Podcasting is skyrocketing in popularity. According to a Pew Research survey, in 2022, 49% of Americans reported listening to a podcast in the past year, and 20% of podcast listeners reported listening to a podcast almost every day. .
But out of a whopping 5 million podcasts on Spotify alone, few can claim to have reached 19,000 listeners in a few years. And it's not like he has more than 100 listeners at the time of the release of his debut episode.
Amanda Penny, a 19-year-old freshman, can do just that. She hosts the podcast “Amanda's World,” which she releases every Thursday and Saturday from her dorm room at SUNY Oswego. “Amanda's World” consists primarily of interviews with friends and special guests, usually influencers and small business owners.
“I’ll talk about anything I want to talk about,” Penny said.
Her door is empty and there is no name tag. But when you enter her room, you're greeted by tons of pillows, string lights, and artwork. String lights bathe her room in a purple glow. A large poster of Billie Eilish overlooks her room, beyond a poster of Taylor Swift's “The Elus Tour.” She has two small mirrors, one in the shape of a heart and one in the shape of a butterfly. A watercolor painting titled “Amanda's World”, courtesy of a friend from her hometown, sits on her desk.
She records most of her interviews virtually in bed using her cell phone and laptop. Her editing is often rough and the audio is blurry, but the discussion is audible. She produced each of the approximately 350 episodes herself, but received advice from her friends in her hometown of Northport for editing and helping book guests.
Despite the lack of a professional setup, each episode of “Amanda's World” draws hundreds of listeners on the day of release. Penny averages about 100 listeners a month. Depending on the episode, that number can reach her 1,000.
Penny's recent uploads have featured colleagues from her college days, but Penny's guest list also includes figures from the entertainment industry and social media. She interviewed the producers of “The Vampire Diaries,'' singer Shontel, and the cast of the Netflix reality show “Titletown High.'' Her guests have included Swedish musician, spiritual healer, and Only Houston, a Paramount executive and panelist at a recent media summit at the time.
“I’m just trying to make connections and build connections,” Penny said. “People are very shocked when I tell them I've been doing this for a long time.”
Penny interviewed TikTok creator Cooper Noriega in 2022, which was the last interview Noriega gave before dying of fentanyl poisoning two days later. At the request of Noriega's family, Penny deleted the episode.
“It was very shocking,” Penny said. “I didn't expect that…I was in middle school when it happened.”
Although Penny admits that she doesn't do any research before most interviews and just says what comes to mind, she said her guests enjoy her casual approach.
In addition to emails and Instagram DMs, Penny said she tries to secure bookings by “exemplifying” the belief that if you focus on your goals, they will come true.
“I’m a big expressor,” she said. “I believe in psychics.”
She has been publishing interviews with rapper Lil Tjay for months. She loves hip-hop, as evidenced by her Juice WRLD, Lil Uzi Vert, and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie posters. One of Penny's goals for her is to feature Boogie at the 2024 Ozzfest, which was on the ballot for her concert.
Since entering college, “Amanda's World” tends to maintain a gentle tone, focusing on everyday life. But Penny doesn't shy away from serious topics. On her December 2, 2023 episode of “Amanda's World,” Penny invited volunteers from her Pancreatic Cancer Action network. She said the event hit close to home because a friend of her family died of pancreatic cancer when Penny was in middle school. Penny also raises money for charities that fight drug and alcohol addiction.
From time to time, she records solo episodes where she talks about topics surrounding her daily life, such as mental health. She said she is often criticized by her colleagues for speaking out about her experiences with bullying.
“I'm very open with my viewers and I'll talk about anything,” Penny said. “I feel like I’m here. [in Oswego]the kids are kind of a-holes about it and are like, “Don't talk about that,” with disgust, whereas I'm like, “I don't want to talk about what I think is important.” We’re talking about.”
Penny saw this as the genesis of the podcast, allowing people to step out of their comfort zone. A pile of pillows and a purple light help Penny relieve the discomfort he feels from his anxiety and his ADHD.
“I like anything sensory,” Penny said. “It's like touch and feel.”
Penny envisions podcasts in the future having their own studios, staff, and brand deals. She compared herself to her The Unwell Network, a network of podcasts run by her “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper.
“I would love to build something like that someday,” Penny said. “Build my network full of people who create content like me.”
Penny attributes her podcast's rise to popularity to an episode about her first breakup with a man she calls “Libra,” after his zodiac sign. This episode reached her 500 listeners upon its debut. Three years later, Penny invited Libra, who had become her friend, as a guest.
Penny's friends from Northport often support her projects as guests. Thea Servoll met Penny through a mutual friend of hers who invited her on his podcast. Servor has since guest-starred in five episodes.
“I think podcasts have the potential to grow and become very big,” Sarvol wrote. “She's already off to a good start and I think she'll continue to do that and if she can continue to have a lot of people as guests who have great fans, she's going to do that.” [become] Even bigger. “
Penny's friend Tristan Reilly wrote: “I was so moved. I could never have imagined doing something like that. It takes a lot of courage.” She said: “I thought she was very brave and she was fun to listen to.”
This project started because of a broken bone.
“When I went to high school, it was all about sports,” Penny said. She wanted to play basketball during her senior year of high school, but ended up fracturing her humerus.
“That's kind of how I'm known [in my hometown]”As a girl who broke her arm in fourth grade,” she said.
As her arm healed, Penny wanted to do something with her free time, so she started Amanda's World in January 2021. Her first episode featured Ireland Bennett, a TikTok creator known for cosplaying Marvel characters.
To our surprise, this episode garnered over 100 listeners on its first day.
“To this day, I can’t process it,” Penny said. “I never promoted that episode. I didn't do anything to put it out there, I just listened to it a lot.”
A month later, she had 1,000 listeners. She said she discovered this fact while showing the podcast to her high school history teacher.
Since then, “Amanda's World” has become Penny's pride and joy.
“I've been doing this for a long time and it's something I'm passionate about so I want to take it to the next level,” Penny said.
Photo provided evan youngs
