Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be exploring the feasibility and desirability of creating a podcast to replace the regularly scheduled speaker series my research institute (KMDI) hosts every year. There are a few reasons why finding a way to continue the series virtually is important to me and the Institute, one of which is that students taking our collaborative specialization have a required course that is directly tied to attending a number of the Series talks. Another is that I was already planning on launching a set of initiatives over the coming months aimed at helping researchers and community partners test out and (potentially) start up their own podcasts, so this can serve as the best guinea pig test case for sorting out logistics, pros/cons, actual costs/time required, etc. And yet another is that podcasting is a really flexible and popular form of knowledge media, one that I and many of my students and colleagues are big fans of, and thus something I'd like to get involved with.
I'm very aware that there are already a LOT of people and places getting into podcasting right now, and so this is a total bandwagon, AND I'm going to find it particularly challenging to even track down the basic equipment required. But, that's fine, and actually supports the need for considered and critical analysis of the processes, procurement, and so on involved.
My first step, as always, is to do research, which has so far consisted of tracking down and listening to a number of podcasts created by academics with a similar "academic" purpose, including The Radical AI Podcast and The New Normal with Maydianne Andrade. I've also been taking workshops and reading a ton about the basics of producing a podcast, drawing resources from established experts like The Podcast Garage (their workshops are really excellent, by the way). I have an elevator pitch of what the podcast will be about, a theme for season 1, and an emerging idea about the type of genre and style I want to aim for. I'm not ready to share any of that with the world yet, but it feels like it's coming together quite nicely.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will (hopefully) be hiring a work-study research assistant to help me plan and put together Season 1. The position is currently only open to f/t UofT students, but I will extend the pool if needed. If all goes well developing the prototype, I will likely make this a recurring (non work-study) position come fall.
Wish me luck, friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment