Best The Kitchen Sisters & Radiotopia Podcasts (2025)

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Introducing: Forever is a Long Time 32:57

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6h ago32:57

32:57

When Ian Coss decided to get married, every living member of his family who had ever been married had also gotten divorced: parents, grandparents, and all his aunts and uncles on both sides — some of them twice. Today, he has questions: What is the value of a lifetime commitment? Are we doomed to recycle the patterns of behavior we get from our anc…

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Hidden Kitchens Texas — Hosted by Willie Nelson 58:47

16d ago58:47

58:47

Willie Nelson and Dallas-born actress Robin Wright, along with some wild and extraordinary tellers, take us across Texas and share some of their Hidden Kitchen stories. Gas station tacos, ice houses, Chili Queens, Stubb's BBQ, cowboy kitchens, car wash kitchens, space food. With special guests Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Kinky Friedman, Joe Nick Patoski, …

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We're Doing The Wiz 4 - Pass the Squeeze 40:12

23d ago40:12

40:12

It's opening night. Will PVPA pull it off? And almost 20 years later, the cast reflects on the impact doing The Wiz had on their lives. The series is made possible in part by a grant from Mass Humanities, which provided funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Learn more about We're Doing The Wiz at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover mor…

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America Eats - 1930s WPA Chronicle of Food, Ritual and Celebration at The Library of Congress 16:40

30d ago16:40

16:40

Fish Fries, political BBQs, family reunions — during the 1930s writers were paid by the government to chronicle local food, eating customs and recipes across the United States. America Eats, a WPA project, sent writers like Nelson Algren, Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, and Stetson Kennedy out to document America’s relationship with food during t…

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We're Doing The Wiz 3 - You Don’t Hit White Girls 34:30

30d ago34:30

34:30

Rehearsals are in full swing. But while most students are focused on their songs and dance steps, a tense backstage drama threatens the entire production. The series is made possible in part by a grant from Mass Humanities, which provided funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Learn more about We're Doing The Wiz at radiotopiapresents.…

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We're Doing The Wiz 2 - The Black Wizard of Oz 40:34

1M ago40:34

40:34

It’s audition time at PVPA. Will students get the parts they want? Will it come down to race, talent or both? And is anyone giving Dorothy? The series is made possible in part by a grant from Mass Humanities, which provided funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Learn more about We're Doing The Wiz at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover…

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The National Archives – The What and the Why 28:40

1M ago28:40

28:40

“From the very beginning the intent was that the American people needed to be able to access the records so that we would be able to hold the government accountable for its actions.” - David Ferriero During the first Trump administration, when access to certain websites and information was being threatened, we started our Keepers series about activ…

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We're Doing The Wiz 1 - The Tofu Curtain 38:56

1M ago38:56

38:56

When a bussing program brings a group of Black students to a predominately white performing arts high school in rural Massachusetts, a racial reckoning rocks the campus. And an unlikely selection for the school’s annual musical reshapes the student body forever. The series is made possible in part by a grant from Mass Humanities, which provided fun…

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Radiotopia Presents: We're Doing the Wiz 2:48

2M ago2:48

2:48

Coming up next on Radiotopia Presents: We’re Doing The Wiz. Two former classmates reconnect to unpack the high school musical that changed their lives. The series is made possible in part by a grant from Mass Humanities, which provided funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Learn more about We're Doing The Wiz at radiotopiapresents.fm …

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E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial - The Worst Video Game Ever? 26:17

2M ago26:17

26:17

Deep within the National Museum of American History’s vaults is a battered Atari case containing what’s known as “the worst video game of all time.” The game is E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and it was so bad that not even the might of Steven Spielberg could save it. It was so loathsome that all remaining copies were buried deep in the desert. And it…

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Red for Revolution x The Frogs 23:02

2M ago23:02

23:02

On May 24, 2025 in LA, Red for Revolution's creator/writer/director Jana Naomi Smith joined The Frogs for a rollicking live taping of their podcast, to talk career, inspiration, the origins of R4R, and for a live performance featuring Caro Guzmán. To listen to the full episode, head over to the The Frogs — where theater, culture, and vibe collide. …

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Radio Pacific - A New Show From KALW San Francisco 52:26

2M ago52:26

52:26

The Kitchen Sisters are excited to share the first episode of Radio Pacific, a new monthly show from KALW in San Francisco that takes a deep and creative look at the issues facing California and the rest of our country today. The hour-long, monthly program features journalists, writers, and documentarians who are grappling with life in the country’…

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Introducing Selects from Radiotopia and Room Tone 32:40

3M ago32:40

32:40

Today we’re introducing our Radiotopia Presents listeners to a brand new show out now from Radiotopia. It’s called Selects. Selects is a monthly show that brings you unearthed audio works we’ve found buried in web archives, radio streams, and old podcasts. They’ve come to us through the recommendations and inspirations of some of the most talented …

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Plessy AND Ferguson—Activism and the Fight for Justice and Equal Rights 15:52

3M ago15:52

15:52

In 1892, Homer Plessy, a mixed race shoemaker in New Orleans, was arrested, convicted and fined $25 for taking a seat in a whites-only train car. This was not a random act. It was a carefully planned move by the Citizen’s Committee, an activist group of Free People of Color, to fight a new law being enacted in Louisiana which threatened to re-impos…

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After 15 months of displacement...from Up First 30:08

3M ago30:08

30:08

Recently, the White House announced its plans to ask Congress to rescind funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. If the plan passes, there could be serious consequences for the public media ecosystem. Rather than tell you why we think public media is important, we are sharing this piece from NPR's Up First. This story is one of the best…

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Pie Down Here: Listening Back—Alabama Sharecroppers and Communist Organizers, 1930s 37:43

4M ago37:43

37:43

Pie Down Here — Produced by Signal Hill In the 1980s, when Robin D.G. Kelley was 24 years old, he took a bus trip to the Deep South. He was researching and recording oral histories with farmworkers and Communist Party members who had organized a sharecroppers union in Alabama during the Great Depression. Kelly used those oral histories to write his…

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Introducing: Harlem Queen 13:37

4M ago13:37

13:37

Today we're sharing the first episode of Harlem Queen, a historical audio drama detailing the powerful story of “Policy Queen” and “gangster” Madame Stephanie St. Clair. Madame St. Clair had a powerful impact on building the Harlem community underground and aboveground and defining the Harlem Renaissance. Our goal is for you to be entertained, educ…

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A Tribute to George Foreman: An Unexpected Kitchen—The George Foreman Grill 22:38

4M ago22:38

22:38

In 2004, we opened up a phone line on NPR asking people to tell us about their Hidden Kitchens— secret, underground, below the radar cooking, and how people come together through food. One caller told us about immigrants and homeless people, who didn't have official kitchens, using the George Foreman Grill to make meals and a home. Did George Forem…

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Jason and Isabelle Revisit My Mother Made Me 6:09

4M ago6:09

6:09

In October 2024, Apple Podcasts launched a new initiative to highlight narrative series, including designating a new show every month as a Series Essential, celebrating the finest storytelling and the medium’s greatest achievements. My Mother Made Me is the March 2025 selection. For this special occasion, we asked Jason to sit down with his mother …

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Alternate Realities from Embedded 27:55

4M ago27:55

27:55

Today, we're sharing the first episode of a new limited-run series from NPR's Embedded, "Alternate Realities". Zach Mack and his dad are living in separate realities, and it's tearing their family apart. Like so many Americans, Zach's dad has gotten swept up in conspiracy theories. After years of circular arguments, the father challenged his son to…

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Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston - Revisiting Manzanar 44:49

4M ago44:49

44:49

In 1981 The Kitchen Sisters interviewed Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston for a story about life on the homefront during World War II. Jeanne told stories of her childhood growing up in Manzanar, a hastily built detention camp surrounded by barbed wire and armed guard towers in the midst of the Owens Valley in the Mojave desert, where Japanese Americans wer…

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Red for Revolution 6 - I Love Paris 41:30

5M ago41:30

41:30

As tensions escalate and hearts are both shattered and healed, our season one love story reaches its climax in the City of Love. Jazmine’s family surprises her with a graduation trip to Paris, but little do they know, she has a surprise of her own in store. Red for Revolution is created, written, and directed by Jana Naomi Smith with Musical Direct…

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Red for Revolution 5 - Send in the Clowns 43:11

5M ago43:11

43:11

As tensions between Jazmine and her mother boil over, Grandma Ella steps in, guiding the three women to confront the painful reality of intergenerational homophobia. Meanwhile, back in the 1970s, the stakes soar for Ella and Lorraine’s relationship as young Ella is falsely accused of a crime. Red for Revolution is created, written, and directed by …

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The Tom Luddy Connection: The Man, The Movies, The Rolodex 53:14

5M ago53:14

53:14

Tom Luddy was a quiet titan of cinema. He presided over the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley for some 10 years, co-founded and directed The Telluride Film Festival for nearly 50 years, produced some 14 movies, match-made dozens of international love affairs, and foraged for the most beautiful, political, important, risky films and made sure there w…

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Red for Revolution 4 - He Looked Beyond My Faults 29:22

5M ago29:22

29:22

Jazmine holds space for Ms. Lorraine as she shares her story of substance abuse, inspiring a conversation about grace and self-acceptance. Meanwhile, back in the 70s, a younger Lorraine confesses her substance abuse to Ella, generating a difficult impasse between the two. Red for Revolution is created, written, and directed by Jana Naomi Smith with…

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House/Full of Black Women 52:59

5M ago52:59

52:59

For almost a dozen years, 34 Black women gathered monthly around a big dining room table in an orange house on Orange Street in Oakland, CA — meeting, cooking, dancing, strategizing — grappling with the issues of eviction, erasure, gentrification, inadequate health care, and the sex trafficking of Black women and girls overwhelming their community.…

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Red for Revolution 3 - Stormy Weather 32:06

5M ago32:06

32:06

As Jazmine grapples with self-acceptance, Grandma Ella and Ms. Lorraine feel compelled to share their respective insecurities. This leads to a poignant recollection of the day a power outage compelled a young Ella and Lorraine to reveal their deepest secrets and vulnerabilities. Red for Revolution is created, written, and directed by Jana Naomi Smi…

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Red for Revolution 2 - Never Will I Marry 47:37

6M ago47:37

47:37

Jazmine uncovers her grandmother's journals, shedding light on previously unknown aspects of her inner life and igniting the tale of how Ella and Lorraine reconnected in 1971, New York City for a taping of the TV show Black Dreams after their passionate first encounter in Gary. Red for Revolution is created, written, and directed by Jana Naomi Smit…

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Spotlight on Black Pet Care Entrepreneurs 36:30

6M ago36:30

36:30

Lured in by a blackboard sign on the street in Davia’s neighborhood announcing “Spotlight on Black Entrepreneurs,” we enter the creative and growing world of Black-Owned Pet Businesses. Lick You Silly dog treats, Trill Paws enamel ID Tags, The Dog Father of Harlem's Doggie Day Spa, gorgeous rainbow beaded Dog Collars from The Kenya Collection, Sir …

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Red for Revolution 1 - I’ve Got a Crush On You 34:47

6M ago34:47

34:47

After the assassination of a Black female revolutionary, an unexpected romance blossoms between the two women left in her wake—an apolitical jazz singer and a radical activist. While in the present day, college-bound Jazmine embarks on a journey to find her grandmother's first love and document their love story. Red for Revolution is created, writt…

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Radiotopia Presents: Red for Revolution 2:21

6M ago2:21

2:21

Red for Revolution is an enthralling audio drama that tells the passionate love story between jazz singer Lorraine Giovanni and activist Ella Ali. The narrative unfolds through the perspective of 18-year-old Jazmine, who is coming of age and seeking wisdom from her grandmother, Ella. As Jazmine conducts heartfelt interviews with her grandmother, li…

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The Anti-Inaugural Concert: Leonard Bernstein, Richard Nixon and the "Plea for Peace" music of 1973 Inauguration 33:14

6M ago33:14

33:14

Lady Gaga, Marion Anderson, Beyoncé, Frank Sinatra, Pete Seeger, Maya Angelou — musicians and poets have been powerful headliners at inauguration ceremonies across the years signaling change, new beginnings and reflecting the mood of the country and a new administration. In January 1973, following the Christmas bombing of Vietnam, conductor Leonard…

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Best of Radiotopia - Weight For It 40:43

7M ago40:43

40:43

Best of Radiotopia 2024 - Weight For It - “Into Thin Air." It's not too late - Radiotopia’s fall fundraiser is still on! Donate to support audio with vision. Thank you! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choicesBy Radiotopia

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Best of Radiotopia - This Day in Esoteric Political History 20:27

7M ago20:27

20:27

Best of Radiotopia 2024 - This Day in Esoteric Political History - “Dick Cheney Shoots Friend In The Face”. Radiotopia’s fall fundraiser is here! Donate today to support audio with vision. Thank you! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choicesBy Radiotopia

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Best of Radiotopia - The West Wing Weekly 1:01:42

7M ago1:01:42

1:01:42

Best of Radiotopia 2024 - The West Wing Weekly - “The American President”. Radiotopia’s fall fundraiser is here! Donate today to support audio with vision. Thank you! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choicesBy Radiotopia

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Best of Radiotopia - The Stoop 34:59

7M ago34:59

34:59

Best of Radiotopia 2024 - The Stoop - “This Ain't Texas, It's Africa." It's not too late - Radiotopia’s fall fundraiser is still on! Donate to support audio with vision. Thank you! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choicesBy Radiotopia

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Best of Radiotopia - Song Exploder 27:28

7M ago27:28

27:28

Best of Radiotopia 2024 - Song Exploder - “Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Our House." It's not too late - Radiotopia’s fall fundraiser is still on! Donate to support audio with vision. Thank you! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choicesBy Radiotopia