Because of my internship, I am an avid podcast listener and a proud producer of the “Chimneys, Foundations, Ruins: Hiking with Ghosts” episode, which we plan to release this October.
My friends have been talking about podcasts for years, but before this semester, podcasts were foreign to me – I never really understood the hype. Now… now I get it. Working with Mills and Abby this semester on The Green Tunnel podcast has taught me how much thought and how many considerations a host must make to produce an episode that’s as captivating as it is accurate.
I think that part of what’s drawn me into the world of podcasting is that it’s a collection of stories, and – not to be a broken record – I love stories. I’ve spent this past semester researching, writing, and brainstorming the story of chimneys, foundations, and ruins along the trail, which has partially morphed into an episode about ghosts. Of course, every podcast is different, but with The Green Tunnel, historical research is the backbone of the episodes. (We’re still historians who want to teach our listeners!)
It’s important that we have a working understanding of the various layers of history on the AT, but what’s particularly interesting is that we’re also talking to people in real time. More specifically, hikers on the AT – some are experienced thru hikers, while others we’re hoping to talk to more organically by simply hitting the trails and seeing who we meet.
I’m really impressed with the idea and grateful to be a part of this podcast because it’s a niche topic that I think is going to surprise a lot of listeners. The history of the AT is complicated and multifaceted, which is something that I don’t think too many people realize when they’re on the trail. They just see the serenity of nature and the simplicity of no cell strength, but there’s much more depth than what meets the eye.
As I come to the end of this program and reflect on everything that I’ve learned over the last couple of years, I realize how central audience is in digital history work. Before this program, my professional background was writing and rhetoric, which, too, centers on audience, so I’ve been relieved to see such overlap between my former career and my current one. As I mapped out my episode, I thought about the audience of listeners but also each of the interviewees. Our listeners are diverse, as are the people we’re interviewing, so each person we interview has a list of questions tailored to their expertise.
Because of my internship, I am eager to continue working on digital history projects and applying the skills I learned from my colleagues at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media.
