Behind the Series: The Polybius Conspiracy
Radiotopia Presents: We're Doing the Wiz
Radiotopia
4.3 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2021
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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.
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Radiotopia Presents from PRX's Radiotopia. |
| 0:07.0 | Hi everyone. In today's episode we'll be giving a lot of |
| 0:15.0 | the showcase series from 2017, The Polybius Conspiracy. This conversation gives away a lot. |
| 0:18.0 | So if you haven't listened to the Polybius conspiracy yet, |
| 0:22.0 | we recommend you go back and find the series in the feed and give it a listen. |
| 0:27.4 | Thanks. |
| 0:32.2 | Like a moth to a flame you keep kind of coming back to it wanting to find out |
| 0:37.2 | Where this all came from you're being drawn along this path that gets increasingly bizarre and sort of unknowable. |
| 0:55.0 | This is behind the series. A short-run series about the shows featured on this very podcast, Showcase, from Radiotopia. |
| 1:02.1 | I just threw a lot of shows, series, pods at you, but that is what we are here to talk about. |
| 1:09.0 | These four episodes will lead up to some exciting announcements about the future of |
| 1:13.7 | showcase. I'm Mark Bagan, the host and creator of the podcast, Other Men Need Help, |
| 1:19.7 | and a producer here at Radiotopia. |
| 1:23.0 | Today we're talking about the Polybius conspiracy, |
| 1:26.0 | originally released in fall 2017. |
| 1:30.0 | Whether it's Bigfoot, aliens, |
| 1:32.0 | or the infamous |
| 1:33.0 | skyjacking case of D.B. Cooper, Oregon has a bit of |
| 1:36.4 | everything for enthusiasts of the unexplained, including |
| 1:40.0 | a sinister arcade game. |
| 1:41.6 | There's a game in the Pacific Northwest that was really popular. |
| 1:45.4 | Lines out the door to play the game, but this game would make every kid who played it |
... |
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