[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlfwJ2reGD0[/youtube]

So before taking this class, I barely knew what a podcast was. I noticed that with one of the newer Apple upgrades, that they placed an app specifically on the device for PODCASTS. I literally never even opened this app, I didn’t even acknowledge its existence on my phone. I honestly thought I would never listen to a podcast, let alone enjoy one. When the groups were made for this class and we got the topic of “Race, Gender and Podcasting,” at first I was slightly nervous. I had no idea what a podcast was. I did some information before our presentation last week from our group and I learned a few things.

I learned that Podcasts are mostly previously recorded, and that Howard Stern is not a podcast. I learned that there is literally a podcast for everyone! They vary from sports, to comedy, to real life stories, etc. My section of the presentation was discussing the differences between radio and podcasts. Radio needs to keep the listener engaged, while people who listen to podcasts are already engaged because they follow certain podcasts. It’s almost like a Facebook or Instagram account, one that you follow, or even like a blog. People cannot wait for new podcasts to come out and follow them vigorously.

For part of our presentation we included a few clips of podcasts, which related to our theme of Race and Gender. One which we showed was a podcast called “How to Be a Girl,” and it was about a transgender child, who was born a boy, but by the age of three, knew he wanted to be a girl. Now the clip we showed in class for our presentation were very interesting to me. After the class, I utilized that app on my iPhone, which I thought I would never ever use, the app specifically for Podcasts and I downloaded the whole podcast of “How to Be a Girl,” and listened to every single episode. I fell in love with it. It was so interesting to me. I never thought I would be so engaged by listening to something, but I was. I played them every time I got in my car, and pretty much forgot about music. I finished the podcast of “How to Be a Girl,” and even subscribed to her (the mother, the one who is doing the podcast) blog. I thought her and her story were awesome.

Once I finished that podcast – I was addicted! I instantly remembered that everyone was talking about “Serial,” so i downloaded it. As of right now I have one episode left and then I will have finished it. I’m just so intrigued by them and it’s funny because if I had not taken this class, I would have never listened to a podcast. I am so happy that I actually opened by mind to podcasts because I am so excited to download more and listen to different ones. This is just the beginning of my future life of podcasts. Also with our next group presentation we will be making a podcast, which now that I have actually listened to a podcast, I am excited about it. Before I was a little nervous, but now I am happy about it and cannot wait to see how it comes out.