Senator Hank Brown smiles, “I’m from Colorado, but I went to high school near you in Menlo Park!” He explains how the Bay Area’s unchecked suburbanization in the 50s prompted him to preserve Colorado’s open space. “In Congress, I also authored the American Trails Act, a system spanning coast to coast. They all came from my California experience.” His story highlights politics’ importance and politicians’ down-to-earth nature, characteristics I wanted fellow young Americans to realize.

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After the contentious 2020 election, I saw my peers’ hope in politics dissipate. An optimist and avid political follower, I hurt seeing their despair. I wanted them to realize our raucous democracy’s possibilities. I wanted to bridge America’s political divide for them. I wanted to do something, anything. 

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Pondering, I recalled how public officials' dedication to service awed and inspired me. If I could help others see that first-hand, I could rekindle interest and trust. Acting on that fleeting vision, I started the podcast Redefine Politics to hold earnest conversations with civil servants about partisanship and polarization. My efforts began with finding and emailing thousands of politicians. While most forgot or rejected my requests, I persisted, eventually connecting with eight Cabinet Secretaries, Governors, Senators, and Representatives. Publishing conversations with Spotify's Anchor and promoting them through social media, my podcast gained hundreds of followers from California to Mississippi, Germany to Taiwan—bringing politicians' stories to thousands of global citizens.

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Through my podcast, I was able to connect and better understand our political world. While it was tremendously difficult to find people to interview, I was able to understand the intricate details of contacting journalistic sources. A reason why I decided to interview public officials was because of my journalistic experience. I knew how to interview people and could use a podcast as a way to further my journalistic skills while tackling partisanship. I felt this was the perfect way to bridge my two interests.

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To produce my podcast, I used a lot of the skills that I had learned in the Epic. After I had found an interviewee, I had to carefully research their backgrounds. This form of broadcast journalist research is very similar to written journalism, but I had to plan it even more. Because my format was a podcast and not an article or even video, I had to make sure everything flowed from one point to another, as I couldn’t splice and move everything around, as it wouldn’t sound logical. That was why I had to think of the right order of what to ask questions in, so I could present a cohesive and logical story.

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To do that, I utilized a chronological story-telling format. I drafted questions based on their life experiences, starting from childhood and then moving through mid-life to their time in public service. Then I asked about their general takeaways. I drafted over 20 questions for each person, along with a general list for all interviewees, and I researched fun facts about them, which could lead to special and unique stories that wouldn’t be able to be discovered on the internet.

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To record my conversations, I set up different meeting formats. Sometimes I Zoomed them while other times, we had phone calls. During Zoom meetings, I could easily set up and just press the record button. However, in case my computer crashes or the memory is erased, I always record a copy with my phone or iPad. Similarly, for phone calls, I would record two copies on my other devices. Afterward was the most significant and tiring work. I would transfer my recordings to Soundtrap, where I would edit the audio clips for clarity, phrasing and tone. For example, sometimes, the guest or I would stutter, so I would edit it out. Additionally, there may be repetitive information or those that aren’t really important, so each of my episodes isn’t that long. However, many are still 40 minutes plus because there is just so much information to include! I also edit the tone of the recording by adjusting the Soundtrap system sounding to “podcast.” That makes the tone warmer. Additionally, to get rid of background noise and enhance tone quality, I would adjust the Equalizer, which targets specific pitch levels.

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Afterward, I would upload my file to Spotify’s Anchor to be published. Anchor provides a lot of resources that make the podcast a lot better, like background soundtracks. I selected royalty-free theme music for all my episodes and adjusted the sound so it doesn’t make the conversation more full and relaxing. With Anchor, my podcast is distributed to half a dozen of platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast. To brand my episodes, I write a short description to intrigue listeners, also creating a post to promote the episode. Broadcast or podcast journalism isn’t only about the actual recording and creation process. In my opinion, it is also about branding, promotion and distribution. That is key, and that is why I pay attention to a lot of details to make sure that the product is the best that it can be. That is why listeners are willing to come back and again to listen.