Why watch a movie if you can’t see the screen? Matthew and his friend Ben take in a Marx Brothers film and showcase the power of a good description. Blind Guy Travels is a production of Radiotopia from PRX and part of Radiotopia Presents , a podcast feed debuting limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices. Learn more about Blind Guy Travels and access transcripts at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm . Learn about ...
Jun 30, 2021•24 min•Season 8Ep. 4
On his 13th birthday, Matthew’s friend Lilya brings a gift that will change his life, and ultimately touch Lego-loving blind kids all over the world. Blind Guy Travels is a production of Radiotopia from PRX and part of Radiotopia Presents , a podcast feed debuting limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices. Learn more about Blind Guy Travels and access transcripts at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm . Learn about...
Jun 15, 2021•20 min•Season 8Ep. 3
How can a blind person learn gestures when he's never seen them? As Matthew prepares for a TEDx Talk, he makes his first foray into learning body language. Blind Guy Travels is a production of Radiotopia from PRX and part of Radiotopia Presents , a podcast feed debuting limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices. Learn more about Blind Guy Travels and access transcripts at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm . Learn...
Jun 02, 2021•17 min•Season 8Ep. 2
Matthew explains the mysterious clicking noise you’ll hear a lot of in Blind Guy Travels . Blind Guy Travels is a production of Radiotopia from PRX and part of Radiotopia Presents , a podcast feed debuting limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices. Learn more about Blind Guy Travels and access transcripts at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm . Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Jun 02, 2021•2 min•Season 8Ep. 1
Behind the Series is a short-run series about the shows previously featured on this very podcast: Showcase from Radiotopia. This week, we conclude Behind the Series with a big update. Showcase is back! And we’re back as... Radiotopia Presents , your destination for limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices. To help celebrate, we talk with Radiotopia’s Julie Shapiro and Audrey Mardavich about what listeners can expect from Radiotopia Presents , what they look for in limited-ru...
May 26, 2021•15 min
Behind the Series is a short-run series about the shows previously featured on this very podcast: Showcase from Radiotopia. This week, we revisit The Stoop. A warm, funny, and intimate podcast that tells stories about the black diaspora, The Stoop has had an interesting run with Radiotopia. After landing as a top ten finalist in Radiotopia’s 2016 Podquest search, The Stoop launched a year later as an independent podcast, released a four-episode run on Showcase in 2018, and returned three years l...
May 19, 2021•21 min
Behind the Series is a short-run series about the shows previously featured on this very podcast: Showcase from Radiotopia. This week, we revisit The Great God of Depression . Initially released in 2018, this five-part series tells the story of brain scientist Alice Flaherty’s journey to understand the madness that consumed her brain and body for a time—a journey which eventually led to acclaimed author and “great god of depression” William Styron. Three years later, producers Karen Brown and Pa...
May 12, 2021•19 min
Behind the Series is a short-run series about the shows previously featured on this very podcast: Showcase from Radiotopia. This week, we revisit The Polybius Conspiracy. Initially released in 2017, this seven-part series told the creepy story surrounding a mind-altering arcade game from the 1980s and the quest of protagonist Bobby Feldstein to find vindication for an alleged abduction and assault he linked to playing the mysterious Polybius . Four years later, producers Jon Frechette and Todd L...
May 05, 2021•18 min
Behind the Series is a short-run series about the shows previously featured on this very podcast: Showcase from Radiotopia. This week, we revisit Secrets , a six-part series from 2018. When released, Secrets offered listeners a compelling mix of autobiography, private admissions ranging from espionage to photography fraud, and storytelling traditions from Sweden and the U.S.. Three years later, producers and hosts Mohamed El Abed and Martin Johnson lift the curtain to share the secrets behind Se...
Apr 28, 2021•18 min
It’s been awhile, we know, but we’ve got some exciting Showcase updates for you. Keep an ear right here to catch a brand new series coming your way April 28. Want audio recommendations and updates about your favorite Radiotopia shows? Sign up for the Citizen newsletter at radiotopia.fm/citizen . Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Apr 21, 2021•2 min
Now is the time when you can help us keep Showcase and all of the many parts of Radiotopia thriving. Make your mark by donating today at radiotopia.fm . And keep an ear right here for a new Showcase series coming in 2020! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Dec 12, 2019•6 min
A missing plane. A cabin full of suspects. A search for the truth. Passenger List is a new fictional mystery thriller from Radiotopia. Hear episode two and subscribe to the show at passengerlist.org . Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 20, 2019•35 min
Occasionally between Showcase series, we’ll bring you surprise bonus episodes, like the one you’re about to hear. It’s a recording of a live conversation inspired by Ways of Hearing , the very first series we ever featured here on Showcase . Since the series aired, writer, host, co-producer (and excellent musician) Damon Krukowski has taken the podcast to the page, with Ways of Hearing the book, published by MIT Press in May 2019. The conversation was recorded live before a studio audience on Ap...
Jun 20, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In the final episode of Spacebridge , big TV-satellite “spacebridges” become popular in the USSR, but remain a logistical nightmare—and for American producers, especially—a labor of love that few can afford. Meanwhile, a new breed of citizen diplomat enters the scene, determined to do an end-run around the USSR’s ancient telephone system. They find ways to connect people via a new-fangled contraption, the modem. The consequences of those connections linger today. Spacebridge is a production of S...
Apr 08, 2019•46 min•Season 7Ep. 4
The Soviet Union faces a series of funerals for elderly heads of state; meanwhile the nation falls in love with a “citizen diplomat” from America, a young girl. Popular daytime TV host Phil Donahue agrees to co-host a spacebridge with Vladimir Pozner, a multi-lingual Soviet known for expounding his government’s views on US TV. Soviet and American audiences argue about everything from geopolitics to sex in the resulting “citizen summits,” which rivet participants but also put many careers on the ...
Mar 22, 2019•45 min•Season 7Ep. 3
The first two-way satellite links between the US and USSR are strange, disorganized, and sometimes a little magical. Battling language and technological barriers, Soviet and American musicians, computing pioneers, scientists, and even kids find a way to stage a series of exchanges across the skies — at first awkward, but growing more meaningful as Cold War paranoia ratchets ever higher. Spacebridge is a production of Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia with additional funding from the Carnegie Corpor...
Mar 08, 2019•44 min•Season 7Ep. 2
At a low point in the Cold War, three men walk into a bureaucrat’s office at Gosteleradio, the state broadcaster of the Soviet Union. Two are Americans: an astronaut, and a researcher of psychic phenomena. The third is a Russian utopian with a notebook full of phone numbers he’s not supposed to know. The three want approval for something that’s never been tried before: a two-way, simultaneous satellite link between the enemy empires of the US and USSR. Spacebridge is a production of Showcase fro...
Mar 01, 2019•45 min•Season 7Ep. 1
Spacebridge tells a largely-forgotten saga of the late Cold War, when despair about the prospects of a nuclear conflict gripped the world. Both Soviets and Americans grasped at emerging communication technology via satellite and early Internet “spacebridges” that brought together citizen diplomats ranging from New Agers to tech-enthusiasts to astronauts. The urge to “just connect” helped tilt the world from top-down broadcasting to the more horizontal, Internet-levelled society where we all now ...
Feb 22, 2019•9 min
The Stoop talks to interracial couples having difficult conversations around race, love and identity at a time when racial tensions are high. And when there’s kids in the mix, these conversations can be even harder. We also hear from Professor Shantel Buggs—author of the study “Dating in the Time of #BlackLivesMatter”—who shares her findings from talking with with dozens of women about whether awareness of racial issues mattered when they were choosing a partner. This mini-series of The Stoop is...
Dec 07, 2018•22 min•Season 6Ep. 4
It’s called “the nod,” that silent acknowledgement of solidarity that especially happens when Black folk see one another in spaces where they are “the onlys.” In this episode, The Stoop hits the streets with black radio producers to give the nod and report back from New York, Seattle, and North Carolina. This mini-series of The Stoop is produced especially for Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia. It’s hosted and produced by Leila Day and Hana Baba, edited by Julie Caine and Casey Miner, engineered by...
Nov 30, 2018•33 min•Season 6Ep. 3
Lean in for this one, as The Stoop heads to the lowcountry of South Carolina to celebrate the language and culture of the Gullah Geechee, a people rooted in a mix of African cultures. Meet Gullah royalty Queen Quet, unwavering defender of Gullah Geechee culture, and Professor Sunn m'Cheaux , who found himself teaching a language he’d often been told not to speak while growing up. This mini-series of The Stoop is produced especially for Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia. It’s hosted and produced by ...
Nov 23, 2018•20 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Thin nose, high cheekbones, kinky hair, what you got in your blood? Your blood won’t lie, but does it determine your identity? We meet two women – Uzaz Shami, a Nubian woman who didn’t expect her results, and Shonda Buchanan who has always identified as Native American but isn’t always accepted as that. What percent of an ethnicity makes you part of that group? Does it even matter? Co-hosts Leila and Hana also take the test, and things take an unexpected turn. This miniseries of The Stoop is pro...
Nov 16, 2018•36 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Coming up next on Showcase: The Stoop. The Stoop celebrates black joy, digging deeper into stories about blackness that we don’t hear enough about. Hosts Leila Day and Hana Baba bring you honest, lively conversations from across the black diaspora. The Stoop is produced and hosted by Leila Day and Hana Baba, edited by Julie Caine, engineered by Seth Samuel, and associate produced by Jessica Jupiter. Music by Daoud Anthony and artwork by Neema Iyer. Special thanks to KALW, the NPR Story Lab , and...
Nov 09, 2018•2 min
Actor Tony Shalhoub is well known for his role as one of the few openly mentally ill characters in television – an obsessive compulsive detective on the long-running show Monk . In this bonus episode of The Great God of Depression , Shalhoub sits down with co-producer Karen Brown to read passages from William Styron's work, and share his perspective on mental illness and creativity. If you haven’t yet heard The Great God of Depression , all five episodes are available now. For links, photos and ...
Aug 17, 2018•15 min•Season 5Ep. 6
In the final episode, after years of struggling with depression, William Styron keeps his bargain with his readers, and his wife works hard to keep his spirits up until the very end. Alice Flaherty emerges from her own years of madness to a happier life, albeit a less literary one. The Great God of Depression is a production of Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia. It’s produced by Karen Brown and Pagan Kennedy, with support from New England Public Radio. Music and sound design by Ian Coss. Julie Shap...
Aug 03, 2018•21 min•Season 5Ep. 5
William Styron could never finish the war novel that was meant to be his masterpiece. Did that failure lead to his final depression? Or did depression stop him from writing? He and his doctor Alice Flaherty pore over the question together, trying to ward off his suicidal fears and a baffling paralysis, until his wife makes an unconventional and risky suggestion. The Great God of Depression is a production of Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia. It’s produced by Karen Brown and Pagan Kennedy, with sup...
Aug 03, 2018•22 min•Season 5Ep. 4
After writing a revolutionary memoir, William Styron declares he has beaten depression, but he is wrong. A frightening repeat of madness and writer’s block brings on shame and desperate measures. He seeks help from brilliant neurologist Alice Flaherty, who has herself admitted to being “openly crazy.” Can she save him? The Great God of Depression is a production of Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia. It’s produced by Karen Brown and Pagan Kennedy, with support from New England Public Radio. Music an...
Aug 03, 2018•29 min•Season 5Ep. 3
On the heels of enormous literary success, author William Styron experiences a near-fatal depression and emerges as a defender of the mentally ill. Neurologist Alice Flaherty tries to balance a rare mental disorder with the birth of her healthy twins. The Great God of Depression is a production of Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia. It’s produced by Karen Brown and Pagan Kennedy, with support from New England Public Radio. Music and sound design by Ian Coss. Julie Shapiro is the executive producer. ...
Aug 03, 2018•26 min•Season 5Ep. 2
After a personal tragedy, newly minted neurologist Alice Flaherty falls into a rabbit hole of mania, delusions and creative overload—and encounters a famous writer who revolutionized the conversation about mental illness. The Great God of Depression is a production of Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia. It’s produced by Karen Brown and Pagan Kennedy, with support from New England Public Radio. Music and sound design by Ian Coss. Julie Shapiro is the executive producer. Find links, photos and more in...
Aug 03, 2018•24 min•Season 5Ep. 1
This summer, grab your earbuds and escape to Radiotopia! Take us along on your road trips, outdoor adventures and simple staycations. We’re launching a new Showcase from Radiotopia series, two new Radiotopia shows, plus new seasons and series from your already beloved Radiotopia podcasts. New shows will include ZigZag , in which two entrepreneurial women (Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant, formerly of Note to Self ) set out to change the direction of journalism, capitalism, and their lives; Everyt...
May 31, 2018•6 min
