Tips for Podcast TAing (and TAing Non-Traditional Genres in General!), by Sofia Osborne

I love listening to podcasts—who doesn’t? There were an estimated 120 million podcast listeners in the United States in 2021, and that number is expected to exceed 160 million by 2023. This is a growing and exciting genre that offers real opportunities for writers. However, like many other non-traditional genres, there are fewer resources out there about TAing for podcasting courses, and figuring out how best to assess podcast assignments can be a bit of a struggle.

I’ve been working in the audio medium since 2016 and started my own weekly science podcast in the summer of 2020. I also work as an editorial associate for Podyssey, a podcast recommendation app, where I listen to a huge variety of podcasts. So, I thought TAing a podcasting class would be relatively straightforward for me. But, just like any other creative writing genre, what makes a “good” podcast can be incredibly subjective. I thought it could be helpful to offer some advice about what to keep in mind when marking podcast scripts and assignments, and for TAing a podcasting class in general. I also hope some of these tips might be helpful to other TAs working in new media and non-traditional genres, who might encounter similar stumbling blocks.

The Issue With Popular Podcasts and Creativity

The main issue I came up against when TAing is that many of the most popular podcasts are not very instructive for a podcasting class. This doesn’t mean they’re not entertaining! I love listening to a good chatty podcast while I do the dishes or go for a walk, but those kinds of podcasts — where a few people get together, hit record, and then chat for an hour about a topic like dating or pop culture, with little to no editing —  don’t represent the creative potential of the medium. However, it seems like many students come into the class with the expectation that this is the type of podcasting they will be learning about. Much of the class, then, is really about broadening students’ perceptions of what podcasting can be. From audio dramas to reportage to more memoiristic approaches, there are so many ways to push the podcasting envelope.

I think this is a relevant issue in many other genres as well, where the entertainment value of a piece of work is often prioritized over its artistic qualities. Whether we’re talking about film, TV, video games, virtual reality experiences, or lyrics, students may be coming into a class having only really experienced the most popular, entertainment-focused examples from the genre. Part of our job then, I believe, is to help them see the vast creative potential in that genre.

While much of this work will be done by the instructor in lectures and assigned listening, as a TA I tried to find ways to encourage students to expand their listening and think outside the box when it came to their assignments. When students would email or come to my office hours with ideas for their assignments, I would often send them any podcasts I could think of that exemplified the interesting and creative things they could do with their topic. For example, if a student wanted to investigate an internet rabbit hole, I might send them to take a listen to Underunderstood and Decoder Ring. Or, if a student wanted to make a podcast about relationships, I would point them to something like The Heart. This brings up an important point—if you’re not a big podcast listener, or you don’t listen to a variety of different genres and formats, I would encourage you to expand your own listening so that you can bring that perspective to your marking and TAing.

I would also try to help students think through ways they could use what they were learning in class to spice up their assignments. Why not try doing an interview? Why not record some relevant background ambience to help set the scene for the listener? Why not record an audio diary? I found that inviting students to try new techniques led to more creative and exciting assignments.

Marking for Production

One of the trickiest things about marking podcasting assignments is taking production into consideration. When it comes to marking finished audio files, it can be hard to know what to expect from students in terms of audio quality. Many students have never worked with audio before and will be using their phones or laptop microphones to record. That’s really part of the beauty of podcasting — it’s an incredibly accessible genre. However, there should still be an expectation that the audio will be clear enough to be understandable. The instructor will hopefully let you know a maximum number of points to deduct for unclear audio, so as not to penalize the students too much for audio issues.

When it comes to production, a more important question is whether the student has tried to take advantage of the audio medium. This is true for both scripts and finished audio projects. If the piece amounts to just someone reading an essay or story they wrote aloud into a microphone, it’s not going to be as effective to the ear as something made with the audio format in mind.

Here are some helpful questions to ask yourself about the production in the assignments you’re marking:

-Have they used relevant sound effects to help immerse the listener in the scene?

-Have they used appropriate music to enhance the impact of scenes?

-Are sound effects and music faded in and out smoothly, or do they start and stop abruptly?

-Are sound effects and music properly balanced with narration and interviews? Are they distracting?

-Have they included other voices or audio in their podcast? Whether that be through interviews, audio clips taken from the internet/film/tv, audio diaries, TikTok sounds, background audio they recorded themselves, etc. It could be anything!

-Have they tried to weave the podcast together in an interesting way? Or have they just put some clips together sequentially?

-Have they used narration to organize and tie the piece together?

When it comes to podcast production, there are so many possibilities. That’s why, to me, the most important question is whether the student has tried to do something creative with their assignment. They might not have the audio editing skills to perfectly execute their vision, but having a creative vision that goes beyond recording a simple monologue or conversation is key.

While this might seem like a podcasting-specific issue, this is an important consideration for other new media genres as well. For example, in one new media assignment I marked where students had to write a Virtual Reality script, it was important for students to consider how they were making use of the VR medium to tell their story. If the assignment was written like a film script—with little use of the 360 degree possibilities of VR, cues to direct the viewer’s attention, and immersive sound effects—then it wasn’t as effective as it could be. Again, helping students to see the unique creative possibilities with an exciting genre like VR, video games, or podcasting, will help them with their own projects.

A Note on Assessing Diction and Writing

Since these are creative writing courses, it’s also important to talk about the unique considerations when assessing diction in podcasting scripts and assignments. Like more traditional genres, we need to take into consideration things like organization, characters, and scenes. However, because podcasts are a strictly audio format, it’s imperative to write for the ear. Having beautiful, elaborate sentences full of different clauses might work well in a short story, but it can be the kiss of death for a podcaster, whose listener will struggle to understand what is being said.

If you’re marking a script, try reading it aloud to see how it flows as a narrator—do you stumble over sentences and have to re-read them? Does the writing sound natural? Does it have a voice? These are things students should be taking into consideration as they work on their scripts.

In general, in new media courses it can sometimes feel like the writing gets lost behind all the production elements. But, whether you’re marking a scene from a VR film, video game, or a 10-minute podcast assignment, make sure to still pay close attention to the quality of the writing itself. How well does the dialogue flow? Have they made interesting and surprising word choices? Is it clear and easy to follow?

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In general, it’s a lot of fun to listen to podcasting assignments. Students bring so much passion to their projects, and I heard quite a few episodes that really blew me away. While they might not be able to perfectly execute their ideas yet, we want to encourage them to keep pushing the possibilities of the genre into exciting new territory. Remember that if you find yourself struggling with marking in a non-traditional genre like podcasting, don’t hesitate to check in with the professor who will undoubtedly have great insights for you. Anyway, happy listening!