WLM | people
HUMANATURE
Podcast
By Kati Hime & Micah Schweizer
Images courtesy Wyoming Public Media
Love Wyoming Public Media? I do!
Their noon time programming keeps me company over many a rushed lunch
in the car between projects. Levi & I tune in to Saturday morning programming
on late morning coffee runs. I greatly appreciated the spotlight they shone on
WLM a couple of summers back, and it is with a great deal of excitement that we
have the opportunity to share their new project – HumaNature, a new podcast
one can find easily online or on iTunes. Read on from my interview with Micah
Schweizer, Cultural Affairs & Production Director at Wyoming Public Media, as he
explains the inspiration behind HumaNature, its reach and future…
WLM: How did the project begin? What was the inspiration?
MS: Wyoming Public Media has been developing programs with broad
appeal and a Wyoming flavor for a while now, but it was just over a year ago
that our host, Caroline Ballard, had the idea for an outdoor-themed show.
She was new to Wyoming, and she knew I was looking for a show idea
with a Wyoming flavor. Sometimes it takes new eyes to see the obvious—a
show about the outdoors! Over the course of a year, our production team—
Caroline, Ryan Oberhelman, Erin Jones, Anna Rader, and me—coalesced
around a shared passion for the stories we’re telling and the desire to try
something new: We’re letting our guests—we call them our storytellers—be
the stars of their own stories. Storytelling is such a basic human impulse
and need, and we want to create a space where the connection between the
storyteller and listener can flourish.
WLM: How often does HumaNature release a new episode?
MS: HumaNature releases a new episode on the third Wednesday of every
month at HumaNaturePodcast.org, on iTunes, and on several other online
distribution platforms. It can take as long as 40 hours to create an episode.
There’s research, a pre-interview with the guest, planning, the actual interview,
and then lots of very detail-oriented production. We normally record a onehour interview, and then it gets distilled down to a 15 or 20-minute episode.
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Wyoming Lifestyle Magazine | Autumn & Holiday 2015