Podcasting has become a popular and influential medium for creative nonfiction—driving a major resurgence in audio entertainment. In this course, students will learn the fundamentals of podcast creation—including script writing, interview techniques, audio production, distribution, and promotion. Students will have the opportunity to work with the Queens Podcast Lab to develop or produce podcast episodes distributed on all major platforms. As with all creative nonfiction, podcasting involves elements of craft: voice, structure, scene, description, research, and word choice. We will study these elements at work in several influential podcasts and radio shows, including Hanif Abdurraqib’s Lost Notes: 1980, Maria Garcia’s Anything for Selena, Jesse Thorn’s The Turnaround, Shankar Vedanta’s Hidden Brain, Terry Gross’s Fresh Air, The Brian Lehrer Show, Allie Ward’s Ologies, and QC POD (featuring Queens College hosts, including Jason Tougaw).

Tuesday sessions will be conducted via Zoom and Thursdays in class.