Race and Inequality Interview Assignment

This assignment gives you practice in crafting the preliminary components (or script) for an interview-style podcast where you can “make your case” about an issue related to race and inequality that matters to you.

What are the essential elements of a great podcast? When we listen to podcasts we love, we note that the interviewer opens with a compelling “hook” as a way to introduce the topic or question – the interviewer then carefully defines key terms that are central to understanding that issue; the interviewer provides the audience with some compelling evidence to support the interviewer’s position on that issue, then the interviewer lifts up the perspective of an interviewee through a great set of interview questions and conversation. Finally, the interviewer gives the audience a clear set of action steps or guidance on how to move forward, and then ends the podcast with a strong wrap-up.

For Assignment 1, you will draft several key components of that podcast-style interview – 1) What is your topic of interest, i.e. what is your title? 2) Give us the definition of one or two key terms in order to make sure your listeners are all on the “same page” 3) whom would you interview, to help your audience better understand the issue that you raise and the solutions that you’d like us to consider? Would that person be a leader in or member of the community? An advocate or activist? A researcher? Think about whose voice or voices you would lift up and “center” in the narrative you would ideally like to create for your audience 4) what 4 questions would you ask if you were able to interview that expert? 5) finally, recommend 1 or 2 action steps and provide us with preliminary ideas about how you would close the segment.

To prepare to carry out the first steps to developing your own podcast, first learn by listening to others. Select a podcast that has interview-style sociocultural, political, or sociological content (good examples are provided throughout this syllabus). Listen to that professionally produced podcast and jot down things you liked and disliked about the interviewer’s approach. What would you do differently, if you were conducting that interview?
Then, choose ONE topic from the syllabus topics we have covered so far, in this course (OR PROPOSE YOUR OWN) and:

a) Provide a title and your proposed interviewee – who would you most like to interview?
b) Think about and identify your audience – who are you hoping to reach with this information and guidance?
c) The hook – what is your specific “angle” on how you think about the topic – what got you initially interested in this issue, or what current event or moment in the last several weeks has heightened the importance of this issue for you and for your audience?
d) What 1 or 2 key constructs or concepts (e.g. economic mobility, earnings, undocumented status) do you need to define in order for your listeners to all be on the same page? Please be sure to provide citations from video lectures, readings, or both.
e) Draft 4 interview questions you would use if you had 30 minutes to interview your interviewee – this interview should ideally yield evidence for your position or the interviewee’s position on this issue –
f) What preliminary thoughts do you have regarding the action steps or recommendations you want to provide to your audience in order to follow up? If this podcast were to galvanize us to take action, what action steps would you recommend?
g) How to close? What final words or thoughts would you like to leave us with?

REMEMBER – THIS IS A DRAFT – this is just to get you started on scripting a podcast interview – you are NOT expected to actually produce a podcast for Assignment 1.

POTENTIAL TOPICS: Interview a labor organizer or a bartender for Professor Xavier Briggs or Professor Hiro Yoshikawa on issues of equity for the labor practice of paying restaurant servers through tips/gratuity

Interview a young leader in the “Rock the Vote” campaign, a student signed up for NYU’s Vote2020 campaign, or professor Basil Smikle on barriers and solutions to increasing the political participation of young adults.

All interview scripts will be read carefully, graded on a point scale described below.

Example podcast: https://mcsilver.nyu.edu/black-boys-and-men-changing-the-narrative-1/