PODCAST PRACTICE

Listen to the following podcasts and match them to the corresponding format.
Which format(s) do you think you would like to use for your own project?

Podcast Theater “When I am older”

https://soundcloud.com/andrea-huskie/abby-overstrom-narrative-podcast

Informational Reporting “How my 90-year-old neighbor, a Holocaust survivor, sees America

today”
https://soundcloud.com/user-563089894/how-my-90-year-old-neighbor-
a-holocaust-survivor-sees-america-today

Long-form interview “Juuling in my school”

https://soundcloud.com/user-542264710/juulpodcast

Solo-cast “Black ink”

https://soundcloud.com/wymhs/black-ink

Conversation “Alexa, the start of a Robot Revolution”

https://soundcloud.com/silas-bartol/podcast-contest-submission-alexa-
the-start-of-the-robot-revolution

Pay attention to the different ways in which you can start your podcasts, or how you can build
the middle and end:

Beginnings: A successful podcast engages the listener right from the start, and there are many ways to
do that.

Listen to the openings of these three podcasts paying attention to the topic: How do they
introduce the focus? When, exactly, do you know what the podcast is going to be about? Write a
short description for each of the following podcasts.

00:00 to 00:45 — “The Ides of

March: An Uprising to Save the
Earth” by Madeleine Klass

00:00 to 1:11 — “The Best Pitcher

That Never Was” by Harrison
Larner

00:00 to 00:45 — “Depression

Memes and Me: Why I Stopped
Looking at Depression Memes” by
Zuheera Ali
 PODCAST PRACTICE
Middles: The middle of your podcast should build on themes and ideas that were introduced in the
beginning, but take the listener deeper. Listen to the following excerpts and ask yourself how the
middle keeps your attention, and furthers what was introduced in the first minute or so.

1:20 to 2:20 — “The Ides of March:

An Uprising to Save the Earth”

1:30 to 3:28 — “The Best Pitcher

That Never Was”

1:30 to 2:40 — “Depression Memes

and Me: Why I Stopped Looking at
Depression Memes”

Endings: Like the ending of any artistic piece, a podcast’s final minutes should provide satisfaction and
closure — and can often either challenge you or leave you thinking. Go to the minute mark listed
below and listen through to the end, noting how each piece does that. Again, what ideas can you
borrow for your own work?

4:30 — “The Ides of March: An

Uprising to Save the Earth”

3:30 — “The Best Pitcher That Never

Was”

3:00 — “Depression Memes and Me:

Why I Stopped Looking at
Depression Memes”