Students launch new podcast featuring perspectives on the US-Soviet Union Cold War

Podcasting is one of the most popular activities in Alkek One, the Alkek Library’s first floor creative technology hub. Students, faculty, and staff use the two YouStar Audio Studios to create and record their programs covering a variety of topics. The latest of these efforts is a student-led podcast program that will debut on the airwaves this weekend. 

As the university pursues the shift to becoming an R1 research institution, scholarly communication (i.e., academic publishing and presenting and output) is becoming ever more important. A group of graduate students asked: Is it possible to combine the joy of podcasting with scholarly communication? 

Drum roll, please… 

The answer is a resounding yes! “For Example” is TXST’s newest public history project led by a team of graduate students from the History and Political Science departments and made in Alkek One. What started as a simple seminar project grew into a grant-funded, public history venture that the forerunners hope will become a mainstay at the university. Highlighting one robust facet of the outstanding interdisciplinary humanities research at TXST, the “For Example” podcast series will include interviews with academics providing different perspectives related to the US-Soviet Union Cold War. The first season will have six episodes, launching every third Saturday of the month through October, featuring guest speakers both locally and abroad. The first episode’s featured interviewee is Dr. Jason Mellard, of Texas State’s History department. He will be interviewed by graduate student Amy Bushong and the program will air Saturday, April 22 on Spotify and YouTube.  

The project was made possible by using resources from Alkek Library. The graduate students met with Elizabeth Hambleton, the library’s audio specialist, to learn about podcasting techniques and best practices, and with Lauren Goodley, an archivist for The Wittliff Collections, to learn about publishing research in repositories and on public-facing platforms. All the interviews were recorded in YouStar Audio Studios, edited with software in the DesignSpace, and the episodes will be accessible in the university’s digital repository as well as public platforms like Spotify and YouTube. 

“For Example” is funded by a Humanities Texas mini grant. Members of the graduate student team are Amy Bushong, Gilberto Gonzales, Luiz Guizzo, Brent Holcomb, and Aaron Holland. The team is led by Dr. Elizabeth Bishop (History) and Dr. Elizabeth Hambleton (University Libraries). Follow the podcast on social media @ForExampleTXST on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. 

This article was contributed by University Libraries Audio Specialist Elizabeth Hambleton.