My Podcast Site

the moleskine podcast #3: interview with dr. ecks

This is the third episode of The Moleskine Podcast, which features interviews with students and staff about graduate school in the United Kingdom. In this podcast, I will interview my former anthropology professor Stefan Ecks about the MSc. in Anthropology of Health and Illness, admissions, applications, and life after graduation.
Stefan Ecks is the Director of the MSc. Programme in Anthropology of Health and Illness and a Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh.
He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the London School of Economics in 2003. During his doctorate, Dr. Ecks conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Calcutta, India on notions of body, health, and healing.
From 2001 to 2004, he taught at the South Asia Institute at the University of Heidelberg where he established a medical anthropology programme.
At present, Dr. Ecks’ research interests encompass the theory and history of anthropology, medical anthropology, mental health in South Asia, the anthropology of pharmaceuticals, science studies, and popular Hinduism.
acknowledgments
This podcast was recorded using a Zoom H2 and edited in Reaper. Thanks to Andrew Spitz at { sound + design } for the editing assistance and warg at Soundsnap for the beginning and ending loop "warg elizabethtown."
And of course, big thank you to Stefan Ecks for letting me pick his brain.

the moleskine podcast #2: the cultural studies perspective

Bethany, me, and Muriel recording in my kitchen.
This is the second installment of The Moleskine Podcast. In this podcast, I will interview two of my friends Bethany Johnson and Muriel Lovo who are also in the Cultural Studies MSc. Programme at the University of Edinburgh. Bethany graduated with a bachelor of arts in English and Humanities from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, USA and. Muriel received a bachelor's degree in Arts and Filmmaking at the University of Arts and Social Sciences in Santiago, Chile.
In this podcast, Bethany and Muriel will be talking about applications, Cultural Studies, scholarships, and life after graduation.
Resources mentioned in this podcast: The Mary Churchill Humphrey Centenary Memorial Scholarship
the process
Making this podcast was a bit easier than making the first one, but it still had its challenges. Recording can be especially difficult if you have never been on a podcast before or are with a couple of girlfriends. Muriel, Bethany, and I spent several times re-recording the introduction because we couldn't stop laughing. It was a great fun, but next time, I'll start the recorder before the interview starts and just transition naturally from casual conversation to interview.
I recorded The Moleskine Podcast #2 on my boyfriend Andrew's macbook pro and used Audacity to edit the majority of this podcast. However, I think I might try a different editing program, like Reaper or SPEAR, because Audacity isn't the most intuitive or user-friendly program. I actually ended up doing the final stage of editing through Nuendo, a digital audio workstation. Most professional sound design is made through Nuendo or Pro Tools.

This is a screen shot of Audacity

This is a screen shot of Nuendo
Through Nuendo, I was easily able to cross-fade, compress, and equalize (EQ) the sound. These processes are essential to producing high quality sound. Because of the nature of a live interview, I had to cut and paste certain sections in order to tighten the podcast. Since sound is a time-based medium, you always have to be aware of how you're moving sections around. This is why you have to cross-fade in order smoothly transition from one section to another. Finally, in order to improve the volume and quality of the podcast, you have to compress and EQ the sound.
An important lesson I learned while editing this podcast is saving incrementally as different files. I had saved incrementally, but under the same file. In other words, I selected "save" instead of "save as". This simple error cost me about 45 minutes of editing time. Not too bad in the grand scheme of things, but still annoying.
thank you
Big thank yous to Bethany and Muriel for sharing their experiences
Special thanks to Andrew, check out his blog { sound + design } for tons of geektacular sound stuff!
Thanks to warg at Soundsnap, a user-driven sound effects library, for the cheesy, but fun loop warg elizabethtown.
Enjoy!

the moleskine podcast #1: insights from an american couple

I just finished my first podcast, with the help of my wonderful sound-savvy boyfriend Andrew. I hope to do a Moleskine Podcast featuring interviews on grad school in the UK with students, professors, and admissions officers. Let me know if there's a perspective you'd like represented.

I conducted my first podcast interview with my friends Ben and Julie, an American couple who are also attending graduate school in the UK. They are veterans of the British higher education system, having completed their undergraduate at Newbold College in Berkshire, England. Ben and Julie graduated in 2003 and 2004 and taught English in South Korea for four years (we all met in Seoul!). They moved back to the UK in September and are currently in living in Leeds. Julie is getting a taught masters in Development Studies and Education at Leeds University and Ben is getting a taught masters in Peace Studies at Bradford University.
Big thanks to Ben and Julie for serving as my podcast guinea pigs!
the process
This was my first podcast, so there are more than a few editing blunders, but overall, I am satisfied. I created this podcast on my macbook through Audacity, a free, open-source sound program for basic recording and editing.

A screen shot of a zoomed-in waveform of Audacity
I also downloaded a cafeteria ambient track by user thedapperdan from The Free Sound Project, a user-driven website that allows you to download sounds for free! Unfortunately, wordpress doesn't let you upload audio unless you upgrade your account (one of the few setbacks of this blog hosting site), but I was able to host my podcast through Andrew's website {sound + design} and zSHARE, a free file-sharing program. I heart free and open source.