Radiotopia

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Channel • 43 Shows

Technology

Technology

Updated weekly
History

History

Updated weekly
Music Commentary

Music Commentary

Weekly series
Comedy

Comedy

Updated weekly

Music Commentary

Music Commentary

Weekly series
TV & Film

TV & Film

Updated weekly
Fashion & Beauty

Fashion & Beauty

Every-two-months series
Music

Music

Every two weeks
Comedy

Comedy

Updated weekly
History

History

Every two weeks
Technology

Technology

Updated weekly

1 day ago

The Diplomat 1.01: The Cinderella Thing (with Debora Cahn)

Our discussion of The Diplomat begins at the beginning with the creator of the series, Debora Cahn, who tells us about the show's origin story. For more info and to discuss the episode, visit thewestwingweekly.com/thediplomat-101. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
23 Sept

A Succulent Crime with Kelsey McKinney

Dowager queen Kelsey McKinney is back to close out season ten with a story about plant parenthood in a pediatrician's office. We are now on YouTube. Be sure to follow us on there at @DefectorMedia where you can watch today’s episode. Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets! You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com. You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/ Episode transcript here. Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at normalgossip@defector.com or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP. Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Our audio engineer is Samantha Gattsek. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby. Theme music composed by Hrishikesh Hirway. Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
23 Sept

Olivia Rodrigo - The Cure

Olivia Rodrigo is a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter. In June 2026, she released her third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. The day it came out, it broke streaming records on Spotify and Amazon Music, and it debuted at number one on the Billboard Charts. I talked to Olivia Rodrigo here in my studio, and I also visited her long-time producer and co-writer Dan Nigro at his studio. Dan Nigro won the Grammy for Producer of the Year in 2025, in part for his work with Olivia Rodrigo. For this episode, the two of them told me the story of making Olivia’s song “The Cure,” from the original voice memo to the final version. For more info, visit songexploder.net/olivia-rodrigo.
Season 8, Episode 15

The Philosophy Club: Voltaire

The philosophy club is back with a very special one: Voltaire's poem Man of The World. Derek Guy and Avery discuss what it means to love this messed-up, materialist, consumerist world-- at least in the way that Voltaire does. Special musical guest Avery Friedman To listen to this episode in full, without ads, become a paid substack subscriber. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Season 8, Episode 14

The Resale Revival

How did used clothing lose its proverbial and literal stink? An episode brought to you by The RealReal. To see images of all the many lives of resale, including inside the enormous Real Real warehouse, head to articlesofinterest.substack.com Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
9 Sept

Paula Cole - I Don't Want to Wait

Paula Cole is a singer, songwriter and producer from Massachusetts. She put out her first solo album, Harbinger, in 1994. Her second album, This Fire, came out in 1996 and was a real breakthrough; she was nominated for seven Grammys, and she won the Grammy for Best New Artist. In fact, that year she was the first woman in Grammy history to be nominated for Producer of the Year without a male collaborator. For this episode, Paula told me about how she made one of the big hits from that album: “I Don’t Want to Wait.” It spent 56 weeks on the Billboard charts. And then, it was heard by millions more, when it was used as the theme song for the hit TV show Dawson’s Creek. These days, Paula has been reclaiming her old music in various ways. A couple of years ago, she re-recorded some of her songs, including “I Don’t Want to Wait.” And that's the version of the song that you’ll hear throughout this episode, and at the end, in its entirety. And on September 10, 2026, Paula is putting out an archival collection of her demos. It’s called Sonic Memoir: Demos 1989-1998. It includes the original demo of “I Don’t Want to Wait,” which you’ll also hear in the episode, as Paula tells the story of how she wrote and produced the song. For more info, visit songexploder.net/paula-cole.
4 days ago

Ryan Jay Keeps Falling For His Friends

The case of the guy who keeps falling for his female friends. Ryan Jay has a problem. He makes friends with women. They get close. Then he falls for them. It’s happened enough times that Ryan Jay is starting to question whether he actually knows how to be friends with women without wanting to date them. So we bring in a proxy to help Ryan Jay figure out why friendship keeps turning into romance for him — and whether there’s another way to do this. Proxy’s fall membership drive is happening now. If you want to help keep the show independent — and get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, live Proxy hangs, and more — become a paid member at proxyhq.org 🍏 From the episode: — Andrew Smiler, a licensed therapist and the author of Clinical Work with Men: Understanding Masculinity in Psychotherapy. Find out more about his work at www.andrewsmiler.com. New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic case, or Taelor Doesn't Want to Have Sex, about an asexual woman trying to figure out how to find the kind of intimacy she wants, without the part she doesn’t. Follow us on Instagram — @proxypodcast @yoweishaw Visit — proxypodcast.com Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com
Season 1, Episode 2

2. The Hit Factory (Part I: No Songs Left Behind)

There's already a #1 hit made with AI. You just don't know which one. In this episode, we go inside the world of professional songwriting camps -- where hits for the biggest artists are assembled by rooms of strangers. And we meet two hitmakers with billions of streams -- Mickey Shiloh (Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Iggy Azalea) and David Phelan (ZAYN, Charli XCX, Jason Derulo) -- who are starting to use AI in their process. The question is... why? Why would successful songwriters need AI? The answer has as much to do with the songwriting industry as it does with AI. For more info go to www.LightBoxPodcast.com.Email us: Mark@LightboxPodcast.comLight Box is reported, written, edited and produced by Mark Henry Phillips at Windhill Studios. Our producer is Drew Thurlow and assistant editor is Ryan Seaton. We make this show completely independently so PLEASE support us by leaving a rating and review. Light Box is a proud member of the Radiotopia network from PRX.
Season 1, Episode 1

1. Inside the Black Box

Composer Mark Henry Phillips logs onto an AI music generator expecting slop. Instead... he has an existential crisis. What it made wasn't slop -- it was good. Really good. This plunges him into a year-and-a-half long rabbit hole. He discovers -- with help from Sonarworks' Helmuts Bēms -- that professional musicians are secretly adopting AI like performance-enhancing drugs. Mark also digs into how these tools actually work with AI researcher Maya Ackerman. And he confronts an uncomfortable question: if a machine can replicate your creative instincts, were they ever really yours to begin with?For more info go to www.LightBoxPodcast.com.Email us: Mark@LightboxPodcast.comLight Box is reported, written, edited and produced by Mark Henry Phillips at Windhill Studios. Our producer is Drew Thurlow and assistant editor is Ryan Seaton. We make this show completely independently so PLEASE support us by leaving a rating and review. Light Box is a proud member of the Radiotopia network from PRX.
Season 8, Episode 10

The Princesses of China

China is the land of the future. So why is everyone dressing like 16th century princesses? Check out these amazing outfits at articlesofinterest.substack.om Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mark Henry Phillips has spent twenty years making music for a living. Then one night he typed a few words into an AI music generator and it did his job better than he ever could. In ten seconds. Basically for free. Light Box is what happened next: a season-long investigation into what AI is doing to music and the people who love it. What happens when a machine can do the thing you thought made you, you?

5.0 (3)

Music Commentary
From The West Wing to The Diplomat to All the President's Men, we discuss works of political television and film. Co-hosted by Joshua Malina (The West Wing, Scandal) and Hrishikesh Hirway (Song Exploder).

4.8 (44)

TV & Film
Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear. Produced and Hosted by Avery Trufelman

4.9 (25)

Fashion & Beauty
Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode features an artist discussing a song of theirs, breaking down the sounds and ideas that went into the writing and recording. Hosted and produced by Hrishikesh Hirway.

4.8 (60)

Music
Normal Gossip delivers juicy, strange, funny, and utterly banal gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet. Host Rachelle Hampton discusses reader-submitted comedic gossip with guests, diving into the lives and decisions of complete strangers. The second-hand truth really is stranger than fiction. Produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks and Jae Towle Vieira. Created by Kelsey McKinney and Alex Sujong Laughlin. Show art by Tara Jacoby. https://normalgossip.komi.io/

4.6 (11)

Comedy
the memory palace

5.0 (32)

History

Radiotopia features podcasts from extraordinary, independent creators. This channel includes ad-free episodes of each show currently in the award-winning network through the subscription option, Radiotopia Uninterrupted.

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The Diplomat 1.01: The Cinderella Thing (with Debora Cahn)

A Succulent Crime with Kelsey McKinney

Olivia Rodrigo - The Cure

The Philosophy Club: Voltaire

The Resale Revival

Paula Cole - I Don't Want to Wait

Ryan Jay Keeps Falling For His Friends

2. The Hit Factory (Part I: No Songs Left Behind)

1. Inside the Black Box

The Princesses of China

Your favorite shows & hosts, now ad-free!

Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 9

Red for Revolution - Webby Nominations + Debbie Allen HerStory Panel

Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 2

Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 1

Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 6

Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 8

Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 4

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