Ever since I was little, I was enchanted by literature. The way an author could convey such extreme emotions as anxiety or satisfaction through words on a page enticed my mind, drawing me to literature of all kinds. From speeches filled with persuading and powerful phrases to fantasy novels that created an alternate universe that I longed for during my time away from the pages. If I could create a podcast, I would share my love for literature with the public, discussing different books like The Help, Of Mice and Men, and The Hate You Give, or speeches like the Gettysburg address. I would make my podcast interactive so that listeners could submit their questions about a certain topic or suggest different takes on the literature that was analyzed in the previous episode. I believe that in doing this, it would create a small community of readers who are curious to learn more about pieces they are excited about while also refuting popular misconceptions about books discussed.
If I were to make my own podcast I would make it for the “geeks” of the world. I believe there is enough pain and damage in our world today, and my podcast would try to combat that. By making sure that everyone feels at home and part of the family, we will look at a bunch of different cool fandoms, movies, series, books, and more! All to help unite each of us for a love of creative stories and ideas. This would create a unique community of many different fandoms and people, one that would hopefully make everyone feel like they belong.
— Tyler, Cambridge-Isanti Highschool
Exploring Diverse Perspectives
If I were to make one, I would want to do something about humanity and each person’s meaning of life. I would like to interview people from all different walks of life, all different careers, even different countries and continents, if possible, and just discuss their personal philosophies and how they find meaning in every day. Everyone finds a completely different purpose and a different intention in both their goals and how they approach achieving them, and I think it would be interesting to just discuss that and expose both myself and whomever chooses to listen to a different perspective of the world around us.
I think it is important to create more diversity in the world of podcasting, as shown in the quote from an article by Alexis Soloski. People who are either women, people of color, or any other population underrepresented in podcasts, have unique views on many topics and issues going on in our world today. As with almost anything, the more diverse information and perspectives you are able to get, the more interesting and valuable the knowledge you get will be. Seeing the world through the eyes of many different people or people who are different from us allows us to gain more well-rounded and diverse information, which is necessary for us all to grow and learn.
If I could make my own podcast, it would deal with the heavy division in today’s America. Many people hate one another simply because of their identity instead of having a meaningful conversation about why either party believes what they do and why people identify as what they identify. I would likely invite on people with different firm beliefs and try to talk to them about why they think the way they do. It will be a space of open conversation, I believe that’s the best way to come to a consensus and move forward as a unified people, not split up. If this podcast would become a reality I would hope it would inspire others to have open conversations and use love instead of hate to solve problems.
— Andres, New Rochelle, New York
Talking About Important Issues
If I were to start a podcast, it would be to discuss the impact that social media has had on my life as a teenager. My generation has grown up with the internet and we now have access to so much information. I would focus on exploring how social media has affected our thinking processes as well as certain decisions that we make. On social media apps such as Instagram, influencers focus on posting the best moments from their day, and many post pictures that are covered in filters and photoshop. I would like to dive into how this has created unrealistic expectations, causing young kids to think that our lives aren’t interesting enough, or that there’s something wrong with our appearances due to the unattainable beauty standards created by doctored images. Also, the rise in social media content that generally lasts between 15 seconds to a minute, makes me want to discuss how this time limit could be affecting our attention spans and ability to learn … Overall, I would want my podcast to bring up these topics and more, and to make people reconsider the ways that social media can be affecting them.
If I were to make my own podcast, it would be about growing up, and the challenges teenagers have to face. I would narrow down topics that relate to minorities, because I want people to feel like they have a voice. For example, representation is a highly important subject to speak on, because growing up I never saw a Mexican brown-skin girl on the media. My podcast would be a place where people could come listen, and realize that they aren’t alone. An idea that I have is to create a time-frame where people could actually come onto the podcast through their phone, and speak on their experiences. I would want it to sound fresh, young, and vibrant. I also want to speak both languages, Spanish and English so more people could join. I would even consider learning more languages to bring more people in!
