Announcing AIR's New Voices AMPLIFY Fellows
February 14, 2024—AIR (Association of Independents in Radio) is proud to announce its first class of 16 for our newest program, New Voices AMPLIFY.
New Voices AMPLIFY is a marketing accelerator for independent creators who have an existing podcast and are ready to take it to the next level. The program will equip independent audio makers with marketing and development skills to help their shows break through the noise.
The program will run for eight weeks starting on February 20th and ending April 11th. Participants will attend 2 meetings a week focused on different marketing aspects where they'll learn strategies and tips from guest speakers that they will then apply to their own shows with the guidance of a mentor.
In addition, each participant will receive a $1000 stipend, along with ongoing support, AIR member resources, SoundPath video library and networking opportunities.
This program is led by New Voices AMPLIFY Captain & Alumni Keisha "TK" Dutes (‘16) and AIR’s New Voices Program Manager Lynn Casper with support from an alumni Advisory Board: Alicia Zuckerman (‘09), Kyle Norris (‘16), Keisha “TK” Dutes (‘16), Elena Rivera ('17), Ray Pang ('21) and Liz Mak (‘15).
Learn more about the first cohort of New Voices AMPLIFY and their podcasts below:
Piyush Agarwal - Kahani Jaani Anjaani - Stories in Hindi
Kahani Jaani Anjaani is a Hindi Stories (kahaani) podcast series narrated by theatre and voiceover artist, Piyush Agarwal. Following the mission of making sure no stories get lost he takes you to the world of Beautiful Hindi narrations & emotions.
Felicia Dominguez - Auricle
Auricle is a sci-fi anthology set in the not-so-distant future. Season 2 was just released in Fall of 2023. Season 1: Iris is a collection of stories about ephemeral, anonymous connections made by an AI matchmaker, Iris. Each episode follows a different pair of people who Iris has connected, and the emotional journey that vulnerability brings. It is about the power anonymous connections have in defining who we are and what we'll become. Season 2: Transmission, follows an otherworldly entities' discovery of loneliness, loss, and love. Each episode features a person or persons who have interacted with the entity. It asks the questions 'where did we come from', 'what makes us good', 'what is happiness', and 'what is our responsibility to others and the world'? The podcast explores what makes us human.
Serita Fontanesi - Not Ugly Pod
Not Ugly Pod is a weekly podcast challenging traditional colonial beauty standards one conversation at a time. The show aims to expand the definition of beauty by talking about it OUTSIDE of a traditional, white framework. It is hosted by Serita Fontanesi who is joined with a different weekly guest. All guests are asked the same questions which are meant to be a guide. The questions are: 1) If you had a dumb amount of money, what beauty product/treatment would you get? 2) What does beauty mean to you? 3) How has your definition of beauty changed over time? 4) What makes you question your beauty? 5) What or who makes you feel beautiful?
Debra Jarvis - The Final Say
This is the podcast where you can get comfortable talking about death and learn some things about life from people who are facing death.
Rachel Karp - Cruising
Cruising is a narrative-documentary podcast telling queer stories through the lens of lesbian bars in the United States. It is currently in its second season.Season 1 began with the idea to visit and document the less-than-25 open and operating lesbian bars in the country. Since Cruising launched in 2021, at least EIGHT new lesbian bars have opened across the country. So as of October of 2023, we are back with season 2. In addition to covering each of these new bars, we are also traveling back in time to explore lesbian bars of decades past: from 1930s San Francisco to 1980s New Orleans to 1990s Chicago, and everything in between.
Toni Kennedy - What's Poppin Penny
Penny Wright is a preschooler who lives in a multi-generational household. Her life takes a magical turn when she finds a teddy bear in a box of her grandfather's belongings during a game of hide-and-seek with her grandmother, Spicy.Thanks to a familial poem her grandfather taught her Penny learns that when your past is just your beginning...your ancestor's gifts can always find you!
Flloyd Kennedy - Am I Old Yet?
A coming-of-age, audio fiction comedy with a difference. Our ageing heroine shares senior moments, family relationships and adventures—entertaining and a wee bit provocative.
Johnnie Kornegay - Queue Points
Queue Points is the Black Podcasting Award and Ambie Award nominated music podcast that is dropping the needle on Black Music history and celebrating Black music through meaningful dialogue.
Piper LeMoine - Rancho Alegre
Many moons ago, seeing a criminal underdocumentation of Tejano and Conjunto music, Austin-based nonprofit organization Rancho Alegre began an ambitious project to travel the state of Texas recording oral histories with legends, veterans, and up-and-coming artists in Tejano and Conjunto music. These were a sort of proto-podcast, living on ranchoalegre.org. Now it's time to move these over to podcasting platforms for the rest of the world to enjoy. These are in English, Spanish, and Spanglish, depending on the preference of the interviewee, and conducted by the one and only Baldomero Cuellar.
Terra Lopez - This is What It Feels Like
What does it feel like to use a public bathroom as a trans person? What does it feel like to move forward in life after losing a parent to suicide? What does it feel like to make the decision to have an abortion? In a world that feels more divided than ever, put yourself in the shoes of everyday people at the center of issues often overlooked or politicized by society. Through intimate, unfiltered conversations, host Terra Lopez shows us how what we feel connects us all more than we might think. It’s not simple. It’s not black and white. This Is What It Feels Like.
Taccara Martin - Unmasked
Kenya is a well put together marketing executive that has accomplished so much in life by not “making waves” for others. But when everything begins to unravel, and her perfectly curated world begins to crumble around her, she has to come face to face with herself (and her choices). So she goes to therapy. A wholesome mix between Being Mary Jane and Insecure, journey with Kenya as she tries to make sense of life, love, and failure—through the lens of her therapist.
David Sadzin - Winning at Losing
Feel like a loser sometimes? You’re not alone. Each episode of Winning at Losing tells the story of one of history’s biggest losers; it’s a podcast about people who ran for President of the United States and lost. If you tend to learn as much from failure as success, or if just like nerding out over American History’s more obscure figures, this is the sometimes-humorous, always-engaging, history documentary podcast you’ve been waiting for.
Tashmica Torok - Popaganda Podcast
Do you love reality television, true crime, memes, TikTok and all other forms of pop culture? Are you also interested in communal care outside of harmful state systems? Do you struggle to reconcile the two? Join Tashmica Torok and Shannon Perez-Darby on Popaganda, as we dive deep into our love of transformative justice, pop culture and where the two meet.
Yhane Washington Smith - 1972 - The Chisholm Campaign Trail and the Davis Trial
Upon the 50 year anniversary of the historical events of these two famous Black women (Chisholm's campaign for the presidency of the U.S. and Davis's Trial for conspiracy to murder); comes "1972" by highly acclaimed, independent audio drama creator, Yhane Washington Smith. "1972" is a seven-part historical audio drama series detailing the powerful story of these two amazing Black women in U.S. history. The show portrays the true story of Black women empowerment; of two African American women who refused to be ignored and silenced by a society too comfortable with the status quo. Our goal is for you to be entertained, educated, empowered, uplifted and love the amazing stories of Black women in U.S. history!
Lisa Woolfork - Stitch Please
Dive deep into the vibrant world of sewing with the Stitch Please podcast, an official show of Black Women Stitch – the sewing group where Black lives matter. Uniquely crafted for those who love sewing, this sewing podcast is a gem that centers around Black women, girls, and femmes, weaving threads of creativity, technique, and passion with every episode.
Marvin Yueh - Books & Boba
Books & Boba is a book club dedicated to books written by Asian and Asian American authors. We cover a wide range of genres including contemporary, historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, YA, nonfiction, thrillers, graphic novels, and memoirs.
New Voices AMPLIFY Program Manager
Lynn Casper is a program manager at AIR, creates AIR's weekly newsletter, oversees AIR's New Voices Fellowship program, and manages membership among other things at AIR! Coming from a background in community organizing, Casper speaks frequently on the impact of intentional podcasting and DIY audience engagement strategies.
Casper has been an independent podcaster for over a decade and has been producing the queer music podcast, Homoground, since 2011. Not just a podcast, Homoground serves as a platform for independent LGBTQIA+ musicians and an incubator for queer creators through virtual coworking/collaboration spaces.
New Voices AMPLIFY Captain
Keisha "TK" Dutes is an audio producer (Buzzfeed's Thirst Aid Kit, Function with Anil Dash, Good Words with Kirk Franklin, Open World et al.) educator Spotify, PRX Podcast Garage, BRIC Arts Media), host talent (Rise Up Radio, TK in The AM), and reporter (NPR). With experience spanning terrestrial radio, online, podcast, since 2005, her life in audio is all encompassing. Her most recent episode of NPR Life Kit is about "How to Mind Your own Business". Currently, she helps people bring their podcasts to life via her company, Philo's Future Media and serves as a board member of Association of Independents in Radio.
Fun Fact: She is also an extreme hobbyist and visual artist. www.tastykeish.com