Cosmic Perspectives Anonymous

When you listen to a podcast, it sounds smooth and fluid like the people are having a fun conversation in their living rooms. At least, if it is a semi-decent production. Basically, if things are done well, you don’t even think about what goes into making the content sound authentic and keep the flow going in the listener’s ears. I learned a lot about the technical side of content creation when I put together my podcast, called The Space Science Podcast. Knowing what I wanted to talk about—astrophysics and space exploration—was the easy part. The challenge was learning by trial and error how to manage and promote the episodes.

Initially, I founded the organization Universal Explorers with the mission to offer free and accessible space news and education to my community and classmates. To promote the fledgling organization, I launched the podcast and website, which required developing a script, recruiting expert guests, and learning HTML and JavaScript on the backend to put it all together. I knew what I wanted to share, but despite weeks of planning and research, the episode flopped—not even cracking double-digit listenership. I realized I needed someone intriguing to attract listeners to the podcast.

After cold contacting...