Digital 200 Course Highlight: “Writing with Digital and Social Media–The Art of Podcasting”
The powerful beat of a drum and crescendoing symbols greet the listener in the intro episode of Michigan Voices, season five. With topics ranging from banned books to Taylor Swift, the podcast Michigan Voices comes from the creative collaboration of students in Professor T Hetzel’s class DIGITAL 200, “Writing with Digital and Social Media–The Art of Podcasting.”
Professor Hetzel explains that her course is “like an experiment” as students work together to add to the podcast as a whole. Each semester is a season of the podcast, and each episode relates to LSA’s theme for the semester (for example, Arts & Resistance in 2023). This coming fall, students will have the opportunity to create season six of Michigan Voices, which will focus on questions of sustainability.*
Though each season revolves around a theme, the path students take when deciding their episode topics is up to them. Hetzel emphasizes that because the LSA themes are so broad, it’s easy for students to find something specific to be passionate about within the topic of sustainability; students have the freedom to do in-depth research on a subject that’s important to them and “take the listener on a journey.”
No prior podcast experience is necessary to join the class, and even if a student opts to create an episode solo instead of with a team, they are supported by their peers with the workshop structure of the course. Class time is also spent listening to podcasts like Radiolab to learn audio storytelling structures that are engaging and well-researched. After workshopping their ideas, students can then use U-M resources, such as the Winberg Audio Production Room in the Shapiro Design Lab, to record their episodes.
Mastering the art of podcasting generates a number of skills, from creating story arcs to becoming active listeners. The rhetorical strategies of podcasting are undoubtedly useful with any job in the entertainment industry and content creation, but also with everyday conversations. Having a recorded, one-on-one discussion creates an intimate space both between the interviewer and interviewee and with their audience. “If you trust a moment and follow it,” Hetzel explains, “that’s where the magic happens.”
Tune in to our students’ stories! Michigan Voices can be found on Spotify: https://myumi.ch/D8k65
*This piece was originally written in Winter 2024.
