The most significant moment in my ‘Ears of East’ podcast club has been the preparation for and recording of the ‘Environmentalism or Eco-fascism’ podcast. When we started to brainstorm the idea, I used my preference of writing to collate my perspective on the topic on our team’s shared document. We delegated different articles for everyone to read and then collaborated through our own ideas and also the research that we did. We all had an opportunity to contribute and no one necessarily had an upper-hand. We understood the importance of teamwork and collaboration to come up with interesting ideas.
For the actual recording of the podcast, we invited a history teacher for his input on the topic. It was interesting to note the variations in perspectives. I struggled with articulating myself well enough to rebut claims or offer spontaneous insight. It is something that I have noticed I might have to work on since it is important to be able to communicate ideas effectively without necessarily always being ready to do so. I did, however manage to grasp the importance of having unique insights and an in-depth understanding of the topic before discussing it. My experience with IB global politics has helped immensely in considering the global impact of issues.
Sometimes it can be easy to gloss over a topic and discuss underdeveloped ideas in recordings. For example, talking about hate speech can be triggering for people and unless a point is put across sensitively, taking all reactions into account, it should not be discussed. It can be harmful to the people and groups represented and it is important to keep an ethical approach when discussing sensitive sociopolitical issues. Considering the impact of UWC values on our approach, we have all been able to approach topics sensitively and understood the value of such an approach for the future.
