Afia celebrates Christmas with the aid of a curious present: meditation. S***hole Country 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 S***hole Country 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...
Nov 10, 2021•33 min•Season 9Ep. 5
With their “Are You The One?” marathon complete, Afia and her parents must now turn to Accra for entertainment. What will they find? S***hole Country 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 S***hole Country and access transcripts at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm . Learn about your ad choices: d...
Nov 03, 2021•24 min•Season 9Ep. 4
Afia’s always had a complicated relationship with her mom Agnes. But if she’s going to get some much-needed clarity, she’ll have to ask Agnes some uncomfortable questions. S***hole Country 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 S***hole Country and access transcripts at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radioto...
Oct 27, 2021•27 min•Season 9Ep. 3
December 2017. Afia lands in Accra, her first trip to the continent in years. A big surprise awaits her. S***hole Country 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 S***hole Country 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...
Oct 20, 2021•13 min•Season 9Ep. 2
January 2018. “Afia,” a 30-year-old Ghanaian-American who eats the food but doesn’t speak the language, just spent the holidays in Accra. She flies home to San Francisco, straight into a media s***storm. S***hole Country 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 S***hole Country and access transcripts at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across t...
Oct 13, 2021•8 min•Season 9Ep. 1
Coming up next on Radiotopia Presents: S***hole Country. Afia Kaakyire has a decision to make. And by God, her family is going to help her figure this s*** out. Join her in this eight-part podcast series as she forages for her family’s guidance in their shared histories during a long-awaited trip to Ghana — true tales dipped in green card anxieties, complicated love, an “Are You the One?” marathon, and liberal portions of the world’s best jollof. S***hole Country is written, narrated, sound desi...
Oct 06, 2021•8 min
Behind the Series is a short-run series about the shows previously featured on this very podcast: Radiotopia Presents from Radiotopia. This week, we talk with someone who's had a lot to do with the sound of Radiotopia Presents , Ian Coss. Ian has played a key role in creating some of our favorite series, starting with the very first show featured on Radiotopia Presents (then called Showcase): Ways of Hearing (2017), and including our most recent series, Blind Guy Travels , which he produced and ...
Sep 01, 2021•50 min
Blind Guy Travel’s Matthew Shifrin hasn't engaged much with the visual culture of memes. Cue the hosts of Say My Meme , Will Butler from Be My Eyes and Caroline Desrosiers from Scribely. Say My Meme is a podcast that literally describes the world's most #relevant memes, bringing the blind and sighted people together through laughter and the power of visual description. In their neverending crusade to bring memes to to the people who have the least access, Will and Caroline attempted to turn Matt...
Aug 18, 2021•42 min•Season 8Ep. 8
Independence. It’s a word that’s used in the blind community often, but that means different things to different people. What does independence mean for Matthew? On the heels of his Senior Recital and college graduation, Matthew ruminates on what might be next for him. 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 transc...
Aug 11, 2021•26 min•Season 8Ep. 7
Some teachers hang you upside-down to help you sing better. Others sit on you. In the lead-up to his senior recital, Matthew reflects on becoming an accomplished blind musician, through conversations with four of his music mentors who have helped along the way. 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...
Jul 28, 2021•29 min•Season 8Ep. 6
Most dating apps rely heavily on user photos and other visual cues, so Matthew gathers a team of friends to help him craft the perfect dating profile and vet potential romantic interests. 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 ...
Jul 14, 2021•23 min•Season 8Ep. 5
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
