Rosenwald Hall on a sunny summer day.
The UChicago Podcast Network (UCPN) features more than eight shows across a variety of disciplines, from politics and economics to astrophysics and human rights, highlighting academic debate at the University of Chicago.of maroon Big Brains host and Vice President of Communications Paul Rand, Not Another Politics Podcast co-host and Sidney Stein Professor of American Politics William Howell, and UCPN Assistant Director Matthew Howell. We spoke to Hodapp about his experience hosting and producing podcasts for networks.
“A rising tide lifts all ships,” Hodapp said. “So we thought, why not bring it all under one banner, with a similar mission to be competitive in a larger ecosystem?” Thus, Chicago's own podcast network was born and is now the nation's largest academic podcast network, with nearly 2 million downloads last year.
Hodapp, who has more than 10 years of experience in podcast production, has been with the university since 2019 and has been the network's assistant director since 2022. “When people decide to listen to a podcast, they wait about 30 seconds before clicking on something else,” he said. Hodapp said if he can convince viewers to put their phones in their pockets while doing the dishes or walking the dog, they're less likely to take them out again. From there, he says, there is a unique opportunity to propose exciting educational products.
When asked what makes UCPN unique, Rand immediately answered, “rigor.” “I think the students who grow up here are the ones who come for a true passion for learning, and that becomes a lifelong means of being in the world. I think it's just part of adapting to that way of being,” Rand said.
“We are looking here at something born of two contradictory aspirations that define the University of Chicago, which is itself committed to understanding the value and integrity of evidence and ideas.” That's what we do,” Howell said. “We have another ambition, especially here at the Harris School, and that is to speak to people outside the tribe and do bigger things.”
According to a recent study by Forbes, podcasts have become extremely popular among audiences of all kinds due to their accessibility and diverse content offerings. But its popularity has coincided with an increase in misinformation across the media ecosystem.
“we [named] We're not just another politics podcast, because we don't just lean in and offer our opinions on the latest headlines. We seek to model all that scholarship has to offer and what it means to engage with scholarship productively and critically. We don't treat it as gospel. We will not bow before it,” Howell said.
In this way, rigorous academia serves as a safe haven for all the fuss, confusion, and posturing that influences much of today's political debate.
“I think one of the problems with media today is that we want to be as frictionless as possible. And of course reality, especially scientific reality, is not frictionless. “If we don't, we could be doing our viewers a disservice. We've gone to great lengths to avoid falling into that trap,” Hodapp said.
But beyond its commitment to uncovering academia's latest achievements, UCPN also plays a fundamental role in ensuring the world keeps its finger on the pulse of the university's own progress. “It wasn't that long ago that there was a belief at the University of Chicago that if people wanted to know us, they would find us,” Rand said.
According to University Communications, there is currently an observed trend for prospective students to watch UCPN programming, and Professor Rand said that academics are “looking at how their fields are moving forward in the face of some of the world's most pressing research challenges.” It is now possible to directly find out whether the definition is correct.
“The benefits of doing this are multi-layered, and this is some of the most popular content we offer because it allows people to really experience life at university. It’s almost like listening to a university lecture. “It feels like it's happening,” Rand said.
In discussing some of the challenges and criticisms facing higher education institutions, Rand said the conversation has become increasingly politicized in ways that are counterproductive. “When we think about the value and impact of higher education, we think about how people can not only learn, but hopefully open their minds to new ideas and do research that truly makes a difference in the world in the problems we face. It is also important to provide support.''This is society's biggest challenge. ” Rand said she feels the answers to many of our challenges lie within universities like the University of California, Chicago.
“There is a much greater mission at stake. It's so easy to criticize something you know nothing about. It's much harder to dislike something you understand more deeply. That's why we at UCPN It’s a big driver of what we’re trying to do,” Rand said.
