Dive into the podcasting world along with Mari and Mia and learn all about how to tell a story in an audio-only format

By: Mia Johnson and Mariana Schuetze

Two women wearing headphones, one with pink hair (left) and the other with red (right), smile and pose for a picture at a radio studio in front of microphones and their laptops. — Mia Johnson and Mariana Schuetze are the co-hosts of the *Audio Only* podcast and third-year journalism students at TMU. This podcast started as an assignment for their ‘Podcasting and Radio Basics’ class and grew into something more. (Angela Glover/TMU)

Podcasting is hard – it’s not an easy gig. We would know. There’s scheduling interviews, pre-interviews, conducting interviews, script writing, and narration recordings. And don’t even get us started on the post-production process. But the work these audio-only formats produce – it’s a different world. A world that only exists between your ears. It’s a sensory, visceral space where we can imagine these narratives playing out.

Audio Only is a podcast about podcasts, hosted by CanCulture’s film editor, Mariana Schuetze and literary editor, Mia Johnson. We’re just getting started in podcasting and Audio Only not only highlights our love for storytelling through audio but also what it takes to create a podcast. We wanted to explore audio drama narratives and how fictional truths can get at larger truths than non-fiction.

Epiphany is an audio drama narrative created by fourth-year media production students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). It is a touching, coming-of-age story that deals with sexual assault by putting the character’s healing journey at the forefront of the narrative.

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We talked to Haylee Thompson, the creator of the Epiphany, co-writer Drake Sanderson and Addison Holley, who directed Epiphany. And for an expert perspective, we talked to Chris Tolley, co-producer and co-host of the CBC podcast, PlayME. Listen to our first episode to get a glimpse into the world of audio-only storytelling.

Epiphany is still in the process of mastering but will be released in the coming months, you can listen to it on their website and find more updates on its impending release on their Instagram, @tmuepiphany.

Find a full transcript of the podcast here.

Mariana Schuetze and Mia Johnson have been working on this project since mid-October. One of the final recordings was done in the Allan Slaight Radio Institute at The Creative School at TMU. (Angela Glover/TMU)

Addison Holley and Epiphany’s sound engineer, Matt Major, worked together, along with Haylee Thompson and Drake Sanderson, on editing Epiphany. (Mariana Schuetze/TMU)

Besides directing, Addison Holley is also an accomplished voice actor. She said her previous experience with voice work is what drew her to Epiphany. (Elias Wong/Epiphany)

Haylee Thompson is the creator, lead writer and co-producer of Epiphany. The audio narrative started as her final-year practicum project at TMU (Elias Wong/Epiphany)