Radiotopia from PRX Announces “Radiotopia Presents: We’re Doing The Wiz,” A New Podcast Series and 2025 Tribeca Festival Official Selection

Independent podcast network Radiotopia from PRX today announced Radiotopia Presents: We’re Doing The Wiz, a new documentary series going behind the scenes of a high school musical that changed everything for a group of teens in the early 2000s. Co-created by Peabody Award-winning podcaster Ian Coss and NAACP Image Award-nominated author Sakina Ibrahim, with Story Editor Aaron Edwards, the series will be released on June 17 and is a 2025 Tribeca Festival Official Audio Storytelling selection.

We’re Doing the Wiz will be released via Radiotopia’s Radiotopia Presents podcast feed for indie limited series. New episodes of the four-part series will be released weekly free on-demand across all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Pocket Casts, and Overcast.

The podcast begins at a predominantly white performing arts school in rural Massachusetts in the early 2000s, where a bussing program has opened the door for a small group of Black students from a nearby city. But what starts as an exciting opportunity turns in a different direction, when a racial controversy shakes the entire school community. There are protests, TV news crews, and a tense all-school assembly. Then the school makes a surprising choice: to stage The Wiz, the iconic African American retelling of The Wizard of Oz. Blending personal storytelling, firsthand accounts, and cultural criticism, We’re Doing The Wiz follows the awkwardness, challenges, and unforgettable moments of that production while engaging questions of race, representation, and who has the authority to tell what story.

“I think we all have a moment from our past that we think back on – not every week or month, but occasionally – and we wonder: how did that happen? How do I feel about it? And how do the other people involved feel about it? For me, it was my high school’s production of The Wiz,” said co-host and co-creator Ian Coss. “Getting the chance to actually revisit that moment and talk with my classmates about it has been a gift, and far more revealing than I ever imagined.”

“The Wiz is more than a musical, it’s a mirror to life. In sharing my personal journey through this podcast, I recognize that my story is not unique, but part of a broader, shared truth,” said co-host and co-creator Sakina Ibrahim. “Our racial identities still shape the lives we’re allowed to live, or not. Who would have thought that a musical would carry a community’s history, its attempts at healing, and the possibility of hope? And yet—here we are."

The creative team is supported by Executive Producer Audrey Mardavich and Managing Producer Yooree Losordo of Radiotopia.

“At Radiotopia, we look for stories that linger and make you rethink what you thought you knew. ‘We’re Doing The Wiz’ is exactly that kind of series,” said Mardavich. “It’s intimate, searching, and unafraid to wade into complexity. Ian and Sakina have created something truly special — a story about memory, race, and the power of finding your voice that feels both deeply personal and urgently universal.”

Previous limited series launched in the Radiotopia Presents podcast feed include Peabody Award nominee S***hole Country, My Mother Made Me from bestselling author Jason Reynolds, and the award-winning audio drama Red for Revolution.

Radiotopia Presents: We’re Doing The Wiz is made possible in part by Mass Humanities, which provided funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC).