Imagine Otherwise guest information
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About the show
Imagine Otherwise is podcast about bridging art, activism, and academia to build more just futures.
On each episode, host Cathy Hannabach interviews the scholars, dancers, authors, artists, and filmmakers imagining collective freedom and creating it through culture.
We seek engaging guests who can communicate well with a diverse audience of non-specialists, including those beyond the academy. See our previous episodes for the types of topics we cover.
What to expect
As a guest, you’ll be interviewed by Cathy Hannabach for 30 minutes on a Zoom audio-only call (we don’t record video).
Before your interview begins, make sure you already have the latest version of Zoom installed on your computer and all updates are installed.
A few days before the interview, Cathy will email you the interview questions. Please read through the questions ahead of time and prepare some talking points to address them.
In addition to the prepared questions, Cathy may ask follow up inquiries about things raised in the conversation.
Before the interview, you’ll also be asked to provide a high-resolution headshot, a bio, and any links to your relevant projects that you’d like included in the episode show notes. We use these materials to create the episode’s promotional images and videos.
Preparing for your interview
Figure out what you want to say. Review the interview questions and practice some short sound bites about your work that speak to diverse audiences both within and beyond the academy as well as outside your area of expertise.
Find a quiet, indoor room to record. Close all the windows and doors in the recording room and turn off anything within earshot that makes noise—including fans and phone notifications.
Check your internet connection and make sure you have the latest version of Zoom installed and updated on your computer before your interview begins.
Reduce noise during the interview. Try not to shuffle papers, tap your pen, type on your computer, and the like. It all gets picked up by the microphone. Help your voice shine by reducing other noise.
Speak close to the microphone. Put your mouth about two inches away from the microphone and remember that it’s hard for the mic to pick up mumbling. When in doubt, you can ask Cathy how your sound is working in the interview.
Wear headphones. Headphones prevent echo and dramatically improve the recording’s sound quality. There’s no need for anything fancy—whatever brand you have is fine.
Have fun! This is a conversation, not a lecture, so don’t be afraid to chat about the episode theme the way you would with a good friend. And it’s not live so if you mess something up, we can always redo that section during the interview.
Promoting your episode
Promoting your episode is a team effort, and you and your publisher are a vital part of the episode promotion process.
Here is our guide on how you can help promote your episode.
We design original promotional materials for every episode, and we will send them to you so you can help spread the word.
You can help promote your episode and share your awesome work with the world by:
- sharing on your social media platforms and tagging publishers, journals, and departments
- posting on your website
- sending promotional materials to your publisher
- sending promotional materials to your university’s marketing department
- and more! Check out our guide for more ideas