Hidden deep within the walls of Kendall Hall lies Studio 151, TU’s student-led podcast club. Recently, the organization held its first general body meeting where co-directors Avery Jamerson and Betty Lam explained what the club specializes in.
At Studio 151, students can record and put out their own podcast series onto Spotify. First, they set up a weekly session with the officers to record their series in the recording studio. Afterward, the Studio 151 officer team meticulously edits the audio before releasing it via Anchor (Spotify’s podcasting app). The team is currently hiring editors of any experience level to help edit the multitude of unreleased student podcast episodes. If requested, Studio 151 is also able to create a simple logo graphic for a student’s podcast. As the club puts it on their Instagram, “Whether you’re interested in editing, content and logo creation, advertising, or simply yapping in front of a mic, come check us out!”
Some history behind the organization, in 2018, some members of TUTV branched off and created the podcasting club. But over the years and thanks to Jamerson and Lam, Studio 151 has gradually become an independently functioning club. Thanks to Studio 151, several students have been able to keep creating new episodes for their active podcast series. Jamerson and Lam have two anime focused podcasts, one titled “Let’s Talk Anime” and another titled “Beyond Miyazaki’s World,” which specifically focuses on Studio Ghibli movies. The aptly titled “Unprofound” series contains the unprofound thoughts of Sydney Looney, Gracie Norris and Amber Restivo. “Dude, What Happened?” is a podcast hosted by Marcus Martinez and Bryce Richmond that focuses on sci-fi and dystopian media. Sarah Emmons and Abi Ott host “The Book Nook” which focuses not on different books, but different aspects of book culture such as “BookTok” or tropes found within books. Rumor has it there are even more upcoming podcast series planned to be released from Studio 151, including a podcast that interviews TU faculty and students about their research or a podcast that discusses and discovers new music.
The podcast studio is not limited to TU students; TU employees are more than welcome to start their own podcast. Dr. Sarah Launchbaugh and Choe McEachern recently started a podcast titled “TU Communication Disorders Connection” which focuses on speech-language pathology. TU students are also welcome to bring non-students into the podcasting studio to record an episode with them.
The student podcasts have reached a surprisingly global audience. 86% of total listeners came from the US, but 3% came from Ukraine, Germany and Canada each contributed 2% of total listeners meanwhile 2% of monthly listeners from France and Vietnam combined. For gender statistics, 41% of Studio 151’s listeners are female, 6% are male, and a whopping 52% are undetermined.
So invite anyone willing to create a podcast, whether it be for a class assignment or for a fun side project. Studio 151 has the tools and equipment to help your podcast sound the best it can, and reach as many people as possible. Unfortunately, Studio 151 may be getting evicted out of Kendall Hall soon, but for more information about how you can get your own podcast started or updates about where the podcast club may relocate to in the future, follow Studio 151 on Instagram (@tustudio151) or email the co-founders Jamerson (alj1244@utulsa.edu) or Lam (dil0222@utulsa.edu).
