One question, one guest, from Emerson's communication school.
This interview series from Emerson College's School of Communication puts one question at a time to scholars and working professionals. In one episode a Chicago TV anchor explains why surprise makes a story, and in another a copyright lawyer explains why artists need some legal vocabulary.
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Campus On The Common is produced at Emerson College's School of Communication in Boston, and its episodes are conversations between a host and a single guest. The pattern is easy to spot. A question comes first, then someone who has researched it or worked on it. The question might be about a newsroom, a soccer settlement, a famous song or a job interview. Larry Potash, a reporter and anchor for WGN-TV in Chicago, treats narrative journalism as a hunt for surprise. He says fiction relies on that tool and journalism writing seldom teaches it. He keeps a long list of story ideas and sorts them by what surprises him. In his view, good writing has nothing to do with reaching for a thesaurus. It comes down to the idea, the approach, and what to keep or throw away. He is just as direct with young reporters: break stories and land exclusive interviews, or you are not ready for the next level. Dr. Gino Canella, a researcher, educator and filmmaker, looks at activist media from the organizer's side. Persuasion, he says, is hard to achieve and rarely the stated goal, and political education is the motive he hears most often. You cannot recognise activist media just by looking at it, he adds, so you have to ask the people making it what they are trying to do. The conversation with Dr. Mary Anne Taylor starts with a gap: a women's national team with four World Cup titles, and a men's team that has not reached a final. The settlement did not deliver the single collective bargaining agreement the lawsuit wanted, but it started a conversation. The episode also offers three small habits for backing women's sports, starting with how you talk about them. Dr. Phillip Glenn brings research on positive communication and a precise account of laughter. Big shared laughs celebrate moments of connection. The small laughs scattered through speech help people get through delicate moments, such as self-praise in an interview or a teasing criticism. Dr. Bhamati Viswanathan, a copyright lawyer and professor at Emerson College, starts from 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and then uses boots, jackets and sneakers to show how brands speak to buyers. Wes Jackson, Emerson's Director of Business of Creative Enterprises, describes a business program for performers moving from onstage to backstage. It is also for people who love the art, were never strong performers and do not want to be a suit. Mark Brody, an Emerson College alumnus and professor of communication studies, hosts that conversation. For a first listen, the Potash conversation suits anyone curious about storytelling craft, and the Glenn episode suits anyone who has ever laughed their way through an awkward answer.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants to know how communication works in practice, from finding a news story to protecting creative work to the laughter inside a job interview. The explanations come from people who research or practice the subject.
What sets it apart: Faculty research and outside practitioners appear side by side, and each conversation is framed around a concrete question. Many of them end up somewhere usable, such as a reporter's test for a good story, a map of how laughter handles awkward moments, or habits for backing women's sports.
Broadcasting from Emerson College’s School of Communication in Boston, Massachusetts, "Campus on the Common," provides an expert view into the field of media and communication through the lens of academic experts and industry professionals from Emerson and beyond. The podcast explores areas such as multimedia storytelling, media ethics, and how new technologies are affecting the communication industry. A national leader for cutting-edge research and education, Emerson's School of Communication houses hands-on programs in journalism, marketing, communication disorders, public relations, and sports communication, among others, preparing students to thrive in the classroom and in their careers.
A laugh in a job interview has a job of its own; you may hear yours differently.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A focused discussion of activist media as a collaborative practice shaped by purpose, intent, and political education.
Activist media comes through as a purposeful practice, not just a style of production. Dr. Gino Cannella explains how organizers use media to challenge social, political, and journalistic narratives while strengthening the campaigns around them.
Larry Potash turns narrative journalism into a practical search for the surprise inside a story idea.
Campus on the Common frames narrative journalism as a disciplined search for the turn that makes a story worth telling. Larry Potash, a reporter and anchor for WGN-TV in Chicago, describes sorting through story ideas until one surprises him, then shaping the script around that…
A clear, grounded look at the pay-gap settlement and the structures still dividing men's and women's soccer.
This PlayNext review follows an episode that starts with the U.S. women's national soccer team's pay-gap settlement and uses it to ask a wider question: why a program with four FIFA World Cup wins has not seen that dominance translate more fully into financial power. Dr.
A careful, focused look at how laughter shapes the delicate work of talking with other people.
Positive communication gets a close, practical treatment here, centered on the ordinary talk that can build connection or carry impatience, encouragement, power, weakness, edge, and empathy.
A practical copyright primer that makes creative ownership feel useful rather than abstract.
Copyright feels less theoretical when the episode opens with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and uses it to ask how artists and other creatives can protect their work while still making a living. Mark Brody's conversation with Dr.
D.C. business with civic stakes.
Missouri politics, measured down to the mechanism.
Dr.
Larry Potash, the WGN-TV morning anchor in Chicago and creator of "the backstory," argues that journalism starts with finding "what the story is" rather than just shooting video.
Dr.
Campus on the Common talks with Emerson College professor Philip Glenn about positive communication, nonviolent communication, and laughter in everyday interaction.
A professor and copyright lawyer explain the importance of intellectual property rights for artists using the story of the song 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'.
David Richard, CEO of Big Fish PR and an Emerson College professor, defines guerrilla PR as "doing more with less," using Reese's Halloween vending machine in New York as a roughly $10,000-$15,000 campaign that draws CNN, Bloomberg and the New York Times every year.
Isabel Holloway, assistant director of Emerson College Polling, describes watching the 2020 Iowa caucus, where Joe Biden finished fourth, and then running a seven-day tracking poll in New Hampshire with about 200 new respondents added daily.
Dr.
Host Mark Brody interviews Wes Jackson about Emerson College's Business of Creative Enterprises program, which teaches business through a creative lens for artists and practitioners.
Dr.
Host Mark Brody interviews Boston City Council candidate Alejandra Sanquillan about her campaign and the role of at-large councilors.