5 Questions for… Tristan Redman and Asma Khalid on Their New BBC Podcast

Podcasting is the brand new battleground for authentic information content material, and TVNewser is getting an inside look courtesy of BBC Information’ The International Story.Final month, the BBC launched The International Story podcast, hosted by Tristan Redman and Asma Khalid. The podcast, which is accessible weekday mornings at 5 a.m. ET, explores the complicated relationship between the U.S. and the remainder of the world, with every shaping the opposite every day.Validating this endeavour is the truth that Redman relies in BBC Information’ London workplaces whereas Khalid operates out of its Washington, D.C. workplace. This cross-Atlantic tandem ensures audiences are supplied with context relating to U.S. actions and the worldwide penalties.  “We wish to zoom out from the day-to-day trivia, take a breath, and take into consideration international tales with top and perspective,” Redman instructed TVNewser.Every episode focuses on a single theme, which is advantageous to the podcasting medium. Khalid notes they’re able to merge “the rigor of reporting with the aesthetics of audio to show huge concepts into thought-provoking, digestible episodes.”TVNewser not too long ago caught up with Redman and Khalid to gauge their early impressions of their new podcasting enterprise:Query 1: How is the podcast going up to now? Redman: Nice! We’ve got been energized by the primary few weeks of launch. There have been huge, consequential tales to inform. There’s been the shock Israeli assault on Qatari soil, the transatlantic debate on free speech, and the tragic homicide of Charlie Kirk, which has rocked the US. These are all troublesome and delicate tales to grapple with. However as a journalist, essential information creates momentum and objective. And we’re motivated that our present has been actually touchdown with listeners.  Khalid: I’ve been loving it. It’s a present I deeply imagine must exist in our world on this second. We’re attempting to inform tales that aren’t being instructed elsewhere and join the dots between the U.S. and the world. Considered one of my favourite episodes we’ve executed thus far is the one from September 18th on free speech. The episode was so well timed, given the headlines in America, however we didn’t simply discover the home debate. We checked out why free speech (or the notion that it’s underneath menace) has grow to be a rallying cry for conservatives in America and the way that matches right into a broader international dialog.   Query 2: How do you choose a theme for every podcast episode? Redman: It’s type of a everlasting dialog throughout the staff. We’ve got formal information conferences on daily basis the place we’re debating concepts for the approaching days. However then a present thought is simply as prone to ping in from a member of the staff who’s sitting on the bus. And a few days it’s simply apparent what you’ll want to be doing: The story jumps out at you.  Query 3: With the 2 of you in several international locations, stroll us by the method of manufacturing an episode of the podcast. Redman: We’ve got staff members throughout the time zones, from Washington to London to Sydney. It’s an enormous benefit. It allows us to make use of virtually 24 hours of the day to provide the present. London kicks off with an early information assembly to set the agenda, earlier than D.C. is awake, however not at all times—Asma is usually up very early. Then there’s a window the place we’re all on-line, centered on recording. Later, London palms off edits to D.C. after which Sydney earlier than we publish. Khalid: It’s a bit tiring, little question! In any case, we’re constructing a present throughout an ocean with a staff unfold throughout the Atlantic, and, naturally, we’re unfold throughout time zones. So, sure, that has meant some late nights for Tristan and the London staff and a few early morning tapings for me. And anybody who is aware of me will likely be shocked to listen to this (as a result of I’ve by no means been a morning individual). However I’ve been waking up so early—usually with out an alarm—as a result of I’ve been so energized to work on this podcast.  The time zone unfold and the differing international views are an enormous profit within the information business. All of us have a look at tales in a barely completely different method, and that makes the information conferences richer as we attempt to hash out a narrative thought.  Query 4 for Khalid: What would you like American listeners to remove from the podcast?  Khalid: I coated politics within the U.S. for years—reporting from the White Home and numerous counties and marketing campaign rallies. And I feel, generally, we, as People, have a tendency to think about politics and international information as distinct, unrelated concepts. When, in actuality, what occurs in Washington undoubtedly impacts the world. And, likewise the world additionally impacts us. I’m hoping that our present helps listeners join the dots and higher perceive how main headlines—like the popularity of a Palestinian state on the United Nations or the homicide of Charlie Kirk—have ripples across the globe and right here at dwelling. And the BBC has such a robust newsroom of journalists scattered across the globe to assist us inform these tales in a method that few different information shops might.  Query 4 for Redman: How are international audiences reacting to U.S. tales dominating worldwide headlines? Redman: Worldwide audiences are fairly on level relating to U.S. information. It’s no shock to us when the U.S. dominates the headlines. I’m usually struck by how pleasantly shocked many People are after they encounter the depth of information that guests to the U.S. have about what’s occurring there. Everybody on the planet is in some way affected by occasions in the USA, and the U.S. is more and more formed by what’s occurring elsewhere, too. Our present is about that interconnectivity. We’re not a present about U.S. information completely. We’re telling, fairly actually, a worldwide story, and the U.S. is an immovable and essential a part of that.   Query 5. What do you hope audiences study from this podcast? Redman: To borrow an expression, we hope listeners will really feel they’re listening to much less concerning the climate and extra concerning the local weather. We wish to zoom out from the day-to-day trivia, take a breath, and take into consideration international tales with top and perspective. And to assist us try this, we are able to name on professional correspondents from BBC’s newsrooms and bureaus all around the planet. We’ve got an unbelievable vary of journalists in each nook of the globe.  Khalid: I would like individuals to really feel like they spent 20+ minutes with individuals who assist them higher perceive the world round them. And I hope our podcast does that in a method that entertains and informs. What I’ve liked concerning the present is that we’re not simply giving individuals a headline they might get through a push alert. We’re doing a deep dive on one story with an extremely proficient group of producers who make the story sound stunning.