pop culture minds, Kyle Buchanan (NY Times) and Tracy Brown (LA Times), exploring what’s gone wrong in recent years — and whether Thunderbolts* marks a real reset or just more of the same. They dig into Marvel’s pivot to TV, the fatigue of endless interconnected stories, and what the MCU could

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67:32

Are Spoilers Actually Bad? And More Pop Culture Hot...

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/04/25

This episode is nothing but hot takes!In a world drowning in opinions, Sam and friends serve up their spiciest ones — the kind that spark debate, start drama, or are just too real to admit out loud. TV writer and producer Kara Brown (Swarm, She-Hulk, Grown-ish) joins to argue that spoilers aren’t actually bad — and she means it. But not so fast: Sam’s own team member and resident contrarian Beau Delmore steps in with the rebuttal. It’s heated

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50:18

Is Entertainment Moving to the Right?

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/04/18

How is entertainment changing with our current political moment?Hollywood networks are scrapping trans storylines, DEI pipelines set up after 2020 are shutting down, and the conservative universe is thriving online. Are big studios chasing Donald Trump voters like the last time he was elected? Or is the chokehold of social media influencing how everyone else does business? Sam unpacks it all with two journalistic all-stars, Taylor Lorenz of User Mag and Bloomberg's Lucas

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56:34

How Did Marsai Martin Conquer Child Stardom?

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/04/11

Marsai Martin became a star at just 9 years old on Black-ish. Now 20, she’s holding her own opposite Viola Davis in the new action thriller G20. Sam talks with Marsai about growing up in Hollywood, why she avoids “Black pain” roles, and how her Texas upbringing keeps her grounded. Plus, her mom Carol joins the conversation to share the family values that helped Marsai thrive in the spotlight.Sign up forSam’s Newsletter to get behind the scenes stuff from

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51:32

The Dark Side Of The Perfect Playlist

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/04/04

For millions of people, the soundtrack of their lives is curated by Spotify. The streaming giant has made it easier than ever to listen to music, but journalist Liz Pelly argues that it’s also devalued music in our culture and the artists who make it. Her new book is called Mood Machine: The Rise Of Spotify And The Costs Of The Perfect Playlist. Liz breaks down how the streaming service changed the music industry. Then, KCRW DJ and host Novena Carmel shares how she thinks

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56:41

Bruce Vilanch on Writing the Worst TV Shows Ever

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/03/28

The Star Wars Holiday Special, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, and Rob Lowe singing with Snow White at the Oscars have gone down in history as some of the worst TV ever made. Bruce Vilanch is the man behind them all. He recounts his biggest TV flops in his new book It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time. Sam chats with Bruce about how those infamous TV moments were made, how writing TV comedy has changed, and what it’s like to write for awards shows. Plus, Bruce shares advice

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54:14

Author Torrey Peters: “Transness is an Invitation”

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/03/21

With her debut novel Detransition, Baby, Torrey Peters made history as the first openly trans writer to be published by a major publishing house. Now, she’s back with a new book that makes the case that we’re all living the trans experience. It’s called Stag Dance, and it challenges how we think about gender and explores transness not as an identity, but an invitation. Torrey and Sam dive into trans representation, the power of writing things that make people

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56:42

Did Streaming Destroy the Movie Star? Paul Scheer &...

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/03/14

Are movie stars a thing of the past?Paul Scheer (actor, comedian) and Amy Nicholson (LA Times film critic) – co-hosts of theUnspooled podcast – join Sam to break down why Hollywood stopped making true stars. Gone are the days of Denzel, Julia, and Tom – now it’s all about franchises, streaming, and social media clout. So who’s to blame? Studio execs afraid to take risks? IP-obsessed filmmakers? Too many TikTok dance challenges? Sam, Amy, and Paul

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53:54

Reality TV’s Biggest Issues with Bachelorette Rachel...

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/03/07

Is reality TV in trouble? Seasons are shorter, fresh stars are hard to find, and production is down. Sam digs into the drama with Rachel Lindsay (former Bachelorette, host of Morally Corrupt and Higher Learning) and Ryan Bailey (host of So Bad It’s Good). They break down whether the reality TV bubble is bursting, how social media changed the game, and why execs keep making the same mistakes. Plus, they dish on contestant horror stories and debate whether unionizing could

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15:22

Oscars Bonus: Why Are Hollywood Wigs So Bad?

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/03/01

This Oscars weekend we have a bonus episode on a topic that really irks Sam – bad wigs on the big screen. Here to break down what’s going on is Hollywood hairstylist and wigmaker Dawn Dudley. Her work has been seen in A Star is Born, Rob Zombie’s The Munsters, HBO’s Westworld and tons more. She breaks down what’s really happening on Hollywood sets and says it’s often not the hairstylist’s fault.Sign up forSam’s Newsletter to get

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49:16

The Hipster Grifter Speaks: Kari Ferrell on Scamming...

The Sam Sanders Show ·

2025/02/28

Kari Ferrell became a viral sensation in 2009 after her small time cons gained international attention. She was living in Brooklyn, working at Vice News when she was exposed and dubbed “The Hipster Grifter.” Sam chats with Kari about what led her to become a scammer, why the media became so obsessed and her road to redemption. Kari Ferrell’s new memoir You'll Never Believe Me: A Life of Lies, Second Tries, and Things I Should Only Tell My Therapist is out

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