Radiotopia Presents: We're Doing the Wiz

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 radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 network at radiotopia.fm. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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

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-run podcast series, and the childhood sleuth that deserves a daily podcast. Plus, a special hello and series preview from the host of the first podcast to debut on Radiotopia Presents.Behind the Series is hosted, written, and produced by Mark Pagán. Executive producers are Audrey Mardavich and Julie Shapiro. Music from JD Samson and Blue Dot Sessions. Behind the Series is a production of Radiotopia Presents, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Wanna learn more about your favorite shows, get audio recommendations, events updates, and podcast news? Sign up for the Radiotopia Citizen newsletter at radiotopia.fm/citizen. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 later as the newest network show to join Radiotopia. As The Stoop moves into this next stage with the network, producers Hana Baba and Leila Day reflect on what they’ve learned and what they’re still discovering: from producing stories that balance journalism ethos and the personal to what they hope they’re answering for their intended audience.Behind the Series is hosted, written, and produced by Mark Pagán. Executive producers are Audrey Mardavich and Julie Shapiro. Music from JD Samson and Blue Dot Sessions. Behind the Series is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Wanna learn more about your favorite shows, get audio recommendations, events updates, and podcast news? Sign up for the Radiotopia Citizen newsletter at radiotopia.fm/citizen. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 Pagan Kennedy reflect on the show’s creative challenges; from making a podcast for the first time to telling a serialized story that isn’t about a crime.Behind the Series is hosted, written, and produced by Mark Pagán. Executive producers are Audrey Mardavich and Julie Shapiro. Music from JD Samson and Blue Dot Sessions.Behind the Series is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Wanna learn more about your favorite shows, get audio recommendations, events updates, and podcast news? Sign up for the Radiotopia Citizen newsletter at radiotopia.fm/citizen. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 Luoto look back and offer thoughts about the show’s murky narrative—sharing how they crafted a documentary/fiction hybrid that paid homage to an urban legend and what they learned about audience expectations in the process. Behind the Series is hosted, written, and produced by Mark Pagán. Executive producers are Audrey Mardavich and Julie Shapiro. Music from JD Samson and Blue Dot Sessions. Behind the Series is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Wanna learn more about your favorite shows, get audio recommendations, events updates, and podcast news? Sign up for the Radiotopia Citizen newsletter at radiotopia.fm/citizen. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 Secrets: how they get people to tell private stories of their lives and what’s happened since Mohamed shared this part of his family’s story. Behind the Series is hosted, written, and produced by Mark Pagán. Executive producers are Audrey Mardavich and Julie Shapiro. Music from JD Samson and Blue Dot Sessions. Behind the Series is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Wanna learn more about your favorite shows, get audio recommendations, events updates, and podcast news? Sign up for the Radiotopia Citizen newsletter at radiotopia.fm/citizen. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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

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

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

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 April 9 at the PRX Podcast Garage in Allston, Massachusetts and was mixed by Ian Coss. It was led by Damon, with Radiotopia Executive Producer Julie Shapiro, Ian Coss, who co-produced and sound designed the podcast, Matt Browne, who edited the book, and James Goggin, who designed the book. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia with additional funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Our Russian content partner is the history site Arzamas.Academy.Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy, Secrets, Errthang, The Great God of Depression and The Stoop at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 line. Spacebridge is a production of Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia with additional funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Our Russian content partner is the history site Arzamas.Academy. Find out more at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 Corporation of New York. Our Russian content partner is the history site Arzamas.Academy.Find out more and listen to the previous series, The Stoop, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy, Secrets, Errthang, and The Great God of Depression at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 from PRX’s Radiotopia with additional funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Our Russian content partner is the history site Arzamas.Academy.Find out more and listen to the previous series Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy, Secrets, Errthang, The Great God of Depression, and The Stoop at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 live…for better and/or for worse.Co-hosted by Julia Barton and Charles Maynes, Spacebridge is a production of Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia with additional funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Our Russian content partner is the history site Arzamas.Academy. Find out more at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 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 Seth Samuel and Chris Hoff, and associate produced by Jessica Jupiter. Music by Daoud Anthony and artwork by Neema Iyer. Special thanks to KALW, the NPR Story Lab, and California Humanities. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy, Secrets, Errthang and The Great God of Depression at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 Seth Samuel and Chris Hoff, and associate produced by Jessica Jupiter. Music by Daoud Anthony and artwork by Neema Iyer. Special thanks to KALW, the NPR Story Lab, and California Humanities. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy, Secrets, Errthang and The Great God of Depression at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 Leila Day and Hana Baba, edited by Julie Caine and Casey Miner, engineered by Seth Samuel and Chris Hoff, and associate produced by Jessica Jupiter. Music by Daoud Anthony and artwork by Neema Iyer. Special thanks to KALW, the NPR Story Lab, and California Humanities. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy, Secrets, Errthang and The Great God of Depression at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 produced especially for Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia. It’s hosted and produced by Leila Day and Hana Baba, edited by Julie Caine and Chris Miner, engineered by Seth Samuel and Chris Hoff, and associate produced by Jessica Jupiter. Music by Daoud Anthony and artwork by Neema Iyer. Special thanks to KALW, the NPR Story Lab, and California Humanities.Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy, Secrets, Errthang and The Great God of Depression at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 California Humanities.Find out more at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 more information visit radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 Shapiro is the executive producer.Find links, photos and more information about this episode at radiotopia.fm/showcase.Thanks for additional support from Benjamin Brock Johnson, Whitney Light, Cathleen O’Keefe, Katherine Sullivan, Emily Jones, Abby Holtzman and Ian Fox, Audrey Mardavich and Alex Braunstein, from the PRX Podcast Garage. Thanks to Jack Gilpin, who read for us from Styron’s works, And a very special thanks to Alice Flaherty and Rose Styron, as well as to Alexandra and Tom Styron.Archival material for the series came from the Rubinstein Library at Duke University, The DANA Foundation, a 1990 interview by NPR’s Terry Gross on Fresh Air, produced by WHYY, The Diane Rehm Show from WAMU and NPR, the 92nd Street Y, biographer Jim West, filmmaker Joel Foreman, and the Sun Valley Writers Conference, an annual conference where readers and writers come together to celebrate ideas. Thanks to Librivox reader Stewart Wills for the Moby Dick excerpts. Sarah Shapiro designed our logo, and Michael Vitale and Shane Allesio performed additional music for the series.Thanks for listening to The Great God of Depression. Suicide can be a difficult topic to hear about, and also hard to talk about if you’re having distressing thoughts yourself. The national suicide prevention hotline is there to help. It’s free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day. The number is 1-800-273-8255. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 support from New England Public Radio. Music and sound design by Ian Coss. Julie Shapiro is the executive producer.Find links, photos and more information about this episode at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 and sound design by Ian Coss. Julie Shapiro is the executive producer.Find links, photos and more information about this episode at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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.Find links, photos and more information about this episode at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 information about this episode at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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; Everything is Alive, an unscripted interview show with inanimate objects; and in Showcase from Radiotopia, the series, The Great God of Depression, a true story of a brilliant physician, a literary genius and madness in America.Lose yourself and discover the world through new stories from Radiotopia, all summer long.To learn more: https://www.radiotopia.fm/summer. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Al and Willie wrap up the season right where they started – with each other. After 30 years of friendship, their origin story is finally revealed.Errthang is produced and hosted by Al Letson, with co-host and music supervisor Willie Evans Jr., show systemizer Brie Burge and actor Jason Stephens. Check out season one here.S2 of Errthang is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy and Secrets, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In this second half of Errthang’s original radio drama: John Coffey doesn’t want to be Magical Negro anymore and the universe trembles in the aftershock of his decision. All John wants is a story all his own; a history deeper than him just saving white people. John sets out to find that story with the help of his fellow Magical Negroes and his creator, Stephen King.Errthang is produced and hosted by Al Letson, with co-host and music supervisor Willie Evans Jr., show systemizer Brie Burge and actor Jason Stephens. Check out season one here.John Coffey Refuses to Save the World features Larry Knight (John Coffey), David Girard (Legba), Jason Stephens (God with a little g), Toni Lang Philips (Mother Abigail), Steven Anderson (Bagger Vance), Bill Ratliff (Stephen King), Brooks Anne (Clerk).S2 of Errthang is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy and Secrets, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In this episode, Errthang takes on radio drama: John Coffey waits to play his part in The Green Mile in the room of Magical Negroes. With him are other Magical Negroes: Mother Abigail, Bagger Vance, and God (with a Little g). When John learns the nature of his power, he doesn’t want to be magical anymore and refuses to go. But everyone has to play their part, or the universe might fall apart. John Coffey and the rest of the Magical Negroes wrestle with question; are we all destined to play the roles we are cast?Errthang is produced and hosted by Al Letson, with co-host and music supervisor Willie Evans Jr., show systemizer Brie Burge and actor Jason Stephens. Check out season one here.This episode features Larry Knight (as John Coffey), David Girard (Legba), Jason Stephens (God with a little g), Toni Lang Philips (Mother Abigail), Steven Anderson (Bagger Vance), Bill Ratliff (Stephen King), Brooks Anne (Clerk). S2 of Errthang is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy and Secrets, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This episode features Kiese Laymon’s memoir about growing up as a young black man in the South. The piece is performed by a small group of young black men who Al mentored in their youth.Errthang is produced and hosted by Al Letson, with co-host and music supervisor Willie Evans Jr., show systemizer Brie Burge and actor Jason Stephens. Check out season one here.S2 of Errthang is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy and Secrets, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Al goes deep exploring the "good guy’s” relationship to the #MeToo movement, through a story about his old friend, Louis. After the story, Al sits down with feminist commentator Kimberly Foster of For Harriet, to talk about the story, Rape Culture, and how to move forward. Errthang is produced and hosted by Al Letson, with co-host and music supervisor Willie Evans Jr., show systemizer Brie Burge and actor Jason Stephens. Check out season one here. S2 of Errthang is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy and Secrets, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Al and Willie tell stories about fatherhood. Al’s story is about being a black father to a white kid, while Willie recounts teaching his son how to handle a bully.Errthang is produced and hosted by Al Letson, with co-host and music supervisor Willie Evans Jr., show systemizer Brie Burge and actor Jason Stephens. Check out season one here. Season 2 of Errthang is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy and Secrets, at radiotopia.fm/showcase.Thanks to Burrow for sponsoring Showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Al recounts when he went to a protest to report the news, but became the news. Letson saved a right-wing protester from a vicious beating by Antifa. This episode is about why he did it, how it all happened, and how he felt afterwards.Errthang is produced and hosted by Al Letson, with co-host and music supervisor Willie Evans Jr., show systemizer Brie Burge and actor Jason Stephens. Check out season one here.Season 2 of Errthang is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy and Secrets, at radiotopia.fm/showcase.Thanks to Burrow for sponsoring Showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Al Letson and Willie Evans Jr. are back with season two of Errthang! After a long hiatus, the dynamic duo returns to tell stories, and have a good time. This season Letson and Evans focus on stories and interviews about fatherhood, the political unrest in the country, and ruminations on love. It’s a wild, fun ride with a lot of heart and depth. In episode one, Al tells the stories of three excruciating heartbreaks that will leave you laughing.Errthang is produced and hosted by Al Letson, with co-host and music supervisor Willie Evans Jr., show systemizer Brie Burge and actor Jason Stephens. Check out season one here.Errthang is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing, The Polybius Conspiracy and Secrets, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Coming up next on Showcase: ErrthangErrthang is just that: everything that’s percolating in journalist/storyteller Al Letson’s brain; stories told with a lot of heart, interviews with a lot of thought, music with a funky beat, and a good time with co-host Willie Evans Jr. Stay tuned for eight weekly episodes starting March 23.Find out more at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Secrets is a show about the secrets we all carry inside of us. What happens when you face those secrets?In the final episode of our series, Mohamed’s secret sister Maria finally agrees to meet. Mohamed brings his daughter Samira with him to the meeting at Maria’s house a few hours drive outside Stockholm. They finally meet and talk, and try to understand together why Maria became a secret for the rest of the world.Also in episode six: We meet the former MI-5 agent Annie Machon, who was forced to hide from the British intelligence after blowing the whistle on classified agency activities.Secrets is produced and hosted by Mohamed El Abed and Martin Johnson, with additional reporting by Åsa Secher, from the Swedish production company, Soundtelling. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro. Artwork is by Sepidar Hosseini, and music is by Min stora sorg.Secrets is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing and The Polybius Conspiracy, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Secrets is a show about the secrets we all carry inside of us. How do you know if you ever truly know someone? Mohamed’s father abandoned Mohamed, his mother and his sisters and moved back to Morocco. There he started a third family. He told Mohamed’s mother nothing of this, and told the new family in Morocco that his family in Sweden had died. Mohamed’s father died of brain cancer in 1998, carrying all of these secrets with him into the grave. Also in episode five: We meet Swedish comedian Tobias Ström, whose long-distance girlfriend told him she was dying of cancer. But the details didn’t quite add up.Secrets is produced and hosted by Mohamed El Abed and Martin Johnson, with additional reporting by Åsa Secher, from the Swedish production company, Soundtelling. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro. Artwork is by Sepidar Hosseini, and music is by Min stora sorg.Secrets is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing and The Polybius Conspiracy, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Secrets is a show about the secrets we all carry inside of us. How is it to be the one kept in the dark?When Mohamed’s mom was left alone with her six children, she worked herself to death and eventually collapsed at home with a heart attack. Mohamed was 12 years old. Now, 25 years later, there is no one to answer the questions he would like to ask: How much did she know about Maria, the secret sister? How much did his father lie to her?Also in episode four: Andrea Hunter and her boyfriend had two children together. Turns out he was also living a completely separate life in London – a life that she knew nothing about.Secrets is produced and hosted by Mohamed El Abed and Martin Johnson, with additional reporting by Åsa Secher, from the Swedish production company, Soundtelling. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro. Artwork is by Sepidar Hosseini, and music is by Min stora sorg.Secrets is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing and The Polybius Conspiracy, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Secrets is a show about the secrets we all carry inside of us. What happens when you’re too ashamed to face the truth? Mohamed’s parents both worked as cleaners, trying to earn enough money to feed six children. When Mohamed was just a year old, his father left his mother in Sweden and travelled back to Morocco, leaving her alone to raise their children. She continued to work day and night to make ends meet. Since Mohamed’s childhood, thousands more immigrants have arrived in Sweden with dreams of a different life. In episode three we meet Zakaria Hersi, who was too ashamed to tell his father, who was living with him, that he was unemployed. Instead he spent months in the public library, pretending every morning to commute to a job that didn’t exist. Secrets is produced and hosted by Mohamed El Abed and Martin Johnson, with additional reporting by Åsa Secher, from the Swedish production company, Soundtelling. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro. Artwork is by Sepidar Hosseini, and music is by Min stora sorg.Secrets is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing and The Polybius Conspiracy, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Secrets is a show about the secrets we all carry inside of us.What happens when a secret becomes larger than life? When Mohamed’s mother was a young teenager in Morocco, she entered an arranged marriage with his father, Ben Assai. When Mohamed’s father eventually travelled to Sweden to start a new life for his family, he met another woman and with her conceived a secret daughter, Maria.In episode two, we also travel deep into the forest to meet the Norwegian nature photographer Terje Hellesö, who took photos of a world in the forest that didn’t exist.Secrets is produced and hosted by Mohamed El Abed and Martin Johnson, with additional reporting by Åsa Secher, from the Swedish production company, Soundtelling. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro. Artwork is by Sepidar Hosseini, and music is by Min stora sorg.Secrets is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing and The Polybius Conspiracy, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Secrets is a show about the secrets we all carry inside of us. When Mohamed El Abed found out that he had a secret sister, it was 25 years before he could start putting the pieces together. Across six episodes of Secrets, you’ll hear Mohamed’s story, and meet both people who live every day with a significant lie, and people affected by the lies of others.How is it to live with a secret that no one can know about? What happens when that secret is exposed? In episode one we meet Neil Woods who, as an undercover policeman in the UK, pretended to be a heroin addict for 14 years while he had a wife and two children back home.Secrets is produced and hosted by Mohamed El Abed and Martin Johnson, with additional reporting by Åsa Secher, from the Swedish production company, Soundtelling. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro. Artwork is by Sepidar Hosseini, and music is by Min stora sorg. Secrets is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing and The Polybius Conspiracy, at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Greetings from Showcase, a podcast from PRX’s Radiotopia featuring original series of all stripes.Coming up first in the new year on Showcase: Secrets, by Swedish producers Mohamed El Abed, Martin Johnson and Åsa Secher, explores the secrets we keep in our lives, and the overwhelming complexities of being human. Stay tuned for six weekly episodes starting January 12.Find out more at radiotopia.fm/showcase. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In The Polybius Conspiracy, producers Jon Frechette and Todd Luoto investigate the decades-old urban legend of Polybius, a mysterious arcade game from the '80s whose alleged existence in the Pacific Northwest is fueled by myth and an obsessive online fan base, and which may have factored in the abduction of two teenage boys. Told as a hybrid documentary/fictional story, the series is an artful meditation on how urban legends take hold and spread, and an exploration into how we consume and perpetuate information in the internet age.In Episode Seven: The Final Level, fact, fabrication, history and hoax converge as the search for Marc comes full circle.The Polybius Conspiracy is written and produced by Jon Frechette and Todd Luoto, and hosted, sound designed and mixed by Jon Frechette. Field producer is Dylan Reiff. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro.For some concluding thoughts on The Polybius Conspiracy, from Radiotopia and producers Jon and Todd, go to radiotopia.fm/blog.Music throughout The Polybius Conspiracy is by Anenon, Chris Fitzpatrick, Hrishikesh Hirway, Jon Frechette and Restricted. Episode Artwork is by Jin Lim. Logo design is by Kevin Blanchard. Avatar design is by Jonathan Moura. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In The Polybius Conspiracy, producers Jon Frechette and Todd Luoto investigate the decades-old urban legend of Polybius, a mysterious arcade game from the '80s whose alleged existence in the Pacific Northwest is fueled by myth and an obsessive online fan base, and which may have factored in the abduction of two teenage boys. Told as a hybrid documentary/fictional story, the series is an artful meditation on how urban legends take hold and spread, and an exploration into how we consume and perpetuate information in the internet age.In Episode Six: The Code, questions about Bobby result in a surprising lead, as Rubin comes to believe he's cracked the code on Polybius.The Polybius Conspiracy is written and produced by Jon Frechette and Todd Luoto, and hosted, sound designed and mixed by Jon Frechette. Field producer is Dylan Reiff. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro.Music throughout The Polybius Conspiracy is by Anenon, Chris Fitzpatrick, Hrishikesh Hirway, Jon Frechette and Restricted. Episode Artwork is by Jin Lim. Logo design is by Kevin Blanchard. Avatar design is by Jonathan Moura.Thanks for listening to Showcase, from Radiotopia! We’re in the last days of our annual fundraiser right now. If you’re enjoying listening to The Polybius Conspiracy (and we bet you are) please consider donating to support the network, at radiotopia.fm. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices