91福利社 students are plugging into podcasting.
Although podcasting has been around for a while, it has exploded in recent years as millions of listeners connect to podcasts on a seemingly mind-boggling variety of topics, covering every conceivable interest.
The trend may be due in part to our pandemic-imposed isolation a couple of years ago or even some of us who get screen-weary and are seeking forms of entertainment, education and edification that鈥檚 easier on the eyes.
Professor Bobby Rettew of the 91福利社 College of Arts and Sciences created a class devoted to podcast creation. Rettew, who also owns his own agency, Rettew Creative, produces podcasts professionally for a variety of clients. At the start of fall semester, he launched a new course being offered by the Communication Department in the College of Arts and Sciences for students to learn about planning, creating, producing and marketing audio podcasts like the pros.
So, what鈥檚 special about this audio-only medium of podcasting?
鈥淚t鈥檚 easy. You can sit around, put it on and be doing your everyday menial tasks鈥攃ooking, cleaning, working. It鈥檚 just right there,鈥� said Colin Calvert, a student in the podcasting course. 鈥淚t鈥檚 helped me a lot on long road trips, family vacations鈥� I鈥檒l be going four hours away and have to have some form of entertainment. Music won鈥檛 do it for me all of the time so I enjoy listening to podcasts.鈥�
Calvert, a sophomore from Spartanburg, South Carolina who is the announcer at AU Trojans games, is taking his passion for sports into 鈥淨uestions and Athletes (Q&A),鈥� a podcast where listeners get to know who student-athletes are when they鈥檙e not engaged in competition.
Podcasts offer a free forum for exploring all sorts of ideas. In her podcast, 鈥淩easonable Faith,鈥� Gillian Brown interviews students and professors and deals with questions about God that many in her generation have.
鈥淚 wanted to see if there was a way that I could reach out to them and say 鈥極kay, how can we think about this logically rather than just saying we need to have faith?鈥�,鈥� said Brown, a double major in communication and theatre from Asheville, North Carolina. Brown admits to being nervous about the technical aspects of recording and editing, but praised Professor Rettew, saying, 鈥淗e brought me in from an absolute beginner鈥檚 level and got me all the way to a finished product in one semester. So that was pretty cool.鈥�
Emerson Courtney, a sophomore from Summerville, South Carolina, has been following podcasts for years and even started recording a podcast when she was 16. She says, 鈥淚 think podcasting, out of all the other forms of communication, is just extra special because it feels more personal.鈥� Courtney, a digital media and public relations major, has been creating her podcast 鈥淏ecoming: Growing into Adulthood.鈥� She interviews her guests, who include upperclassmen and various mentors, and also her own parents and grandparents about life advice in general.
Caroline Mason, a senior from Pennsylvania, wanted her podcast to resonate with others like her who grew up as 鈥渕issionary kids鈥� or 鈥渢hird culture kids.鈥� She chose to name her podcast 鈥淪ee You Later,鈥� partially as a nod to a phrase she grew up hearing, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a 鈥榞oodbye,鈥� it鈥檚 a 鈥榮ee you later.鈥欌��
鈥淚t was all brand new territory for me. I listened to a lot of podcasts before,鈥� Mason said. 鈥淭his is my first time creating my own and thinking about 鈥榳hat do I want to say? This will be public, it will be online. Is it something I want out there in the world?鈥欌��
Students record interviews at the Chiquola Digital Media Studio in downtown Anderson (a fully funded 2022 A Day Cause) or on portable equipment. Much of the editing takes place in the Watkins Digital Media Studio at the College of Arts and Sciences.
These students are learning that creating podcasts is much more than just making recordings and posting them online. There鈥檚 much to learn about planning, writing, interviewing and editing. Also, once a podcast is online, students learn how to track audience metrics to gain insights on who鈥檚 listening.
Mason said, 鈥淲e had to create a whole branding document at the beginning, so in terms of marketing, we鈥檝e had to think through 鈥榟ow do we want this to be presented?鈥欌��
鈥淚鈥檝e learned everything from the ground up,鈥� Courtney said, 鈥渉ow to record, use all of the equipment and edit, but also the soft skills of talking to people and working around other people鈥檚 schedules鈥� I have to be the one to reach out and make it happen.鈥�
A complete list of student-produced podcasts can be found . Details about the majors offered by the 91福利社 Department of Communication can be found online.