Get a Beijing Earful With the First Podcasting in the 'Jing Panel Discussion, Jul 5
Plenty of us pop in our earbuds and crank up our favorite podcasts to liven up our commutes, workouts, and other mind-numbing tasks. However, podcasts diehards can get even more than their typical earful by peeping some of their favorite local show hosts up close and personal on Jul 5's free Podcasting in the ‘Jing Panel Discussion at Naked Hub in Dongdaqiao.
The panel is comprised of some of Beijing’s most popular podcasters: Yajun Zhang co-host of the female empowerment focused Wǒ Men Podcast (she co-hosts that show with and Jingjing Zhang); China Tech Talk host John Artman (he's also the editor in chief at Technode, and co-hosts that podcast with founder of China Channel s Matthew Brennan); Brendan Davis of Big Fish In the Middle Kingdom, a WTF inspired weekly interview show with Beijing’s most creative and innovative expats; and Noah Lerner of Environment China.
Kate Logan, the event's organizer and co-founder and co-host of Environment China, tells the Beijinger: "We realized that in the past couple of years, more podcasts were being launched out of Beijing. We wanted to get a chance to explore how and why – and to hopefully start to grow a community of those who have found podcasting an effective medium to achieve similar goals across a range of different issues."
Brendan Davis tells us he’s looking forward to the event because it will be “Fun for people who are already into podcasting, and also people who haven’t been but are curious because this is a large and growing phenomenon.” He adds that podcasting “has replaced radio for a lot of people. Also, you can’t always look at your phone for entertainment, and sometimes audio is more satisfying because you can really get into the weeds of people’s stories."
The Big Fish host adds that he and his fellow podcasters have especially bright prospects in China, pointing to mammoth Chinese audio platform XimalayaFM. He says “It’s dominant; they have twice the subscriber of iTunes. It’s mostly Chinese language like podcasts, audio shows, and dialogues for learning, though it’s not exclusively English. And they will launch a separate siloed-off platform for English content.”
Noah Lerner, meanwhile, says he’s also thrilled to podcasting in China and is equally eager to dish on the details of his show with a live audience at the event. "It's increasingly important for the world to understand what is happening in China – and I think podcasting as a medium really lends itself to getting past the headlines and digging a bit deeper into stories,” he says. “On our podcast, Environment China, we've worked to elevate a diverse range of voices from the front lines of China's environmental and low-carbon movement to serve as a bilingual resource and a conversation-starter for our listeners.”
Davis says he’s looking forward to not only meet listeners and peers, but also future podcasters at the event. “People have been using me as a reference point to make a show, and I bet these other hosts serve the same function in their circles. So I want to learn what other people are dealing with on their current, or prospective, podcasts. And I also just want to see what the wider podcasting community in Beijing is like.”
The Podcasting in the ‘Jing Panel Discussion will be held at Naked Hub on Jul 5 from 7.30-9pm and is free for all. For more information, click here.
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Photos: China Plus, courtesy of the coordinators