Podcast

Staying Informed on the Go

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Podcast 1

Podcast Title: This American Life

Author/Host/Company that produced it: B.A. Parker

Episode Title and Date: Random Acts of History Episode #644, Act 1: The Miseducation of Castlemont High.

Genre/Category: Education

Format/Structure: Single host introducing, but then introducing three people who were interviewed, and then using audio from the past.

Target audience: young adults.

Description of podcast: The podcast was serious. It went in chronological order.

Description and length of the episode you listened to: I listened to Act 1 which was about 45 minutes.

Rundown: segment by segment of the podcast, how content was organized: The host, B.A. Parker introduced and closed the podcast. Another woman narrated the historical portion while also interviewing a few people in the middle. There were live audio clips of history interwoven also.

 

Podcast 1 Analysis

I was able to follow This American Life: Act 1 well. It was very captivating and bounced from narration to interview to live clips well which made it interesting. I think the host’s introduction and conclusion, the narration, and the interview questions were scripted, but the the actual responses were not scripted. I believe this to be true because you can’t script how others answer an interview question.

B.A. Parker’s, the host, voice was serious and captivating which helped with the serious, historical topic. The narrator did a good job transitioning to different topics and people interviewed. She would introduce the person or segment each time it changed.

The podcast was very informing. The chronological order made it easy to follow along and stay engaged. I would definitely listen to more from This American Life because I am entertained by things not commonly taught to us in history class.

I don’t know what would have made this podcast any better. I think they did a phenomenal job with their sourcing, podcast layout, and and narration.

This American Life: Act 1 was not only entertaining, but informing. I was thoroughly impressed by the amount of research done and sources that were interviewed. I learned that your podcast can only get better if you have solid sources and if you can find clips from past events to support the podcast.

 

Podcast 2

Podcast Title: The Daily

Author/Host/Company that produced it: Michael Barbaro

Episode Title and Date: The Disappearance of a Saudi Journalist October 11, 2019

Genre/Category: Current Events/Politics

Format/Structure: The host, Michael Barbaro, starts the podcast by introducing himself and the topic of that day’s episode. Then Carlotta Gall, the Istanbul bureau chief of the New York Times, was interviewed throughout the podcast.

Target audience: Young Professionals.

Description of podcast: The podcast is very serious, with only talking about facts. There is no opinion throughout it. Barbaro and Gall talk in depth and chronologically about Saudi Arabia’s prince and the missing Saudi journalist.

Description and length of the episode you listened to: The episode is 21 minutes with a two minute introduction and conclusion bracketing the interview.

Rundown: The host introduced the podcast, himself, and then the topic. He then introduced who he was interviewing. For the majority of the podcast it went back and forth between him interviewing Gall and Barbaro narrating.

 

Podcast 2 Analysis

The Daily’s episode, the Disappearance of Saudi Journalist, was easy to follow along. The content flowed well, leading from narration done by Barbaro, statements from Gall, and even audio from the Saudi Journalist stating his opinion about the Saudi government and prince.

The introduction, conclusion, narration, and interview questions were scripted. There was also a rough draft of a layout to show where some audio clips would be inserted. The transitions within the podcast where well done. They fed off of audio clips before it and did not repeat anything said previously.

The music opening and closing the podcast is a nice touch because when you hear it you instantly know what you are listening to. It has become a staple of The Daily.

The only thing that would have made this podcast better was to have newly released audio put into it to help with the facts of the day the journalist went missing. I think the podcast focuses too much on the journalist’s past, which is good context, but I would have liked there to be more research done on the present.

I am an avid listener to The Daily. It is how I often stay up to date on my news and current events. I was informed by this episode, as well as the podcast as a whole. What’s nice about The Daily is that it is shorter in time. The average time is 15-30 minutes, so I can listen to it while I am walking to class.

Student Finds Community While Singing

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Alanna has a passion for singing, so when she arrived at Central Michigan University (CMU) four years ago and was asked if she could sing by a friend she was ecstatic. She tried out to be on the worship team at His House Christian Fellowship, a student organization at CMU. She has been highly involved as one the lead singers since her freshman year.Screen Shot 2018-10-11 at 8.24.11 AM

Podcast Interview

Audio Stories

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While listening to five student podcasts I found that I enjoyed a few and some could use some work. Erica’s podcast interview of the Central Michigan University (CMU) marching band drummer was the strongest interview.

Erica: musician

Douglas Impacts Youth Through Music was a strong story for a podcast for multiple reasons. First, the natural sound of the drumming starting the podcast, between topics, and closing up the podcast was strong because the story was about a marching band drummer. Douglas, the drummer, articulated well, his voice was clear and his thoughts were in complete sentences. I also liked the story within the interview about him helping a high school drummer. There was a clear beginning, middle and end. He started out the interview saying that he was a drummer at CMU, went on to talk about how he helps youth drummers, and then finished saying that the youth drummer is now auditioning for the CMU marching band. Overall I give the podcast a 9/10.

 

Jordan: R&B

This interview was appropriate for a podcast platform. The podcast was strong with the supporting sound. Between interviewing Daniel, the musician, there was sound of him performing at Wayside Central. You could hear him singing, talking to the crowd and the crowd responding. The podcast sounded like Daniel was just responding to questions and not having a conversation, which made the interview choppy. Overall I give the podcast a 6/10.

 

Allie: High School Robotics

This interview was not appropriate for a podcast platform. It should have been made into a video interview to show the robotics, because the noises are not distinct. This podcast started out strong with the mechanics sound of robots moving. Personally the podcast did not seem too interesting to me, but the interviewee was very conversational and could make the conversation flow. Overall I give the podcast a 7/10.

 

Greg: Barber

This interview was strong as a podcast. It started with Rondall, the barber, speaking right away. There was no intro so it felt rushed. There was clipping noises behind him speaking to help visualize where they were speaking. Rondall also was very conversational, which showed that there were good prompt questions. Overall I give this a 7/10.

 

Paige: Gospel Choir

This podcast could have been stronger as a video to show the interviewee singing with her choir and where they perform. The podcast started out strong with the choir singing, which helps the listener visualize. The interview was very choppy which made me loose focus throughout the podcast. I liked that the interview went deeper into her spiritual journey, not just talking about the basics of her participating in the choir. Overall, I give this a 6/10.