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First, we have the music come in for the cold open.

First, we have the music come in for the cold open. Then sprinkle in some sound design to beat your interest,

a little appetizer for your ears.

And then some news tape to give you a little more context on what's happening.

America's Viking-1 spacecraft landed on Mars early this morning and sent back two sharp pictures of the red planet.

Or maybe it's a voiceover. The robot lander touched down flawlessly this morning in a sandy desert area.

Let's add a little reverb to this one.

The Viking spaceship has landed safely on Mars seven years to the day after man's first set

foot on the moon.

I'm Randha Abd al-Fattah.

I'm Ramtin Arablui.

And you're listening to ThruLine from NPR.

Today on the show, behind the scenes of, well, this show.

Okay, so some of you listening have been with us since day one. And some of you might have just heard about the show.

But whether you're a diehard fan sleeping in a through line t-shirt every night, or maybe a new

listener just trying to tune out the post-election news, here on this show, the team is always trying

to tell stories that are informative, insightful, and entertaining. So for the episode today, we're taking you behind the scenes of the show,

telling you how it was born, some of what goes into making our episodes,

...