My former school, the Red Cross Nordic United World College, recently published a piece I wrote about podcasting during the Covid-19 lockdown. This is an extract; you can read the whole story here.
I consider myself lucky to have experienced very little loneliness in my life. I have felt alone at times, yes. But lonely? Whenever my inner commentator gets too loud in my personal echo-chamber, I switch on the radio – admittedly, the BBC and German radio serve as little more than a diversion, but an effective one, nonetheless. Lately, as the airwaves have become unbearably saturated with, first, Brexit and then Corona, radio has given way to podcasts and audiobooks. During lockdown, for me that has meant not only listening to but also making audio programmes.
Radio has always fascinated me. When I recently cleared out my childhood bedroom, I re-discovered an old cassette tape featuring the product of an afternoon’s play with girlfriends: a home-recorded radio programme – which, lacking a cassette player, I have yet to listen to again. Radio works, in part, because it is such an intimate medium. The truly skilled presenters sound as though they are speaking to us directly. But during a lockdown, radio and podcasts have gained another significance: they add to our cavernous echo-chambers the experiences and voices of others.
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Head to the Red Cross Nordic United World College website to read my thoughts on the power of relationships that cross social divides and how radio and podcasts can help us burst our personal echo chambers.
Angelika Love 