This episode of This American Life spoke in-depth about the use of alcohol at Penn State University, voted the #1 party school in the United States this year. During the episode the interviewers spoke with local residents in State College, PA, students who actively participate in drinking on campus, students who are less interested in drinking, alumni at football games and tailgates, and local business owners.
Other than the actual context, what I enjoyed the most about the program was the amount of interviews that the crew conducted. Coming in to this project, I expected the entire podcast to be based around an interview with one person, however this episode proved quite the contrary. It was interesting not only to hear about the drinking at Penn State, but all of the various opinions and perspectives of the wide range of people affected by this pasttime.
I liked how the program was divided into chapters and each chapter was seperated by a song. Not only did the songs generally have something to do with what the chapter was about, but they gave good background sound, rather than just silence. Throughout the entire program, only a very small amount of time was there ever nothing going on in the background. If it wasn't music, there was some kind of background noise that was natural with the setting in which the interview was taking place, for example, at a frat party you could hear students talking and screaming in the background. This not only gave a backdrop to the program but allowed the audience to create a mental picture of the setting of the interview.
Another thing that I was curious about was how to incorporate credits to the necessary people in the podcast. At the end of the podcast the entire crew was mentioned as well as anybody else who was interviewed or assisted in creating the program. Not only were they credited at the end, but usually after each segment one of the cast members would monotonously say the name of the reporter responsible for the previous clip. Although the audience does not know exactly who these people are, these announcements gave the podcast an official feel.
The podcast also felt official because the crew incorporated statistics in addition to the interviews. For each point that was mentioned, they had evidence to back it up. For example, they had the statistics regarding how many students at PSU drink alcohol, how much they typically drink, and other similar statistics. These statistics and other general information makes the podcast reliable and seem more professional.
Overall, I think this program is very well-done. A lot of the aspects that were incorporated into the podcast will positively be aspects that I will attempt to incorporate when making our own podcast. I especially liked the overall tone and feel of the program, as well as the wide range of perspectives included throughout the piece.
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