Stony Brook Southampton Launches First-Of-Its-Kind Audio Podcast Fellow Program
Stony Brook, NY—December 13, 2017–Beginning in August 2018, a new one-year Audio Podcast Fellows program will launched at Stony Brook Southampton/Manhattan in association with WSHU Public Radio. The first of its kind in the U.S., the Audio Podcast Fellow program offers students advanced training in all aspects of podcasting while they develop their own podcasts, from proposal to pilot to pitch. Stony Brook Southampton’s Kathleen Russo, a producer of Alec Baldwin’s “Here’s the Thing” podcast, will direct the new Audio Podcast Fellows program.
“With the number of podcasts produced more than tripling to over 300,000 in the past five years, and the number of passionate listeners continuing to rise, there is significant demand for producers, editors, writers and other professionals with the requisite skills for competing successfully in the marketplace,” said Robert Reeves, the Associate Provost for the Southampton Graduate Arts program.
A maximum of 12 students will be selected through a competitive admissions process for the Audio Podcast Fellows program. Students will spend the first semester in the classroom at Southampton and Manhattan locations, where they will receive the most current instruction from leading industry professionals. Students will develop mastery in all phases of podcast production, including in-studio and off-site sound recording, and mixing stories with the latest digital editing technology. Topics will include storytelling and narrative construction, writing for the ear, adapting writing for broadcast, and editing the spoken word, as well as strategies for marketing and distribution.
In the second semester, students will head into the field, developing ideas for innovative programming, shepherding those ideas through the proposal/pitch process, and finally creating a soup-to-nuts pilot ready for market. During this time students will have a range of internship options, enabling them to collaborate on actual programming with some of the country’s leading artists and cultural institutions. Students may choose to work on existing podcasts from the program’s own “in-house” roster of shows, or withthe program’s production partner, WSHU, or with other affiliated podcast producers and distributors, such as WNYC and Midroll.
“Audio podcast is not only tied to the future of broadcast radio,” said Robert Reeves. “It is increasingly aligned with the future of storytelling and intellectual discourse. That makes it a perfect fit for our other MFA programs’ existing interests. Building exciting new partnerships, such as with WSHU, means we can offer students experiential learning options that are connected to real world developments and opportunities.”
Production partner WSHU Public Radio will broadcast podcast excerpts and interview hosts on the air, creating widespread awareness among public radio listeners. The podcasts will also be featured on WSHU’s website and promoted via on-air announcements, social media, and e-newsletters, offering an extraordinary opportunity to reach and build a New York and Connecticut audience.
“We’re excited to partner with Stony Brook Southampton on this innovative new program,” WSHU Program Director Tom Kuser said. “This collaboration allows us to do two things that WSHU is really committed to: deliver compelling new content to our community; and provide unique, hands-on learning experiences to a new generation of creative content producers and storytellers.”
Distinguished visiting faculty and guestswill include, among others: Ophira Eisenberg (“Ask Me Another”), WNYC; GIMLET: PRX; Victoria Lang (“Found”); Julie Subrin (Producer); Wendy Dorr (Producer); Catherine Burns (“The Moth”); EARWOLF/STITCHER and PANOPLY.
About Stony Brook Southampton
Stony Brook Southampton is home to the Southampton Arts MFA programs in Creative Writing and Literature and Film and their summer workshops; the waterfront research and teaching facilities of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, including the new Marine Sciences Center; the undergraduate residential Semester by the Sea programs in marine sciences; and Health Technology and Management programs in Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, as well as a Master’s program in Applied Health Informatics.
About Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University is going beyond the expectations of what today’s public universities can accomplish. Since its founding in 1957, this young university has grown to become a flagship as one of only four University Center campuses in the State University of New York (SUNY) system with more than 26,000 students and 2,600 faculty members, and 18 NCAA Division I athletic programs. Our faculty have earned numerous prestigious awards, including the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize and the inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. The University offers students an elite education with an outstanding return on investment: U.S. News & World Report ranks Stony Brook among the top 50 public universities in the nation. Its membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) places Stony Brook among the top 62 research institutions in North America. As part of the management team of Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University joins a prestigious group of universities that have a role in running federal R&D labs. Stony Brook University is a driving force in the region’s economy, generating nearly 60,000 jobs and an annual economic impact of more than $4.6 billion. Our state, country and world demand ambitious ideas, imaginative solutions and exceptional leadership to forge a better future for all. The students, alumni, researchers and faculty of Stony Brook University are prepared to meet this challenge.
Contact: Joan Behan-Duncan, 631 632-6310
