Independence’s podcast club, Tiger Talks, took off with their first-ever episode on Jan. 6 shortly after students got back from winter break.
At the beginning of the school year, freshman Maheen Ali decided that she wanted to form a podcast club at Independence High School. After talking with Ms. Sarah Sheridan, the club’s sponsor, she was able to make the idea come to life.
As of right now, there are only five people in the club. “Four of them are actually part of journalism along with me, so getting them to join wasn’t that hard, but the fact that we were only able to get one other person from a non-English elective shows that we definitely need to expand our attention,” Ali explained. Ali also went on to explain that she would like to have more people join the club, especially people with different skill sets.
Sophomore Olivia Danley joined Tiger Talks because she likes having discussions. “It sounded really fun. I like talking about events and having a discussion. I like hearing other people’s conversations, and I like being a part of conversations.”
Danley also explained what it is like to be a founding member of the club. “It’s kind of intimidating right now, and it’s really challenging because we have nothing to build off of and we don’t have a big following yet.”
“I lead a discussion about what the episode will be on, and everyone records segments that they feel passionate about, which concern the topic that I chose. There are no specific jobs–it’s kind of open to whatever they feel like. We all have group conversations, and it’s an open dialogue for the most part and we work together,” explained Ali.
According to club members, the first episode launched is meant to be an introduction to what the club is all about. It introduces the members of the club and what the podcast will be as a whole. Ali also explained that although the first episode is twenty minutes long, the following episodes will most likely be in the range of five to ten minutes long. “We’re gonna pick some interesting topics that aren’t going to be just boring topics that everyone knows about. We’ll get some interviews in and do more publicity,” Ali said.
“The thinking of ideas and speaking wasn’t that bad, but the audio aspect and editing it and making it sound professional definitely needed to be improved on,” said Ali.
Danley spoke about her hopes for the club, saying “I hope that people actually listen to it. That would be awesome. I want to be really proud of it.”
Tiger Talks is looking forward to producing more content for its listeners, whether it’s about sports, clubs, or just general events. Look out for an upcoming episode about Little Women, and what went behind the on stage kiss, as well as special Valentine’s Day interviews, which will be on Instagram. In the meantime, you can check out their first episode on Spotify.
The Tiger Talks staff plans their next podcast. They meet twice a month to plan and record podcasts. “We bring really good discussions when we’re in a natural setting.” expressed Olivia Danley.