Podcast

About

This podcast is about my granduncle and grandaunt who live in Michigan. On my visit to see them, we discussed our family history and their lives. My mom recorded our discussions for posterity, but I wanted to turn the discussion into a podcast because it had interesting themes, and my family members have interesting character.

Bio

August is a high school senior at Freestyle Academy. She currently lives at home with her parents and dog, but will be attending UCLA next fall. She’s an Asian-American still finding her way in the world. August is constantly finding new things to love about her culture and family.

Introduction

I decided to do this podcast because it seemed like an exciting topic. Because I’m both Indian and Chinese, I’ve often felt caught between cultures. I wanted to explore my Chinese side more deeply, especially since our trip to China and Japan was canceled due to the pandemic.

Uncle Tom was eager to be recorded. He enjoyed feeling like the main character and sharing his story, but the pressure to tell it “correctly” and meaningfully was overwhelming. Because of this, I formatted the story as a thesis instead of a narrative. Additionally, the time limit on the podcast was difficult to deal with. Fitting three hours of conversation into 8 minutes didn’t seem feasible, so I chose conversation that revolved around a very specific theme. It still went over the limit by a minute, but it wasn’t too dense, especially with the music break.

Process

The process of making this podcast digitally was somewhat taxing. Installing Pro Tools at home and cutting everything up to be fluid wasn’t fun. I also forgot to inform my parents about proper interview etiquette; they interrupted my grandparents with “mhm” between almost every sentence.

Final Podcast

Reflection

Overall, this podcast was a great experience in learning more about my family. My mom continues to play the podcast for any family members she can find. It was definitely interesting to learn about how podcasts are made and to try to emulate them myself. I don’t consume a lot of podcasts, so it was challenging because I didn’t have a lot of experience with what a podcast should be. However, I do think I produced meaningful work I can be proud of.