The Podcast-a-thon, a signature program of the journalism major, recently celebrated its eighth anniversary, featuring audio storytelling from students in arts, sciences, and humanities classes.
Visiting Assistant Professor Doug Swift and journalism department Chair Jack Shuler took a moment at the beginning of this year’s event to thank Lossing for her eight years of service to the journalism program, as she is leaving for a new career. “Beth is always the root of our program, and she is the supporter,” Swift said. “I know many of you have gotten her support personally.”
“The energy and fun and storytelling excellence of the Podcast-a-thon are at the heart of the journalism program,” said Assistant Director Beth Lossing. “It’s the event of the year that students and faculty look forward to and talk about, and I hope it continues for many more years to come.”
The winners are:
The Buzzy Grand Champion
Watching West Virginia, by Eva Altizer ’28: The story of a West Virginian political reporter, Amelia Knisely, and what that means for her and her community.
Altizer was a student in Multimedia Storytelling, taught by Doug Swift, a professor of practice.
Honorable Mention & People’s Choice Award
The Stolen Christmas Tree, by Santiago Grandbois ’28 and Henry McLean ’26: The story of how the Grinch struck Granville. A sacred Christmas tree, decorated by elementary schoolers in a tradition stretching decades, has been stolen! Now the journalism department of Denison University must grapple with the ethics of naming the students responsible or keeping their identities a mystery.
Grandbois and McLean were students in Doing Journalism with Ethics & Empathy, taught by Alan Miller, professor of practice emeritus.
Honorable Mention
Playing Hooky, by Margaret Held ’27: The story of a summer job at a pizza truck and the day they all called in sick to have a beach day.
Held is a student in The Literary Memoir taught by Associate Professor Amy Butcher.
Community Participant Category Winner
We Focus on Love, by Maddie Luebkert ’27: With tall, white crystal bowls and a mallet in hand, sound-healer Shawntay Fields uses an ancient remedy to soothe modern-day problems. Sound healing is more than a meditation for Fields. It connects her to a world she’s lost.
More about this year’s Podcast-a-thon:
Grace Lee ’28, Assistant Director of Journalism Beth Lossing, and Ellen Hansen ’28
The race for the Buzzy Grand Champion departmental trophy starts well before spring semester each year and officially commences with the first day of classes each spring.
This year’s audio storytelling competition fielded work from 87 students, as well as several community participants. Together, they submitted 56 podcasts to the competition. Denison journalism alums Jen Clancey ’24, Sarah Hume ’22, and Andrew Theophilus ’25 served as audio mentors, advising students how to take their stories to the next level for the competition.
Swift said the collaboration with returning young alumni who were previous Podcast-a-thon participants was a highlight of the event the past few years: “I especially enjoy getting our alums more and more involved as mentors, which they take very seriously. And it’s an invaluable way to keep them close to the program. They want so much to provide good advice to our students, which they do, because they work in the field, and they are natural storytellers.”
This year’s participants came from five classes: Beyond Good Intentions with Visiting Assistant Professor Lucy Bryan; Studies in Literature: The Literary Memoir with Butcher; Earth Resources with Professor Erik Klemetti; Doing Journalism with Ethics & Empathy with Miller; and Multimedia Storytelling with Swift. The community participant category allows any student across campus to enter an audio story for the competition.
Swift spearheads the event and provides faculty support with tutorials on using editing software. He makes class visits on audio storytelling as needed. During the final week, Trent Edmunds and the Educational Technology Services team offer open lab hours for student tech support.
Students work on these projects in the six weeks leading up to the final event by conducting interviews, learning audio editing skills, and putting their podcasts together.
The Podcast-a-thon originated with the Mellon Writing in Place grant to encourage a variety of faculty and students across disciplines to tell stories for a broader audience.
Swift and journalism department Chair Jack Shuler took a moment at the beginning of this year’s event to thank Lossing for her eight years of service to the journalism program, as she is leaving for a new career. “Beth is always the root of our program, and she is the supporter,” Swift said. “I know many of you have gotten her support personally.”
