Hey, before we get started, I wanted to let you know that we are in the middle of our Radiotopia fundraiser.

This is the time of year that I ask you to directly support this podcast and the work that I do.

These times are bananas everywhere, including the podcast industry, as in all media, news organizations, cultural institutions,

websites, magazines, radio, we are in a time of tremendous change and contraction.

Corporations who swept into my industry and threw a bunch of money around and made a bunch

of shows, hired a bunch of people. They have taken that money away.

And with it, they have taken shows that people love to listen to and to make and the livelihoods

and dreams, like honestly, of so many people, so many people I know, friends of mine. The fact that

the show still exists, despite all that,

after 17 years, and that I have been able to make a living doing it for maybe a little bit

more than half of that, sometimes feels like a miracle to me. The show does not fit into the marketplace.

It is odd in its format and in its length. It is too idiosyncratic in its approach.

It's not supposed to work, but it does.

And that can feel like a miracle, but it is not.

It is Radiotopia.

Years ago, when podcasting first started to be a real thing,

and it looked like the industry was finally mature enough for me to make a living doing it with this show.

I had a bunch of choices about how to try and do that.

There were some big companies that had big money.

There were some famous brands both starting up and starting to diversify.

And I said, no, I turned those things down.

I chose Radiotopia.

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