The local podcast, Air It, is launching its second series of podcasts that is aimed at bringing awareness for having conversations and thinking critically about salient topics, such as race, gender and politics.
This was according to the two Stellenbosch University (SU) alumni hosts, Nicolene Burger and Jana Vosloo.
Burger and Vosloo were “overwhelmed by the positive reception” to the podcast, and have plans to release the second season of Air It before the end of 2020, they said.
“Through some of the personalised messages and feedback we received, we have also come to realise how many people relate to this craving to talk about important issues,” the hosts said.
Jana Vosloo (left) and Nicolene Burger (right) met in class as first-year students at Stellenbosch University, and have been friends ever since. “After university, our conversations continued and we again shared the experience of missing stimulating conversations with people in other fields,” the hosts said. PHOTO: Supplied / Air It Podcast
Burger, who has a BA in Visual Arts and Vosloo, who is currently finalising her master’s thesis in Philosophy, say their friendship inspired them to record their conversations and share them in the form of a podcast.
“It is such a refreshing project to be constantly challenged to engage with difficult but important issues,” said Burger.
“We decided to start the podcast for the intrinsic value of having engaging conversations and to learn more about topics that we find fascinating.”
Jana Vosloo and Nicolene Burger
Owing to the hosts’ studies at SU, both Burger and Vosloo believe that Air It is an important contributor to the Stellenbosch community as a whole.
“I think the podcast cannot be isolated from the peculiar and profound way in which Stellenbosch shaped both [Burger] and myself,” said Vosloo. “I think Air It can be significant to the Stellenbosch community because we encourage critical thinking and topical conversations that are relevant, especially within student communities.”
Soundbites for Stellenbosch
According to the hosts, Air It also often features other SU alumni to contribute towards discussions in their individual areas of expertise.
“Every time we talk to a guest on our show I am left rethinking the ideas discussed and kind of continuing the conversation in my mind for weeks after recording,” said Burger.
This was true for one podcast guest, Ashwin Afrikanus Thyssen, who is a theologian and PhD candidate at SU.
“Air It is responding to and raising important questions regarding [how] people from different positionalities are navigating the space of Stellenbosch,” he said. “Their contribution to the public archive is unique.”
The podcast is talking about issues that are important to the stellenbosch community, says Ashwin Afrikanus Thyssen, a Stellenbosch University PhD candidate and theologian, who was a guest in episode 6 season 1 of the Air It podcast. PHOTO: Supplied / Ashwin Afrikanus Thyssen
According to Thyssen, the podcast is talking about issues that are important to the people of Stellenbosch, and that need to be addressed.
“I was invited to participate [in] a discussion of religion and queerness. Nicolene and Jana helped me frame various questions, which I had been thinking through at the time,” he said.
Beyond the soundwaves
Air It is not Burger and Vosloo’s only “labour of love”. The pair have a few other projects in the works, including a virtual “Idea Club”, the hosts said.
“We will soon be launching Laundromat, where people who are craving to share in the conversation can come together to discuss various topics, cultural texts or current happenings,” said the hosts.