A Year of Salient Podcasts
Words by Alex Marinkovich-Josey (he/him)
Is it possible to be nostalgic for something that isn’t quite over yet? As our year at Salient comes to an end, I’d like to reflect on a year of hard work and celebrate some of the amazing podcasters that have been sharing their work all year.
There’s something about working in an environment that celebrates and encourages creative expression that I feel like will be hard to replicate again. I know this all sounds a bit ridiculous. I mean, how profound can working in a student podcasting studio be?
But I know that once you are reading this article in print, I’ll be looking back on this year and have a lot to smile about.
Podcasting alongside studying is a challenge. I should know, I did it! Unlike popular sentiment, it’s not as easy as just turning on some microphones and recording a conversation. There’s a long process of planning and fine-tuning a concept before trialling it and releasing it to the world. The podcasters at Salient took that challenge and, over this year, released some outstanding work that they should all be proud of.
Governmentality came aboard this year with a singular mission: tell people about the election. Now, countless interviews, policy breakdowns, and budget bashes later, they’ve produced an incredible amount of election coverage for students.
The Smooth Brain Society helped make exciting psychology research accessible, and even became the official science podcast of ^Europe’s Journal of Psychology^!
FOR REAL? launched ‘THE FOR REAL SERIES’: a more serious deep dive that lets hosts Liv and Gabi get real about their own experiences and take the show in new directions.
Piña Colada Town brought us new conversations about our lovely city, including one of my favourites about the rating system that could take developments in Welly to the next level.
FRESHER—a new podcast about the university experience—hit the ground running with episodes about the struggle to make friends and how to ensure you’ll have a great night out.
Stranger at Home wrapped up its run with a four-part series that brought together conversations about citizenship, representation in digital spaces, and the intersections of personal and national identity.
The Salient Unedited Session platformed discussions about this very magazine and the wonderful people who bring it to life every week, as well as in-depth coverage of the staff cuts and conversations with politicians hoping to win the upcoming election.
Salient Podcasts isn’t going anywhere. All these podcasts are still available for your listening, and next year, there’ll be another year of student podcasting for you to enjoy. I hope you’ll tune in.
Over and out!
Alex