Thank you so much for donating to our fall fundraiser!

We hope you enjoy the 2023 Radiotopia Mixtape. Let us know what you think by tagging us on social @radiotopia or sending us an email at giving@prx.org. We appreciate you!

Both of my picks are from my Feel Good FunkyPop Playlist for those reeeeal long car rides.

—Dominique French, Adult ISH

Salsa dancing is one of my favorite things. I challenge you to stay still while you listen to these songs!

—Caitlin Pierce, Hang Up 

Note: Ear Hustle team members each picked what their walk-up song would be.

—Nigel Poor, Ear Hustle

—Shabnam Sigman, Ear Hustle

—Amy Standen, Ear Hustle

—Rahsaan “New York” Thomas, Ear Hustle

—Bruce Wallace, Ear Hustle

—Earlonne Woods, Ear Hustle

I don't think there's any song that more demands, within the first 10 seconds, that you pay attention. Curtis Mayfield channeling Pet Sounds... Something incredible is HAPPENING in this song!

By the way, this song appears on my “perfect songs” Spotify playlist, which is a… collection of perfect songs. You can hear that here.

—Jody Avirgan, This Day in Esoteric Political History

I like this song a lot.

—Ronald Young Jr., Weight for It

Both of these songs are by friends I met while I was traveling abroad for different stories. They're very dear to me.

—Avery Trufelman, Articles of Interest

I have a playlist of a few dozen songs that I put on when I work on my Memory Palace book (which'll be out in late fall of 2024). Songs I love and know so well that the lyrics don't distract me. This song is the seventh song and every once in awhile I feel like I should take it off because it is too elevating, it is too joyful, its ebullience can be distracting, but I never take it out of the playlist because it seems dumb to try to hedge against potential joy.

—Nate DiMeo, The Memory Palace

These are two piano songs I've been learning to play here at home. They also both appear in films that I've loved. "Solêr" was in The Worst Person in the World (2021) and this recording of "Ich ruf zu Dir…" was in Ida (2013). So these two song recommendations also double as movie recommendations!

If you want to listen to a long mixtape of some of my favorite soothing songs, I have a playlist on Spotify called NapCaviar.

—Hrishikesh Hirway, Song Exploder

Low is one of my all-time favorite bands (I know they're also one of Hrishi's faves too) and is led by singer and drummer Mimi Parker, and her husband singer and guitarist Alan Sparhawk.

Mimi passed away from cancer in 2022, soon after they put out this record. It was really devastating. We lost an incredible talent way too soon, and I have always been inspired by their relationship as musicians and life partners. 

I got to see them live one last time with Molly (Radiotopia's digital fundraiser!) and it just blew me away. This song in particular moves me to tears. It features their voices so beautifully and then there's this totally cathartic fuzzy breakdown that continues to transform after that. I think you should listen and experience it for yourself.

—Audrey Mardavich, Radiotopia Executive Producer

Whatever kind of day it is, System’s rhythmic weave between heavy and melodic vibes will pump you up or shake off a bad day, let you get in your body, lose your shit and headbang it out.

—Kaitlin Prest, The Heart

A collaboration between German classical musicians and Cuban legend Company Segundo, this fresh and evocative take on Mozart's Don Giovanni never fails to transport me to another world, a world that is more dramatic, more romantic, more mysterious.

—Yooree Losordo, Radiotopia Managing Producer

“Dream” is the song that always brings me back up when I’m down. It is my anthem. I found this hidden gem a couple of years ago, it’s one of my favourite recordings of the song.

—Kaitlin Prest, The Heart

"What is meant to be, will be." I have this phrase running through my head 24/7.

—Davia Nelson, The Kitchen Sisters Present

The Kitchen Sisters are working on a story about the making of the book The Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi by Lou Reed — and I can't get these two songs* out of my head. If you don't already, I think you're going to love them.

—Nikki Silva, The Kitchen Sisters Present

*Listen to Nikki’s other selection, “The Power of the Heart” by Lou Reed, here.

Robert Leslie spent the pandemic performing in Tompkins Square Park in our neighborhood in the East Village. And he's been busking around the country since then. Listen to any of his songs... it will make your life better. He's the sound of melancholy.

—Joe Richman, Radio Diaries

This song plays at the end of every Mortified stage show as well as in our documentary, Mortified Nation. It speaks what our project is about-- the relationship between Young You and Adult You.

—David Nadelberg, Mortified

I'm sorry I took up 24 minutes of this mixtape with my song but it's so good.

—Ian Chillag, Everything is Alive

We're playing this right now in a bluegrass ensemble I'm in, and I'm always struck by how beautiful the lyrics are.

—Alex Sujong Laughlin, Normal Gossip