Whether it’s talking about their time abroad at Emerson’s Kasteel Well or obsession with the TV show “NCIS,” Ashley Bradshaw and Kayla Nuehlen recently created a weekly podcast to talk freely about topics they “can’t shut up about.”
The sophomore duo launched their podcast titled “ShutUp!” on March 22 through PODS, which stands for “People Overly Discussing Sh!t,” a platform that supports students who want to start their own podcast. The podcast currently has three episodes.
“We both really like talking,” Nuehlen, a journalism major, said in an interview with the Beacon. “And we want to find out what other people like talking about.”
In each episode, Nuehlen and Bradshaw feature a different guest, typically another Emerson student, and center the episode around that guest’s areas of interest. Bradshaw described how they talk to their guests before their recording session to pick a few big topics to talk about. From there, the co-hosts try to let their guests talk as much about anything as they want while still avoiding getting too off-topic.
“A general rule of thumb is that you’re supposed to come up with some kind of structure or outline,” Bradshaw, a visual media arts major, said. “But honestly, it is pretty loose after that. We just go through a natural conversation and talk for upwards of an hour.”
After sitting down to record with their guest, Nuehlen and Bradshaw then have a few days to edit the episode before uploading it on Spotify. Both Nuehlen and Bradshaw are new to the podcasting world, so the editing process has been a learning experience.
However, they both got their toes in the water of podcasting before deciding to start their own. Bradshaw interned at a mortgage company last summer, where she helped start a podcasting program. Nuehlen currently interns at the “Reading With Your Kids Podcast,” which encourages parents to read with and do other activities with their children.
Even with this experience, neither of them were fully confident in their podcasting abilities before starting “ShutUp!” Nuehlen said they “didn’t really analyze it, we just did it.” But the pair used their respective skills to become a successful podcasting duo. Bradshaw took on the task of editing. Their published episodes are all less than thirty minutes long, but recording sessions with their guests often run for more than an hour, so Bradshaw and Nuehlen have to decide what is most important to keep. Even with the extensive editing process required, the pair have been resistant to enlisting outside help.
“If we send it to someone to edit, they maybe won’t clip the stuff we think is funny or important,” Nuehlen said.
Bradshaw shared that editing has gotten easier with practice. Utilizing her experience with her current internship, Nuehlen often researches the guests and gets acquainted with them to improve the on-air chemistry.
Though they are still in the early stages of podcast creation, they are positive about its future. Nuehlen and Bradshaw will be in different states this summer, so they anticipate a hiatus until the fall semester. They do hope to continue their weekly episodes.
Though neither Nuehlen nor Bradshaw see a career for themselves in podcasting, they both are glad to be able to create one through PODS. Bradshaw was appreciative of how willing Nuehlen was to host a podcast with her.
“All you need is a dream,” Bradshaw said. “If you have something to say, make sure you record it.”
