Hello listeners, Sam here. I am coming to you with a Christmas request. As you know, for

the last few weeks, NPR Podcast hosts have been asking their listeners to donate to

their local member stations. That donation helps not just that station, but it trickles

up and through the entire public radio system and it keeps this show going. But here's

the thing you may not know. This giving is also a competition. Our NPR overlords are keeping

tabs on which show drives the most donations. And right now, this show, we are in fourth place.

All I want for Christmas is for you to go to donate.npr.org slash Sam and give to keep public

radio strong and to get those bragging rights. I want us to win so badly I even brought out

my saxophone to play in this request. Yes, that is me playing Mariah Carey's All I Want

for Christmas is you because all I want for Christmas is for us to win. Donate.npr.org slash

Sam. Thank you.

Hey y'all, this is Sam's Aunt Betty. This week on the show, LA Times Reporter, Sonali

Kohli and producer broken record Justin Richmond. All right, let's start the show.

Hey y'all, from NPR, I'm Sam Sanders. It's been a minute. Happy weekend. My guests are

already playing the air guitar in the studio. You can just feel the holiday vibes. Everyone

is ready to just be on holiday, right? That's right. So ready. Yeah. Here were two great

guests today, Sonali Kohli, reporter covering education for the LA Times and Justin

Richmond producer of a new podcast called Broken Record, What's That About? It's all about

music and it's hosted by Malcolm Gladwell, Rick Rubin in Bruce Hadlam. So you get to work

on a regular basis with Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell. I went from working with you, Sam,

all the time to help you out. So I'm so happy today because we're almost to holiday.

We're almost to vacation time and I am playing this song because it makes me think of vacation.

...