Robert Smith of NPR’s Planet Money will now be teaching a 12-week course on creating serialized podcasts, through the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at MECA&D. The class will run from May 3-July 23.
Robert Smith is host and correspondent for NPR's Planet Money where he tells stories about the global economy. As part of his explanatory journalism, Robert has drilled for oil, harvested cotton, launched a satellite into space, and created a new superhero comic. Robert came to podcasting after decades in radio covering education, the environment, politics and the unique magic of New York City. He has taught audio at Princeton and Columbia Journalism School and is a frequent trainer at NPR member stations and podcasting production companies. He has won the highest awards in broadcasting, including the Peabody and the DuPont.
This will be a hands-on, fieldwork and production intensive course. Students will work as a team to conduct in-depth reporting on a collaboratively-selected story/topic, and will then work together to create a serialized episodic miniseries. The class will be a combination of online and in-person instruction. Much of the research and pre-production will happen remotely over the first four weeks. Students will then spend four weeks in person in Maine doing fieldwork—recording interviews, gathering tape, etc. After this the class will again go online for editing and post-production over the final four weeks.
The deadline to enroll is April 19, and students can choose for credit or not for credit.