In April, Brian Reed visited the Academy Center of the Arts’ Warehouse Theatre to discuss all things S-Town, as well as his work on Serial and as Senior Producer on This American Life, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Medi and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.
During the event, fans learned more about Reed’s storytelling process, particularly with regard to S-Town, but a special group of students from Lynchburg College’s Communications Studies department nabbed an intimate hour-long workshop with Reed prior to the event where he delved deeper into his process.
“The Communication Studies Department at Lynchburg College is committed to exposing its students to experiential learning,” said Ghislaine Lewis, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Lynchburg College.
“We were thrilled to have the opportunity through the Academy Center for the Arts for our students to have an intimate conversation with Brian Reed.”
Prior to their workshop, students in Dr. Lewis’ course listened to the entire S-Town podcast, and came prepared with questions about the podcast itself, Reed’s process, and modern journalism as a whole.
In a casual setting, Reed engaged these questions which ranged from how he approaches interviews, to the medium of podcasting, and even led to a conversation about stories the students were covering at Lynchburg College through their own online and paper publication.
“Through his anecdotes, students had a clearer understanding of the dedication needed as well as the interview and production process required to perfect the art of journalism. For many of our students, radio is a relic of the past. Brian Reed and the S-Town production staff have shown them that compelling storytelling is still possible on the platform.”
The Academy Center of the Arts would like to thank our sponsors, RADIO IQ, Pacific Life, Innovative Wireless Technologies, and Baird, for making this opportunity possible and for bringing Brian Reed to Lynchburg, Virginia.
