Audio Story-telling

Each year, Journalism partners across a range of disciplines to tell stories from an inside perspective for the Denison Podcast-a-thon.

This year’s Podcast-a-thon welcomed a range of stories – from the intimate observational experiences in the bio-reserve, to wide-ranging explorations of the universe. The event involved more than 250 students and faculty from nine classes across disciplines who created audio stories to compete for prizes. These were awarded at the final listening party event,”Pod-a-palooza” on March 12, 2021, emcee’d by WBEZ Chicago audio producer Jesse Dukes and joined by judges Neil Shea and Taylor Hom.

Participating classes included English, Environmental Studies, Geosciences, Psychology, Biology, Education, Queer Studies, Political Science, International Studies, and Cinema.

“There was much more terrific work done by students, and by their teachers, than we are able to present at that one event,” says Doug Swift, associate visiting professor of Journalism and multimedia storyteller. “It’s the breadth and depth at which I feel the power of audio storytelling impacting our community, and keeping up with trends in the world, that excites me the most.”

Listen to four winning student-created audio stories, representing a variety of course disciplines and assignments.

Buzzy Grand Champion
“First Floor Crawford Bathroom”
by Ava Goodwin ‘23
for James Weaver’s Environmental Studies/English course
Listen to “First Floor Crawford Bathroom”

First Runner Up, Best Profile
Queer Peers: “Episode 1: Joan’s Journey”
by Zoe Smith ‘22, and Jordan Zelvin ‘21
for Emily Nemeth’s Education/Queer Studies course
Listen to Queer Peers: “Episode 1: Joan’s Journey”

Second Runner Up, Best Reporting
“Self Control at Denison”
by Dominika Chruszcz ‘22, John Faller ‘22, Griffin Green ‘22, and Ava Peterson ‘23
for Andrea Lourie’s Psychology course
Listen to “Self Control at Denison”

Third Runner Up, Best Science Talk Show
“Wonderment and Possibility”
by Sarah Heithaus ‘24, Andi Scroggs ‘22, and Audriana Stagg ‘21
for Erik Klemetti’s Geosciences course
Listen to “Wonderment and Possibility”

This event is made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and a gift by alumna Sue Douthit O’Donnell, ‘67.