WUNC Youth Podcast

Every Friday night at 9:19 there’s a cypher on the streets of downtown Durham. You know that big bull right across from the Marriott? That’s us. We meet there to freestyle – to release - to find reprieve from your everyday routine and express your innermost feeling.

My mom was at home when the gunfire started. "It was so hard," my mom recalls. "It was so hard as a mom to be strong because all I wanted to do was scream."

This episode of the WUNC Youth Podcast features Emmanuel Tobe. Emmanuel is a Freshman at Elon University and a returning reporter for our Youth Podcast. Emmanuel's story touches on the achievement gap and his involvement in his high school's newly founded black student union.

This episode of the WUNC Youth Podcast features youth reporter Loulou Batta. Loulou is an upcoming freshman at NC State University and graduated from the North Carolina school of Science and Math. Her story that she made this summer focuses on the closing of the N.C. A&T swim team and how it affected those involved. In this interview we hear how she made the story and what it took for her to make it happen.

This episode of the WUNC Youth Podcast features Star Smith, a new freshman at North Carolina A&T. She produced a story with us this summer that focuses on the life after high school and asking question about whether college is the right choice for everyone.

On this episode of the WUNC Youth Podcast we interview Katherine Gan. Katherine is a soon-to-be freshman at Duke University and is one of our youth reporters who produced a story over the summer. Her story touches on a debate camp in the Chinese-American community and what impact it has on the people involved.

On this episode of the WUNC Youth Podcast we have an interview with one of our youth reporters, Skylar Fisher. She dives into the complicated issues of drug use and what she does in her community to help. We get to hear her process and what she came across while making her story.

On this episode of WUNC Youth Podcast we have a story from one of our youth reporters, Anthony Howard. In this episode we get to listen to the story he's crafted this summer and the steps it took for him to create it. He's being interviewed by our Youth Reporter mentor, Kamaya Truitt-Martin.

What is News? In this episode Durham rapper, G Yamazawa , tells us his thoughts on the news. "News has really broadened itself to different forms. One of the main forms of news for my generation and younger is social media. Not only do you get news clips but you also get a personalized reaction to it."

What is News? In this episode we have the host of Reveal , Al Letson, with us. Al tells us: "We live in a day and age where all of us need to be saying our stories out loud. What’s happening is we are more connected with people with no connection. I think that in this day and age telling your story is the most powerful thing you can do. I think that that’s the job of the poet, is to speak the truth about their lives and the lives of the people around them that you see. I think that when you’re doing journalism it’s about taking your interests and finding stories that line up with your interests and it's going to keep you interested. But also stepping out of the way and allowing the story to have its spotlight without you necessarily being the driver of the story. Also in this episode we have our Youth Reporter Anthony Howard talk about our guest: "When he said poetry was personal. It was coming from a more personal level than journalism. With Journalism you’re just excluding yourself

What is News? In this episode Los Angeles Hip-Hop Artist, De'Wayne Jackson says, "I feel like at times hip-hop can be news for a lot of kids. We just have to continue to give our voices to the world and hope the kids that are listening can make a change." What is news? In this episode we also ask Katherine Gan "Can hip-hop be news?" "I think hip hop can serve as a more positive outlook or more inspirational or galvanizing to people our age..... I think in that sense hip hop can connect far more people and be more powerful," said Gan.

What is news? In this episode Snap Judgment ’s Glynn Washington says, “It’s an interesting question not because I think that news is being redefined. There used to be at least lip service or homage paid to a lack of bias in news." He continues, "Now people are wearing their bias when they are delivering the news. It’s hard to make a world view, a way that you understand how the world works when you don’t have any facts or when you fail to take facts in account that might challenge your world view. I think news sources are less and less facts and more rage and opinion. I think it is exceptionally hard these days to get real good news.” What is news? Also in this episode WUNC’s 16-year-old Youth Reporter LouLou Batta says, “I define news as information. I think in the word news the first three letters… n-e-w… are really important. A new perspective, a new idea, a new event. Any way that is brought to you is news.”