Your Podcast Playlist | Featuring Podcasts To Enhance Your Listening Experience
2023| ISSUE 12 |
Going Wild, Harlem Nights all For the Culture
Name: Dr. Rae Wynn Grant
Bio: Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant is a wildlife ecologist who researches how human activity influences the behavior of wild animals. Her wildlife exploration and media work has taken her to six of seven continents and over 25 countries. Rae is also passionate about science communication and is the creator and host of award-winning podcast Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, and is the co-host of the legendary television show Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild, scheduled to debut on NBC and Peacock this Fall. A native Californian, Wynn-Grant attributes her interest in wildlife and conservation from the
nature shows she watched on television as a child, and today she uses media to increase representation of Black scientists and explorers. She is a researcher at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at University of California at Santa Barbara. Rae envisions a near-future where the outdoors is a safe, equitably accessible, and positively transformative space for all people. She is a scientist, conservationist, equity and justice advocate, and storyteller.
What is the name of your podcast and what inspired the name?
Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant.
What is your mission/goal? To bring amazing stories from the wilderness and intersectional voices to nature storytelling
Why is a role like your's important to the podcast space? My identity is unique in my space. Having a Black, millennial, female, mother, PhD-level biologist with an expertise in bears and a strong affinity for social justice do nature storytelling is very unique.
What made you want to work in the podcast industry? I’m a wildlife ecologist. I run a research lab at UC Santa Barbara, and I also host the television show Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. I have recently become an author, with a memoir coming out in the spring.
What is your occupation outside of podcasting (if any)?
I’m a wildlife ecologist. I run a research lab at UC Santa Barbara, and I also host the television show Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. I have recently become an author, with a memoir coming out in the spring.
What podcast does your business create or promote? (feel free to name as many as you'd like and we will also hyperlink). Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant
Do you have an original series? Yes
If yes, what is it about? (Feel free to highlight one, or share the overarching theme) Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant is our original series,
produced by PBS Nature. It is nature storytelling – true stories of
adventures with wildlife and in the wilderness with myself and other
guests of color.
How did you get into podcasting? I was invited to host this podcast.
What's one thing you wished you'd known about podcasting when you started? That to do the kind of podcasting that I want to do well, it is a full-time job.
In a few sentences tell me briefly, about one of your favorite episodes or interviews from your podcast? There is no way for me to pick a favorite. But in Season 3 we have a wonderful story about Christian Cooper – the Black man who entered the public eye by being harassed by a white woman while he was birding in Central Park. He speaks about birds, ornithology, and his journey toward being a bird expert, and interweaves social justice into the story in a beautiful and sometimes surprising way.
What are 3 resources or tips you've learned in your podcast journey?
I have had the privilege to work with some of the very best in the industry, so I went from having zero podcasting experience to having master-level knowledge. It doesn’t hurt that my husband is an audio-visual engineer and really helped me with all the tech and setup during each season. I’ve learned the value of a quality microphone, the need to be relaxed and focused, and how much vulnerability and authenticity really come through with audio.
What are your hopes for the future of podcasting? I hope it remains an industry where all kinds of people can have opportunities to share their world with…the world!
What are the names of some of your favorite podcasts and why? "
My favorite podcast at the moment is called UnF*ck Your Brain. It’s a
feminist coaching podcast and it has hundreds of episodes. I started from Episode 1 and I can truly say it’s changed my life for the better.
Enneagram For The Culture
Hosts: Kimberly Reese and Camille Logan
Two dope Black therapists discuss how therapy, the enneagram, and Blackness come together.
Harlem Queen
Host: Yhane Washington Smith
"Harlem Queen" is a Black historical fiction audio drama based on the life and times of a Black, woman, "gangster" Madame Stephanie St. Clair during the Harlem Renaissance (the story takes place around 1926-28).