Sam Sanders
Appearances
IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson
You Should Start a Podcast with Your Sibling with Michelle and Craig
Right.
IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson
You Should Start a Podcast with Your Sibling with Michelle and Craig
Hey, I'm journalist Sam Sanders.
IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson
You Should Start a Podcast with Your Sibling with Michelle and Craig
On Vibe Check, we talk about everything. News, culture, and entertainment, and how it all feels.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I love to be outside. I like to be physically active, hiking, running, all of that.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
If I'm going to get in the water, it's going to be for about 10, 15 minutes. And then I'm going to sit by the water, preferably with a drink.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
And if I get on a boat, it needs to have a motor. Someone else needs to be driving it. And I better have a life jacket. And I would love for there to be a bathroom on board.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I get it. But you know what, though? How are you going to run game and mack on someone and be hot when half your body is inserted into a kayak? I can't spit game in a kayak.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I am wishing we could have given this script to Mike White for season three of The White Lotus.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Listen, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Yeah.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I mean, at this point, they're still on the island. So they got to get back.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Years ago when I was a breaking news reporter, my newsroom at the time sent me out to hostile environment training where you learn what to do if you're like in some shit. And the only thing I remember is tourniquet.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
So maybe he could have like flipped it up and made it hot again if he ripped his shirt off, showed his muscles and then tourniqueted his leg. That might be hot.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
You know what? Maybe I've got it all wrong. Maybe I need to go to a foreign country, get on a kayak, and wait for a hot man to tourniquet me.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
What are the Danish girls doing in the midst of all this?
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
It is so good to be here. I remember being on an episode in season one and I had so much fun because I remember it being about a straight male bartender who was messy. And I remember saying, aren't all straight male bartenders messy? Yes.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Listen, it's like Hipster Tourist Grindr.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
That leg is helping erase... Hundreds of years of historical bad blood between the Brits and the Australians because we know their history.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
No. No. At this point, you max out your credit card and get a hotel room.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
He does handwritten letters, I bet you.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Drew, Drew, Drew, Drew, Drew. Drew's one of those guys who was always the mess but never thinks he's the mess. That's Drew. I'm feeling that. I'm starting to feel that. Let me not judge too early, but I'm starting to feel that.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Show me, like, what kind of green card do you need? You're coming home with me. With me.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Oh, God. See, I almost wanted to be rooting for both of them.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
And now I take it back. They deserve whatever mess befalls them.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
If I'm getting all these pick me vibes, love bomb vibes, what we're going to do is hook up. And then I'm going to like slow walk you for a few days, assess how I feel and then re-engage.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Let me try the milk, see how it runs through my system and then reassess. But there will be no saying, I think I love you.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
The symbolism there, choking on passion. Wow. Wow.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I bet you Oliver's like, well, we can do it better this time. I can beat that.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Okay. Okay. Just shut up and kiss me. Literally.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Listen, what do I feel like knowing that I was an OG?
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
It feels good. It feels iconic. And I don't want to be one of those gatekeepers. All are welcome in. Just know...
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Drew, stop meeting people. I think you're good.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
You know what? Actually, I fucking love it. It brings the people together.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
That song is too goddamn long. Don't do it. And you can't hit the notes. No. My go-to karaoke song, Salt-N-Pepa's Push It. It's probably like 18 words long.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Honestly, I have done Creed's higher at karaoke. It works.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Yeah. Also, gosh, talk about an agent of chaos, the Hostel World app.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Oh, no. No? I'd be like, you know, hitting those notes on that Creed song.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
See? We already know Oliver doesn't make great decisions. Doesn't think before he leaps.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Wow. Is that a lot? You know, I know the song and the melody never dug into the lyrics. Let's see. Is it like a love song?
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Come on. Come on. This is us. This is us.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Oh, no. I follow the lyrics now. There's another line that says, I set out to get you with a fine-tooth comb. What? I can't live without you if the love was gone. Oh, but that won't happen to us. And we got no doubt too deep in love and we got no way out.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Drew, Drew, Drew, Drew. How are you already that lost in the sauce?
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Maybe I'll even go back to the same hostel because he knows where it is. Yeah. No. No, girl.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
A car that I had years ago got broken into. But what I had was so raggedy, they literally just dropped the bag next to the parking lot. I kid you not.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
They were like, we don't want this shit.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
It has. And I'll tell you how. It's going to get a little deep, but trust me, it's not too deep. Your team reached out. And they were like, we want to talk to you about what kind of gossip you're experiencing now. And I have been having a lot of moments gossiping about the dead. Oh, yeah. And I never considered talking about the dead to be gossip.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Listen, when in doubt, call a Canadian.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Girl. You might need to call it, Drew. No. No. No.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Wait, but you got to say it in Drew's love bombing British accent. Bullocks, we ball. I don't know. That was bad.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
He's working through. He's working through.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
He's stalking him. The Australian is doing something suspect. The town ain't that small.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Listen, listen. Is it coincidence or is it stalking? Is it anxiety or is it intuition? I say yet again, Molly, you in danger, girl.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I bet you when I'm going to call it right now, Australian has a fanny pack. See, now I'm going full White Lotus.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Because he's been walking on it all night and singing karaoke. Like, come on, dude.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Every time I think I like Drew. Every time I think I like Drew. He does some funk ass shit like this.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
All nights are beautiful. I'm not always. I mean, come on.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
This is an erotic thriller. Was this a film released in the early to mid 90s starring Mickey Rourke?
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
But like it is the definition of gossip is talking about someone who isn't there making them the third person. Yeah, I've been doing that a lot with my mother. She passed away maybe two years ago. She'd been sick for a while. It was time. We're glad she's at rest. But as soon as she died, people began to tell me stories about her that I'd never heard before.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
See now, one, I would not put myself in this situation.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Every second of this story, they are straying further from God's light.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Yeah, something's going on. Something's going on. And of course, Drew walks closer, I bet you. Oh, my God.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I mean, what if it's just the guy on the bench's back?
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Thank you. Because, I mean, it seems like all the kids in this town do. I'm going to tell you what I would have done, which has never gotten into this situation. But I'm going to predict what Drew is going to do, and that is confront this stranger with his Canadians who deserve better.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
He goes to this man on the bench who he does not know.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Is there a crime syndicate off the hostel app?
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I need to know so many things. And I'm feeling like we might end this conversation with still some unanswered questions.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Most of it good. A little bit messy. But I was like, oh, this is gossip. And it's like... I believe once someone close to us dies, we have this special ability to imagine them in many ways after they're gone and make versions of them that help us and speak to us throughout our lives. And the gossip about my mother is helping me do that.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I was Australian. Baby, I can't live without you. Come back. We'll live in Perth.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I mean, none of them feel like miracles right now. This is wild.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Drew, you're lucky to be alive. What does Drew end up doing with all these DMs from the Australian?
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
No, you cannot talk to him under any circumstance. No.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Well, and Oliver's definitely like, oh, I'm in now.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I know Drew didn't. I know Drew didn't. So many red flags and so many people waving them with joy.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I gotta go have a cigarette. I gotta bring myself down. Y'all got me riled up. Drew, we're here to help.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I'm going to send you a note to send to Drew. Okay. It's about self-care. It's about boundaries. It's about a lot.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Exactly. I will give you an example that's really funny. Well, first, for starters, after my dad died many years ago, I'll never forget, the gossip started then. In the limo to the cemetery after my dad died, a member of my family told me, Oh, that person you think that is this kind of relative? They're actually that kind of relative. Their mama wasn't their mama. Like, literally.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
So this gossip from my mother, my favorite bit of dead mom gossip recently, I was out with some friends at a mall in L.A. And a lot of malls in L.A. are really cute, really she she, but like indoor outdoor. So it's kind of open air. There are water fountains and fixtures and you can walk in the sun, which also means that like kids can just run and be a mess.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
even more so than they could in, like, a normal mall. And I remember seeing this young boy acting a fool. And I called my Aunt Betty later that day, and I said, you know, Betty, they don't make them like they used to. These kids are a mess. They're not raising them right. No home training. Oh, my God. And I said, I guarantee you, I know for sure, my mama, your sister, didn't raise me that way.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
She didn't raise me and my brother that way. And my Aunt Betty pauses. She starts laughing and she says, that is so not true. Y'all were Bebe's kids. And I was like, excuse me, miss? And she goes, y'all were Bebe's kids. And I said, what makes you say that? And she says, I'll never forget, Sam. You and your brother were maybe like six or seven.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
My Aunt Betty had come to visit her sister, my mother, and all of us. And we all were out shopping. My mother was in a store that she likes. My Aunt Betty was with her. And my brother and I, who were little banshees, were running around like crazy, my aunt tells me. And she's like, y'all were playing hide and go seek in the racks of the clothes. I can see it.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Up and down the escalators, just being a fool. And so my aunt Betty says, she goes, I'll go to your mother, my sister. And I say, Regina, catch your kids. What are they doing? This is bad. Sit them down. And then Betty says, my mother puts down the dress she's looking at.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Looks at my Aunt Betty and she says, as much money as I'm about to spend in this store, my little black boys can cut up as much as the white kids. And then my Aunt Betty sat her ass down and that was that. But it revealed to me that like this version of my mother that I had created, this strict disciplinarian version.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
And like, you know, a lot of times gossip amongst the living can be combative. It can be reductive. It can be messy. Gossip about the dead is usually expansive. And in my case, it's been mostly joyful.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
And I am at the age now where like, These words pop up on the Internet and I'm not quite sure what they mean. And I'm past the point of like going to UrbanDictionary.com to find out. But I keep seeing the word lore manifest online.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
And I was thinking to myself, I was like, you know what? When they're alive and you're talking about them, it's gossip. But when they're dead, it's lore.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I love it. Let's dedicate this telling of gossip to my messy mama, Regina Sanders.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Brits pretend to be drama-free, but they're messy. The accent fools you.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
You hear the accent, you're like, oh, they got their shit together.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Yeah. And you never know how they get all that damn money. You never know. Always a mystery.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
There's no like laundry list of things to get to. We're not climbing mountains. We're not. No, no. Yeah. Yeah.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I wasn't always making decent money. I was broke a large portion of my 20s. And one thing I never let myself do was stay at a hostel. I will say the one time I went into a hostel.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I don't need to meet any more new people.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Oh, Drew's a mess. He's an agent of chaos.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
You know what the plot is? The plot is my bills and my job.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
Do you know who he sounds like? Who? Bill Clinton. I remember they used to say back in the day, whenever Bill Clinton was talking to you, it was like no one else existed. And we know what happened there.
Normal Gossip
A United Nations of Red Flags with Sam Sanders
I think there was a phase in my youth where I probably attempted that kind of energy. And then I realized I'm a little bit too neurotic and self-centered. So it's not going to work. Now I just mind my business.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
Hey, Sam Sanders here with KCRW, personally inviting you to check out my new podcast. It's an entertainment show that tries to figure out what makes the culture tick and tell the stories behind creators we love. New episodes are out every Friday, wherever you get your podcasts.