Project by: Cole Dorsey (12th Grade), Joshua Sapira (12th Grade)
Project Advisor: Ann Carroll
Student(s)’s Advisor(s): Jess, Karyn
Description of the Project: For this project, we will be recording podcasts discussing the state of American politics. Everything from elections to court cases to the Covid-19 pandemic will be covered.
Final Product:
Final Reflection on Learning:
We are sad that the podcast is coming to an end, but we had a great time doing it. As always, the project never felt like real work. We were always eager to have conversations and we even had to limit ourselves so that our conversations didn’t get too in the weeds or last too long for the sake of our listeners’ attention spans. We recorded three full episodes, one 30-min episode and two 45-minute episodes. Unfortunately, the two 45-minute episodes got corrupted and we lost all the audio. This project was never really about the finished product, however. We are happy to have had the conversations and put in the work to expand our knowledge on all sorts of political topics.
Update on Progress from Weeks 1-3 (include any photos or video if relevant):
There’s been lots of news these past few weeks to cover in our podcast. We have been collecting articles, headlines, and other documents about these events in preparation for a podcast. We plan on recording this episode sometime in the next week (likely this weekend or on Monday). This project has been very helpful for providing motivation to stay up to date on current events, both domestic and international. We are looking forward to continuing this project over the course of the trimester.
Update on Progress from Weeks 4-6 (include any photos or video if relevant):
The most difficult part of this process has been finding time to record, so we have decided we are going to transition to a lunch-time podcast and film in person. This will be the first time we won’t be filming over zoom, so it will be nice to see live reactions from the other person and will hopefully make the podcast more conversational – a tone we think will make a more enjoyable experience for the listener. We are very excited to discuss topics such as Biden’s nominees, the Texas snowstorm, a recent voting rights case in the Supreme Court, and more.
Update on Progress from Weeks 7-9 (include any photos or video if relevant):
Trimester 1 Update
Final Product (e.g., documents, images, video, audio, poster, display, etc.): No podcasts are available yet, but we will post when editing is complete.
Final Reflection on Learning: A lot has happened over the course of the first trimester. In our personal lives, we have been helping run the Democracy Project, applying to colleges, and learning to navigate online school. In the political world, this is a time like no other. With the federal elections, vote by mail, the Supreme Court confirmation of Amy Coney Barret, and more, this has been an unprecedented time for recording podcasts. As far as the learning goes, this trimester required more effort than in the past. It has been harder to schedule times to record, meet to discuss plans, and pretty much everything else due to the combination of the pandemic and being in our senior year. We are looking forward to the second trimester of this project.
Update on Progress from Weeks 1-3 (include any photos or video if relevant):
Given everything that has been happening between the 2020 federal elections and college admissions, we have not had the opportunity to create our first podcast of the trimester yet. That being said, we have (and likely will have even more) plenty of topics to cover in the future. We will definitely be dissecting the presidential election, talk about the balance of power in congress, and give updates on covid and state and federal covid responses. Now that election day has come and gone and our responsibilities with the democracy project and college applications are dwindling, we will have plenty of opportunities to create interesting and informative podcasts in the coming weeks.
Update on Progress from Weeks 4-6 (include any photos or video if relevant):
Boy have we had a lot to talk about these past few weeks. From the recent Supreme Court Decision about restrictions on religious ceremonies to the fallout of the November elections, we have gathered a lot of content for our podcasts. On the one hand, having all this content has made our lives easier in terms of creating these podcasts. In a different way, however, it is sad that this is the point that our country is at. Being able to talk through these issues and events together has helped us to make sense of everything that is going on, provided clarity, and has helped to ease anxiety about the future, and when we share these podcasts with the LREI community, we hope it does the same for them.
Update on Progress from Weeks 7-9 (include any photos or video if relevant):
We have been talking a lot these last few weeks about everything politics related. Sad or not, the current state of affairs in our country has given us a lot of content. Unfortunately, with college apps among other things, we were never able to find a time to sit down and actually record these conversations. We will definitely be continuing this project into T2 when our schedules should clear up.
Please note that all reflections were written together.
