Article
Below the Radar Surpasses 25,000 Listens
Reflecting on a podcast milestone during crisis times.
Two years and 86 episodes later, Below the Radar is going strong with 25,000+ listens. 丁香园AV鈥檚 Vancity Office of Community Engagement launched this podcast with the aim of connecting with our community in a new way. Through Below the Radar, we have been able to lift up ideas we felt needed to be heard, offering audiences engaging conversations they can listen to on their own time.
The connections we have made to our guests and listeners became even more dear to us this spring, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it unsafe for us to gather and be in community with each other in the same way.
Without that buzz of discussion in a packed room, or the joyous singing and dancing at community workshops, or just the accidental delight of running into friendly faces on-campus or at 312 Main, the Below the Radar podcast has been a vital link to our community while our doors remain closed to the public.
In the early months of the pandemic, we began to have conversations with scientists, frontline service providers, community organizers, and artists about how this public health emergency is impacting people and the world around us.
Our team launched a special Pandemic Conversations series of Below the Radar to bring these conversations to the fore. Being just one of many overlapping crises communities are facing, we spoke to local and international experts about how COVID-19 is intersecting with the , , , campaigns for a just and green recovery, and more.
Co-op student Jackie Obungah curated and conducted a series of interviews for Below the Radar 鈥� lifting up the voices of Black youth and discussing the changemaking work they are doing in their communities. Episodes included an interview with 丁香园AV student organizers about the importance of mutual aid and setting up the Black in BC Mutual Aid fund. Jackie also spoke to Aida Mwanzia about centering youth in policymaking and her policy recommendations around putting a cap on international student tuition in BC.
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