Category: Uncategorized

This semester helped me better understand how language and culture are intertwined on a personal level. Being an English speaker with a Polish background, I never thought about my identity being shaped by both. While working on our podcasts, I saw just how easily people form assumptions about different cultures and how important it is…

Making Pittsburgh Plates has really taught me a lot about how podcasts come together. In our first episode, we interviewed a Polish restaurant owner named Helen, and in our second episode, we interviewed Saurin, who is a coffee sustainability expert. Both interviews helped us understand how food connects to culture in Pittsburgh, and they pushed…

Critique 1: Dancing With the Stars Official Podcast For this review, I chose to look more into one of my comfort shows that has been super popular lately, which is Dancing With The Stars. I came across this podcast through ABC’s promotional material online and in the actual show, so I decided to give it…

Listening to Jonathan Van Ness’s conversation with Diane Guerrero on Getting Curious feels less like a polished podcast and more like an open and honest conversation. JVN doesn’t follow a tight narrative arc like This American Life does. Instead, he lets the conversations flow and shift naturally, following the emotions rather than just the structure.…

My Ideal listener for Pittsburgh Plates is someone who really enjoys food, culture, and local stories. This person should be curious about how different communities shape Pittsburgh and enjoys learning about the city through personal narratives, restaurants, and immigrant-owned businesses. Most likely, they are college students, young professionals, or long-time Pittsburgh residents who appreciate multicultural…

https://on.soundcloud.com/LHsU17GxYoTpXuBPs3

Since moving to Pittsburgh for college, I’ve learned that cultural clashes might not always be super dramatic. Sometimes they even happen right in your dorm’s communal kitchen. A few weeks ago, I was going downstairs to do my laundry when I immediately smelled something being cooked. I didn’t recognize exactly what it was, but the…

After listening to Sruthi Pinnamaneni’s advice, I realized I wasn’t paying enough attention to those things in our podcast, Pittsburgh Plates. I really liked three pieces of advice the most. First, she mentioned building the scenes instead of just explaining them. I liked this because it makes the scenes feel more real, and not just…

For my next episode of Pittsburgh Plates, I want to explore the food within the Jewish Community of Pittsburgh and possibly interview a Jewish bakery owner. I feel like this is an excellent choice because Jewish baking is closely tied to culture and family traditions, and it’s enormous in Pittsburgh. Foods like challah and rugelach…

Our podcast, titled “Pittsburgh Plates”, fits correctly in the narrative nonfiction and interview genres. In each episode, we tell a real story of Pittsburgh by talking with the people who make the city’s food culture unique and authentic to the town. In episode 1, we dive deeper into the Polish culture of Pittsburgh. Our focus…