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A St. Louis-area high school podcast is creating community while getting scoops

John Burroughs sophomores tap into the school's alumni network to get big-name interviews and create community.

ST. LOUIS — Some John Burroughs High School students are manifesting a middle school podcast into a more mature one, aimed at creating connections and inspiring peers.

“This podcast originated from the fact that our freshman year, my friends found an old podcast that I created as a joke from middle school,” laughed Mark Fang, Burroughs sophomore. “They started playing that around me just to mess with me, and I was like, maybe we should create our own podcast. And we did.”

The podcast is called “The Face to Face”, and it’s run by four sophomores at the high school. Though the team meets regularly, its last episode was with Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which brought the world ChatGPT. Altman is a 2003 Burroughs graduate. Last year, TIME Magazine named Altman its CEO of the year.

While it’s an extraordinary get for any budding journalist, the high schoolers can use their school’s alumni network to land exclusive interviews. They hope it offers the community and high schoolers some inspiration.

“It's really just trying to have an open conversation with people, getting to know them better,” said Jerry Chang, Burroughs sophomore.  

“I think we want people to learn that open and honest conversations can really help you get to know the person better and to connect with their community,” said Fang. 

The students even had the opportunity to interview Julia Riew, a lyricist who went viral on TikTok for creating a musical with a Korean Disney-type princess because she had never seen one before. Riew is now working with the American Repertory Theater to bring her musical to life. She is a 2017 Burroughs graduate who also graduated from Harvard. 

Aside from nabbing alumni who contribute to American culture and business, they highlight student life from the inside-- humanizing their teachers and highlighting their work and humanity.

“I really want people to value the roles and the commitment teachers have,” said Teddy Williamson, Burroughs sophomore.

The foursome is also learning that media and podcasting take time and skills, whether it’s prepping for a podcast, setting up equipment, or learning interview skills. Ultimately, it’s an outlet for students trying to create change, starting with themselves.

“We wanted to learn more about the different people in our community,” said Shaan Patel, Burroughs sophomore, who felt inspired by the Altman podcast. “We got a little bit of insight into how Mr. Altman actually dropped out of school to pursue his passion and the career he wanted. There’s just these amazing people that are uber successful, and you think, ‘That’s amazing, but how am I affected by it or how can that be closer to me?’ Just getting to talk to someone like Mr. Altman about that and seeing how passionate he was about AI was really eye-opening for me because instead of hearing about it, I got exposed to it firsthand.”

You can listen to or watch the podcast on Instagram and places where podcasts are streamed.

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