Shreya Sunderram (left) and Allison Emmet (right) celebrating the launch of their podcast

A group of Barnard Speaking Fellows hosted an event last night in honor of the launch of their new podcast, “The Speakeasy”. Betsy Ladyzhets, Bwog Editor and Writing Fellow, attended the event, and was both entranced and inspired by the podcast’s words.

Last night, a group of Barnard Speaking Fellows led by Allison Emmet (BC ’18) released the first season of their new podcast, “The Speakeasy.” The goal of the Speaking Center is to help Barnard students become more comfortable with their voices and with the act of public speaking, and to be more thoughtful in what they say; Speaking Fellows do this through workshops with students, both individually and in small groups. “The Speakeasy” is a less formal extension of the Center’s goal, as its episodes discuss the relationship of speech to other social issues affecting Barnard students. The first season, which went up on iTunes last night, includes four episodes on speaking anxiety, activism, gender, and professionalism.

To celebrate the podcast’s launch, the Speaking Fellows hosted an event in a small Altschul lecture room. I’ve had a class in that room all semester, but when I stepped inside, I almost didn’t recognize it – the space had been transformed with low lighting, string lights, couches, streamers, and even a rug. Blackboards were adorned with Speaking Center mottos and a written-out link to the Center’s website. One Speaking Fellow brought in a group of large silver balloons spelling out the word “SPEAK” a few minutes into the event, just in case attendees were still unclear on the identity of their hosts. A classroom in which I once took an organic chemistry exam now felt like a comfortable space for a study break, where I could forget my responsibilities for an hour or two.

After attendees enjoyed pizza, Insomnia cookies, and free copies of the Barnard Bulletin and Hoot magazine for around half an hour, the event began in earnest with a slam poetry performance. Emmet introduced two members of the Barnumbia slam team, Mo Crist (BC ’19) and Joya Ahmad (GS ’17). (Crist is actually featured on the Gender and Speech episode of the podcast; they discuss their experiences and perform a couple of poems.) These two poets performed three poems (or sets of poems, in Crist’s case) each. By complete, unplanned coincidence, both of them read poems on gender, on the presidential election, and on what Ahmad affectionately called “queer shit.” This performance shifted the mood of the event from one of socializing and study relief to one of thoughtful emotion and awareness, as the audience was forced to confront the intersections of gender, race, queerness, power, and speech.

By the time Crist and Ahmad finished their performance, the room no longer had enough seats for all of the event’s attendees. Over fifty people were now present to hear the next (and probably most important) part of the event: the playing of an episode from the podcast. Emmet introduced several other Speaking Fellows who helped her make “The Speakeasy” possible, most notably Shreya Sunderram, BC ’19, who wrote and produced several episodes.

Last night, Emmet and Sunderram played “The Speakeasy”‘s episode on activism, which is its second and shortest episode so far (it clocks at about ten minutes). This episode started with soft jazz music (fitting for the podcast’s title) and the assertion that, “Your words are speech and your speech is activism.” It then went into the theory behind activist speech, explaining that activism can be found in the classroom just as often as it can be found at protests and rallies. Disagreement is a means for productive activism, Emmet said in the episode, if one person actually listens to what the other says. This podcast episode included a recording of the rally that the Barnard Contingent Faculty Union had after its negotiation victory, as a tangible example of how activist speech can accomplish change on campus.

The podcast episode ended with an inspiring call to its listeners: “We should be active in our speech, choose our words carefully. Be aware of the power your words have… Mean what you say and say what you mean.” This episode’s message was clearly inspired by the overall goal of the Speaking Center, yet it was described in a medium that is accessible to a broad audience not familiar with the theory that Speaking Fellows (and Writing Fellows) read.

Once the audience had finished listening to the podcast episode, I talked to the event’s and podcast’s host for a few minutes. Emmet told me that the inspiration for “The Speakeasy” came from a period last year when she “really dug in deep with podcasts,” listening to every one she could get her hands on. She realized that the podcast medium was popular with college students, yet nobody at Barnard or Columbia seemed to be taking advantage of it. Despite having limited knowledge of how to record or produce a podcast, she wanted to get into that medium.

“With the Speaking Fellows, I have a network of people who think critically about speech,” Emmet said. And what better group of people could there be to put together a podcast than one that thinks critically about speech?

All four episodes of “The Speakeasy”‘s first season are connected to speech, and Emmet and Sunderram have ideas for many more. They are both confident that a second season will be much easier to get out, because both Speaking Fellows now know much more about the mechanics of recording and producing.

Last night, the Speaking Fellows drew people into Altschul 903 with a fun atmosphere and free food, but then challenged us to consider the value of speech and its intersections in our lives. The launch event was, in a way, a physical reflection of the podcast itself – it draws you in with funky jazz music and then causes you to really stop and think about your position as a speaker and listener. All four episodes are free on iTunes, and I would definitely recommend that anyone at Columbia/Barnard should take a listen.

Photo via Sharon Wu