I’ve been an avid podcast listener for years. After attending the 2020 Transom Traveling workshop for aspiring podcasters, I got involved in a range of projects.

Most notably, I host and produce a series called Areas of Agreement that examines the urban-rural divide in the United States. Here’s the full description:

One of the most dangerous divisions in the United States is between urban and rural communities. The urban-rural divide runs deep. Resentment is widespread, and clashes over politics and culture can turn violent. One nonpartisan organization is trying to bridge the divide. This series examines a multiyear effort to help people on both sides build relationships, find common ground and take on systemic problems that impact everyone.

The series is available anywhere you get your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Anchor, Breaker, Pocket Casts, PRX Exchange and Radio Public.

I’ve also hosted and produced several podcasts that appear on PRX Exchange, the largest open audio distribution marketplace. Several podcasts have been purchased, including a profile of the founder of a nature-based preschool in Seattle, and a news feature on how positive psychology can help us during the pandemic . Another COVID-19 related story examined how artists continue to collaborate online when they can’t be together.

I’ve also had the pleasure of working with a range of students on podcasting projects. Students in my Narrative Podcasting learn about podcast reporting, producing and hosting. They create explainers about the rise of podcasting and interview podcast hosts about how they do their work. Student work appears in The Baltimore Watchdog podcast feed and in the Baltimore Watchdog Podcast Network SoundCloud page.

For their final project, students produce profile podcasts of interesting people around Baltimore, including a 3D printing artist known as “the pot guy,” a math teacher who learned how to work with glass and a DJ making music from his dorm room.

In fall 2020, we worked collaboratively on an oral history of what it was like to be a student, parent, faculty member, staff member, administrator or coach at Towson during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. This seven-part podcast was produced for The Baltimore Watchdog and the Towson University Special Collections and University Archives.

Prior to this, I worked with two students on a trio of podcasts about topics of interest to Towson students, including Rate My Professors, the state of student media and parking woes.