Independent Creator Panel: Be Seen as an Independent

This session is part of the 3-day Podcast Creator Summit at WAMU.

What is it like to be an independent audio producer, and what does it take to carve out your own space in the podcasting business? Join us at WAMU studios for this panel conversation featuring audio producers Ronald Young Jr., Morgan Givens, Bridget Todd, and Nichole Hill. In this session, moderated by Vox's Jonquilyn Hill, they will share insights from their audio and podcasting journeys, how they grew their visibility as independent producers, and strategies for navigating relationships and opportunities with partners on various types of projects. Come mingle with fellow audio creators and meet industry professionals!

This is an in-person event and will not be livestreamed or recorded.

About the Speakers

Jonquilyn Hill (moderator) is the host of The Weeds, Vox’s podcast for politics and policy discussions. Prior to joining Vox she was a senior producer for WAMU and NPR’s 1A, where she was a member of the team that helped launch the show and produced segments on everything from Cardi B to the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. While at WAMU she also created and hosted Through The Cracks, a podcast that examined the systems in place that led to the disappearance of 8-year-old Relisha Rudd from a DC homeless shelter. Prior to that, she worked on NPR’s 2016 Elections Desk, NY1, and NBC’s Washington bureau.

Ronald Young Jr. is a critically acclaimed audio producer, host, and storyteller, based in Alexandria, VA. He is an avid pop-culture enthusiast and the host of the television and film review podcast Leaving the Theater. He is also a regular contributor to NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour as a guest panelist. He has hosted shows such as Pushkin’s Solvable and HBO Docs Club, from Pineapple Street Studios. Ronald is also the host of Weight for It, a podcast that looks to tell the vulnerable stories of folks who think about their weight constantly in a fatphobic world. He is passionate about social justice and equity and recently helped to tell historical and present accounts of black folks throughout American history with his work on Seizing Freedom from VPM, and Black History Year from Pushblack.

Morgan Givens is a storyteller, writer, performer, and audio producer based in Washington, DC. A graduate of the Transom storytelling workshop, and Sony and Neon Hum's Editor Bootcamp , he's a former AIR New Voices scholar and current AIR New Voices mentor, Morgan is the creator of the critically-acclaimed and award-winning hopepunk fiction podcast Flyest Fables. His work has been heard on programs such as NPR and WAMU's 1A, The Kojo Nnamdi Show, WNYC's The Takeaway, NPR's Invisibilia, The History Channel's History This Week, The Moth's Radio Hour, The Washington Post and January 6th: An American Story. He's been a featured guest on It's Been a Minute, 1A, The Takeaway, Pushkin's A Slight Change of Plans and many others. Morgan currently works as a freelance producer, editor and podcast development consultant for public radio and Hollywood production companies. Named a Variety Magazine Storyteller to Watch, he's currently represented by CAA.

Bridget Todd is the creator and host of There Are No Girls On The Internet and the founder of Unbossed Creative, a media company that makes podcasts and other digital content to push the needle on social change. Bridget got her start teaching courses on writing and social change at Howard University. Since then, she's trained human rights activists in Australia, done strategy for organizations like Planned Parenthood, the Women's March, and MSNBC, and ran a training program for political operatives the Washington Post called “the Hogwarts of the Democratic Party.” Formerly, Bridget explored feminist activism on the podcast Stuff Mom Never Told You and produced a global salon with AFROPUNK, a music and culture festival, where she hosted folks like Angela Davis, Ava Duvernay, and #MeToo creator Tarana Burke.

Nichole Hill is an award-winning audio producer and creator of The Secret Adventures of Black People podcast. She's served as showrunner for the podcast She Has a Name by Tonya Mosley, I Am America with Tracee Ellis Ross, and Vox's fourth season of Land of the Giants titled Dating Games. Her work has also appeared on NPR, PRX, Radiotopia, and on New York Magazine's podcasts.

Host or Publisher PRX