According to the Pew Research Center, “half of Americans have listened to a podcast in the past year, and one in five of those listeners say they listen to a podcast nearly every day.” Edison Research reports, “42% of Americans ages 12 and older have listened to a podcast in the past month.” These numbers reflect not just a growing audience but a dynamic shift in how stories are shared and consumed today, including here on the Hilltop.
In previous years, students could explore the writing component of podcasts in the English course Contemporary Documentary Media Workshop. Or they could use the Independent Study Program to learn how to make their own podcasts. But until now, they haven't been able to take a class on the subject. Enter Music Teacher Mackenzie Christensen, a self-proclaimed tech-nerd who earned his undergraduate degree in sound production from Berklee College of Music and is now enrolled in their graduate program. After receiving repeated requests to give a crash course on the ins and outs of podcasting software and equipment, he decided to launch a new project-based course this fall, introducing students to professional podcast creation.
Listen to "Coaches on the Couch" by Brandon Grauer ’27 and Max Romano ’27.
Pomfret’s new art course on podcasting provides a hands-on experience for students to learn how to develop a concept and conduct interviews. After recording their content, students tackle all the audio post-production work needed to create a professional-sounding podcast.
Music Teacher Mackenzie Christensen helps TJ Swinson ’26 edit the introduction of his podcast.
During the first few weeks of the winter term, students learned to use Logic Pro — a professional audio editing software — to edit and enhance existing podcast content. “I enjoyed learning to use Logic Pro,” says TJ Swinson ’26. “Mr. Christensen did an excellent job explaining all the aspects of Logic Pro. The software makes the editing process incredibly easy.”
After Winter Break, students began recording their own content to create an episode of their first podcast. “I enjoy being creative and working on a project on a topic that interests me,” says TJ, who is working on a podcast about NFL football. While a majority of the class is working on podcasts about prep and professional sports, some students are focusing on other topics. Amelia Weldon ’26 is developing a podcast about what it's like to be a high school student, and Lily Bos ’25 and Jake Glickman ’26 are recording a food review podcast. Regardless of their topic, students explore different formats, including interviews, deep reporting, conversational, recap, and news summaries.
As students progress through their exploration of creating their own podcasts, they will hone their delivery and editing skills. When new technologies emerge, Christensen teaches them in his class. This week, he shared a new version of Adobe Podcast’s Enhance Speech tool, which helps clean up background noise and remove echoes. Jake and Lily used the speech enhancement tool to remove the background chatter that picked up on their recording in The Tuck.
Jake Glickman ’26 and Lily Bos ’25 edit their food review podcast.
The class will add a video component after successfully recording and editing their first audio-only episode. According to Morning Consult, 42 percent of adults prefer podcasts with video elements, an increase from 31.2 percent in 2022.
Christensen hopes that by the end of the term, most of his class will share their work outside of the Pomfret community — or even consider submitting an episode to NPR's Student Podcast Challenge competition — showcasing their creativity and newfound skills to a broader audience.