We are the producers of Radiotopia, a curated network of extraordinary, cutting-edge podcasts including 99% Invisible, Song Exploder, The Allusionist, Love + Radio, Radio Diaries, and Strangers. Ask us anything!

Hi reddit! Thanks for having us. We are Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, cutting-edge podcasts. We're in the middle of an important fundraiser, and need the help of fans to hit our Freshboks $40k challenge goal. Help us out and donate at Radiotopia.fm! We've got great rewards, from enamel pins with our new logo, to an actual wedding ceremony hosted by /u/helenzaltzman.

We’d love to have commenters use the username of the host/show at which they're aiming their question… e.g. /u/romanmars for Roman. We are:

We'll sign our responses with our initials so you know who said what. Follow us on Twitter at: @radiotopia.

Oh and if you have a question for any of our shows who couldn't join the AMA, feel free to ask/tag them and they can answer it later.

Our proof: https://twitter.com/radiotopia/status/791026185585172480

Comments: 326 • Responses: 8  • Date: 

NoCitationNeeded15 karma

Any chance of rescuing the Mystery Show? Also, how do you all feel about Gimlet? Is this a more the merrier situation or is there some rivalry there? I was with you all first, and I don't want to be disloyal.

publicradioexchange14 karma

Yes we are friendly with Gimlet, and are big fans of their shows. Agreed, the more the merrier... there are so many people out there who don't even listen to podcasts yet. We need to work together to turn them onto the medium and provide amazing content. So yes listen to it all!

georgejohnsonsmith11 karma

I'm not familiar with all of your podcasts (I'm a frequent 99% invisible listener), does radiotopia plan on creating content made specifically for children? I think it could be a hit.

publicradioexchange8 karma

I do love this idea. A few of our Podquest entrants focused on stories like this. We haven't found the right fit yet but wouldn't rule it out.

NoCitationNeeded10 karma

I just went to the first Criminal live show on their tour and it was amazing fun. Phoebe Judge was awesome! Are any of the other Radiotopia shows considering doing live shows?

Edit: Missing end of sentence.

publicradioexchange6 karma

Hooray thanks for going to see Criminal! We definitely plan to do more network live shows in 2017.

chromebookbob7 karma

How often do you work across podcasts together as producers, it must be hard to battle creative drain working on episodic content under one theme, does collaboration help that?

publicradioexchange3 karma

Hey there! Our producers work together on occasion. We did a cross-network theme back in 2015, and are planning another one for 2017. It's a fun way to bring everyone together and drum up fan excitement, plus cross-show listening. Many of the producers worked together on episodes throughout the fundraising campaign we are currently running, and yes I think the collaboration made the workload a bit easier.

jeebabyhundo6 karma

Is there ever going to be a Paypal option for donations?

publicradioexchange7 karma

Not for this one at least. We're trying to figure out better ways to work with our international donors. We’re continually working with our partner donation platform to improve the quality of the experience for all of our donors, specifically international. As the technology advances we’re certain you won’t have this same issue much longer, and hopefully won't need PayPal. We appreciate your patience and contribution in the meantime :)

gfamaral4 karma

Hey, guys, big fan of many of your shows and really happy about The Bugle joining.

My question is: Do you have any intention of releasing the Radiotopia Live show in any streamable or downloadable form?

publicradioexchange3 karma

Hey! Thanks so much for the love. We are probably not going to release the first show for download, the reason being a lot of the content presented is going to either go on the road with some of the shows or be presented in a podcast. However! We are going to do more live shows in 2017, in more cities. So stay tuned!

gfamaral3 karma

Oh, OK. I'm from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and going to a live show in the U.S. would be pretty expensive :/

publicradioexchange3 karma

I have a feeling that we will do something with the content of future live shows, just not the first one. We love our international fans and want to serve them better! Open to ideas too.