“Podcasting for Reproductive Justice” by Aimee Bowling
Throughout this semester, I partnered with Syna Pal and VAYLA New Orleans to take over the Spotify Podcast “Our Bodies, Our Stories.” Although we did not create this podcast, we took it over for the second season. Syna and I began our podcasting journey by first compiling a list of topics we wished to talk about, getting familiar with VAYLA, and figuring out what impact we wanted to have and what message we wanted to send to our listeners. The beginning was a little rough. Syna and I had to work to research and create scripts for episodes, make graphics on Canva, record and interview guests, and all while coordinating with each other, with VAYLA, and being full-time students. The typical process of making an episode, while not easy, was rewarding and enticing.
We would first begin the process by picking the episode topic for the week. This season we talked about being AAPI and 2SLGBTQIA+, Being Religious and Pro-Abortion, and much more. When we picked the episode for that week, we would first begin by collaborating with one another on what major points we would want to take. We would ask ourselves what we immediately knew that we thought needed to be brought up, and then we would begin researching. We would look for resources, statistics, or arguments that were relevant to include in the episode, and then we would put together a script of what we wanted to say and how we wanted the episode to flow. Following that, we would send the script to our supervisor, Ellen Lu, for her to approve. Following the approval, we would record the episode together, make the graphic, and then post it to the @rjvayla instagram and to the spotify.
It is difficult to describe into words what we do, but Syna and I hope that our podcast is able to make a big impact on others and help motivate people to get involved with Reproductive Justice, or just be more informed about issues facing our society today.
If you would like to listen to the podcast, please follow this link! I hope you enjoy it!