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Many Syracuse University students have turned to audio storytelling during the pandemic, using their free time to create original podcasts or expand on their previously existing shows.

Several SU students spoke with The Daily Orange about the podcasts they’re creating or expanding. Here are a few you should be listening to:

Numbers Guys Podcast

Executive Producer Brent Huot (‘23) & Co-host Seth Warner (‘23)

To some people, data analytics may seem like just plain numbers. But to Brent Huot and Seth Warner, it’s much more.

The two sophomores host the podcast “Numbers Guys,” which combines their passion for sports and data. It’s the best of both worlds, Huot said.

On the podcast, the two are able to chat about sports with friends while digging into the analytical side of the players and games. The podcast’s goal is to explain sports analytics to listeners in simple terms.

“I think the misconception is that a lot of sports fans see an analytically driven team or person and think that it’s all numbers,” Warner said.

Huot had wanted to create a podcast since November, when he realized how much free time he had outside of school work. But he knew it was a big project to tackle alone. He pitched the idea to Warner, his close friend, and to four other guys who lived in their sports analytics learning community in Flint Hall their freshman year. They were all sold.

On “Numbers Guys,” the normal chatter is about the analytical side of athletes and sport matches. Courtesy of Brent Huot

The hosts originally created the podcast for a tight-knit community of friends and people in the sports analytics major. But they now have over 800 total streams and are looking to expand their network by attracting general sports fans and building their interest in analytics.

The growth of their podcast has shocked the duo, since they never expected that they would have listeners outside of their circle. Now, peers in and out of their major, parents and a few SU basketball players — such as John Bol Ajak — are listening.

“It’s the stuff that we all understand, but it’s also good for us to practice communicating to a non-analytic audience to make sense to everyone,” Warner said.

Hot Mess Hotline Podcast

Co-host Julia O’Leary (‘21) Co-host Brenna Williams

SU senior Julia O’Leary has Type 1 diabetes, so the threat of contracting COVID-19 on campus weighed heavily on her mind. She decided to take the year off and return for her senior year in fall 2021.

Coincidently, O’Leary’s best friend, Brenna Williams, also decided to stay home this semester. The two wanted to remain productive with their newfound free time, so they created a podcast called “Hot Mess Hotline.”

O’Leary has always had the “match” for a podcast, she said, but it was the pandemic that “lit the match.”

“We were just over it with everything this pandemic brought, so we thought we should do something to talk about it,” O’Leary said.

The “Hot Mess Hotline” duo decided their show would simply be a conversation — a therapeutic way to deal with everything that was happening in their lives, in their jobs and during the pandemic, as well as what it’s like taking a break from everything. And, if it consisted of ranting for 30 minutes, so be it.

The podcast is a platform where college students can come and listen to O’Leary’s and Williams’ take on how dysfunctional their lives are right now and how they’re riding out the pandemic.

“We just wanted to bring normalcy to the idea that it’s OK to be a hot mess right now,” O’Leary said. “It’s totally fine to not have it all together at times, but especially now in a pandemic, and embrace kind of being a nightmare right now.”

Hit and Bitch Podcast

Co-hosts Madeline Goore (‘22), Jennifer Kim (‘22) & Zoë McCreary (‘23)

The hosts of “Hit and Bitch,” a podcast from Jerk Magazine want their listeners to know them as people.

What started off as chatting about pop culture topics and shows such as “Gossip Girl” turned into something more serious and political. The podcast is hosted by SU students Madeline Goore, Jennifer Kim and Zoë McCreary, who all know each other from Jerk.

“We have a range — we’re all educated, well-rounded women who can talk about anything, and that’s exciting,” Kim said.

Goore, the director of “Hit and Bitch,” wants the podcast to live in people’s heads “rent-free.” When listeners hear the podcasts, the creators want the topics and content to stick with them.

The “Hit and Bitch” podcast is a branch off of Jerk Magazine. Courtesy of Zoë McCreary

The target audience they expected to attract when the podcast launched in February 2020 was people like them — college-educated women with similar lived experiences. But they’ve had some male listeners, too.

When the pandemic started, they were lucky because it didn’t affect the in-person recording of the podcast. The team enjoyed being able to continue doing something that drives them, especially during COVID-19, Goore said.

“Something I look forward to every week is being able to record,” Goore said. “I love doing it especially with my team, I love making something that we are all very proud of.”

Still Here & Indigiqueer Podcast

Co-Founders Ionah Scully (SU doctoral student) & Braedyn Callihoo

Ionah Scully and Braedyn Callihoo are creating a podcast that the aunt and nephew believe is the first of its kind.

“Still Here and Indigiqueer” is a podcast that will include conversations about Indigenous culture that aren’t talked about often enough in the world, Scully said. They both are Two-Spirit and identify as having a masculine and feminine spirit.

“We’ve seen a lack of Two-Spirit podcasts, media, resources and just overall support of Two-Spirit people to just go whether it’s virtually, physically or materially,” Scully said.

This podcast, expected to launch this summer, is more than just entertainment for the hosts. It also gives them a chance to be a part of change. Scully and Callihoo plan on using the podcast as a tool to educate their non-Indigenous listeners about what it means to be Two-Spirited and to encourage Indigenous listeners to re-examine their history and learn from other Indigenous people’s perspectives through conversation.

There are a lot of misconceptions about what it is to be Two-Spirited because it can mean many different things to as many different Indigenous people, Scully said.

However, “Still Here and Indigiqueer” will highlight what it means to be Two-Spirited from their point of view and through their guests’ experiences. The show will also cover the intersections of being Two-Spirited in relation to other LGBTQ communities of color.

“We think it’s important for others to know we’re still here … because Indigenous people are still here,” Scully said.

Published on February 21, 2021 at 11:50 pm