William Bumcum, left, and Maggie Leslie sit in the UTC PodLab for their “Tennessee Valley Crossroads” conversation. Photo by Angela Foster.
When Will Davis walks into class on the first day of each semester, he is usually introducing himself to around 15 strangers.
“I look at them and wonder, ‘Who are you?’” he said with a laugh.
Last semester, Davis—the PodLab manager and instructor of the honors-level “Storytelling with Podcasts” class at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga—was able to learn a little more about each of his students as they did about each other.
He first gave his students a survey, asking them about their stances on topics such as social and economic policies and religion. The students answered on a scale of “most liberal” to “most conservative.”
Using the results of the surveys, he paired the students who represented opposing viewpoints on a specific topic.
Then, the pairs sat down for a 30-minute recorded conversation in the PodLab.
After recording, the students cut them into three-and-a-half-minute podcasts, which will air on WUTC-FM 88.1, UTC’s National Public Radio station, beginning this week.
The introduction, recorded by students David Elliott and Sylvia Denton, explained the premise.
“Social media often highlights what makes us different, so we decided to turn off our phones and learn who we are as people,” Denton said.
“And we found out that we’re not so different after all,” Elliott said. “Each episode, we sit down and listen to each other’s stories; not what we believe, but why we believe it.”
Davis said the idea stemmed from a 2022 project when the UTC Podlab was selected as one of six sites to host “One Small Step” by StoryCorps. The project brought together two strangers with opposing political views for a 50-minute discussion about something other than politics.
Excited by the project’s outcome, he decided to integrate it into the classroom. Last year, Davis’s PodLab created “Tennessee Valley Across the Table,” a podcast featuring members of UTC and the Chattanooga community that followed the same format as “One Small Step.”
His students were given 22 hours of conversation to edit into 22, four-minute segments that aired on WUTC.
Dixie Edmondson, left, and Andrew Meert discuss the effects of technology on Gen Z and Gen Alpha during the first episode in this summer’s “Tennessee Valley Crossroads” podcast series.
This year, students worked on another podcast, exclusively spotlighting their own voices.
“There were some students that participated in the ‘Across the Table’ podcast,” Davis said. “Those were my favorite, so I thought, ‘I want to do this again with students.’”
The students called it “Tennessee Valley Crossroads,” a fitting name for a podcast about coming together despite political or religious differences—with a wink and a nod to UTC’s Crossroads Dining Hall.
“I was like, ‘Come on you guys. Quit it,’” Davis said about when he first heard their name idea. “Then I was like, ‘Oh…yeah. It’s perfect.’ They have a sense of humor.”
He emphasized that the podcast is a conversation, not a debate. He explained the psychological contact hypothesis—the idea that the more contact people have with one another, the harder it is to hold prejudice against them.
“With conversations and sharing stories, you find the humanity in each other,” he said. “You’re looking for similarities. If it’s a debate, you’re coming from a place of division and disagreement.”
Davis said he saw the value in a podcast that could connect students with one another.
“This is an election year, so there’s going to be so much division,” he said. “Something that’s happened since we started this project, and something that I keep thinking about, is how far division and unrest on campuses can go.
“We’re trying to create a culture of empathy and understanding among students—and that’s what this is about. It’s a David and Goliath battle but the idea is that it’s one small step.”
Ava Nessell, left, and Adriel Poo Armas
Two podcast participants included senior communication student Ava Nessell and senior computer science major Adriel Poo Armas.
The two sat next to each other in class but had never met prior.
“I think it was really interesting to sit down and have a conversation with Adriel,” said Nessell, a graduate of Sale Creek High School. “We sat next to each other the whole semester. That is definitely the most in-depth conversation we’ve had and we’re so much alike.”
Instead of a structured “question and answer” format, Poo Armas described the session as a loosely guided conversation.
“In an honors seminar, I feel like it’s a safe environment to open up and have these conversations,” said Poo Armas, who—as a child—immigrated with his family from Cuba to Tampa, Florida. “I’m not saying we’re all the same, but if you don’t believe what I believe, we’re all pretty open and can understand where each other is coming from.”
Nessell said her conversation with Poo Armas mainly focused on religion.
“We talked about our belief system and how growing up a Christian would influence how we got to where we are and how we think now,” she said.
“It wasn’t about religion or political beliefs itself,” Poo Armas added. “It was about the buildup of our belief systems.”
Nessell explained that no part of their conversation was confrontational.
“It was just harmony and agreement,” she said.
Maggie Leslie, a business management junior from Cleveland, Tennessee, said that she felt slightly nervous leading up to the recorded conversation with her partner, William Bumcum.
“One anxiety I had was talking about my personal beliefs and being transparent because normally that’s something that I like to keep to myself,” Leslie said. “Before recording, we had exchanged maybe two words. It was really interesting to sit down with someone you see a lot but don’t really talk to that much.”
Nessell, who facilitated Leslie and Bumcum’s conversation, agreed that the lead-up to the podcast recording was a bit nerve-racking.
“There is such an anxiety about sharing how you feel because you don’t want to rock the boat,” Nessell said. “You don’t want to cause a fuss, but I think it’s so important to be transparent with people that you’re close to. It’s important to understand why people think the way they do.
“This environment is a great way to share viewpoints without being confrontational.”
She said that by facilitating and participating in conversations, she feels a bit closer to her peers.
“I think it was very interesting to know more about (Leslie) even though we never had much of a conversation before,” Nessell said. “I know how to approach her better.
“I know a lot more about Adriel now. I know a lot more about where he came from. It’s really interesting and it’s definitely going to shape future conversations. I feel like we’re forming a friendship.”
When the recording concluded, Davis said a change happened in his students.
“After they had done the recordings, the students told me that when they would come to class, they put their computers and phones away,” he said. “They came in and would talk to each other and be present with one another.”
Davis also noticed a change within himself.
“This is really good,” he said about the podcast. “I am getting better. I can get much better. I have to move through life like, ‘OK, let’s find what we have in common. We may be different, but we can have a shared experience somewhere.’”
To listen to the podcast, tune in to the WUTC-FM 88.1 “Morning Edition” on Mondays at 7:45 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. and “All Things Considered” at 4:29 p.m. Click the link here to listen to previous episodes.
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