Braden Saint-Val – News Writer
As the university’s Real Talk Podcast enters its seventh season, students and faculty were invited to meet its team, hosts, and learn more about it last Tuesday at the Buley Library.
The Real Talk Podcast is centered around reimagining social justice in higher education and was made from the desire to amplify the voices of multicultural and marginalized communities of our own university.
Its first episode was released in October of 2020, and since then, it has gained a national and international audience. Its hosts have discussed topics such as black disability politics, transgender identities, community journalism, and grassroots activism, with guests ranging from university students and faculty to experts in their respective fields.
Starting in season two, KC Councilor, an assistant professor in Communication, Media, and Screen Studies, became a mainstay host on Real Talk, joined by alumni co-host Jamil Harp until his departure in season five.
In season six, three new co-hosts joined Counciler on the podcast: Danielle Campbell, a sociology graduate student, Zoe Pringle, a senior psychology student and Saieda Lataillade-Lewis, a psychology post-graduate.
Before becoming a co-host, Zoe was guest on the podcast, and shared their experience with a workshop called “Undoing Racism”, which led to them connecting with Professor Counciler, Danielle and Saieda.
Upon returning to the university for her master’s, Danielle sought to get involved as much as possible in the university’s social justice initiative, and being a part of the Real Talk Podcast correlated with her goals.
Zoe says the student perspective guides the podcast, especially with her, Danielle, and Saieda being current and former students. By having the different opinions of students, faculty, and staff, it allows for a better understanding of how Southern can better operate for its students.
Danielle says the podcast acts as a conversation starter and shows people how to have conversations about the topics the podcast touches on, being both informational and inspirational to anyone that wants to be engaged in a safe and positive way.
Real Talk can also act as an accessible resource for faculty on how to talk about sensitive topics and issues with students, Counciler said.
“I hope that other Southern students wanna engage and actually have conversations about social justice and really get active and dedicated to it, even if speaking your truth isn’t the popular thing to do,” Saieda said.
