We have seen time and time again that when students are passionate and work hard, they can create amazing work, and that is the case with this new pop culture podcast created by two of Rowan’s students. Isabella Policarpo and Isabella Espinosa are two best friends who decided they wanted to make a space for themselves within the podcasting world and start a pop culture podcast for the students at Rowan to enjoy. Both girls are music industry majors with a concentration in business and want to make not only the music industry but pop culture as a whole a more friendly place for young women.
Their podcast mainly focuses on all things music, movies, and current pop culture, and keeps everything to a fan-focused approach. Their goal is to break the stigma of being a fan girl and how women are often villainized for being as passionate about what they like as men are. They want young women everywhere to know that they have a safe space within their podcast. The girls first met last year when they were juniors and soon became fast friends. Their love for music, as well as both wanting to pursue the business end of music, bonded them and allowed them to figure out how they could do more than talk about those passions amongst themselves.
“We always had conversations about new music and would call each other as soon as something new would drop, and we figured we might as well make something out of it, and we could work at it together, like a passion project,” said Policarpo when asked why they started the podcast.
The two girls have an emphasis on making the music world a more positive place for women. They both shared that as music industry majors, they have experienced the toxic masculinity surrounding women in the field, and they want to change that. In their classes, they often experience men putting down successful women in the field and what they have accomplished, but with this podcast, they want to try and bring a more positive approach to the conversation. They have seen how fine a line it is to the men in their classes as to what they think is the “right” way for women to express themselves, and they want to push those boundaries.
“For us, it’s the thought of if men are allowed to get sexual in their songs, then why can’t women. There’s a very fine line to men of what is and isn’t ok, from what we’ve seen, but when a man does the same things, it’s always okay,” said Espinosa.
The two have taken their podcast and turned it into more opportunities for them to immerse themselves in the world of music. This Thursday, Rowan band “Calling from Pluto” will be having a launch concert for their two new singles, and Espinosa and Policarpo will be hosting the event. This is a way for them to get to know local bands that they want to have as guests on their show and see who would make a good fit for that.
“They [Calling from Pluto] have a single coming out this Friday, so they’re having a release show on Thursday,” said Policarpo. “We’re hosting that for them and want to help them in any way we can. We’ll host, shoot videos, get content, and eventually have them on our podcast. We want to do everything.”
Policarpo and Espinosa are taking all the steps they can to make a name for themselves, and they are succeeding at it so far. They have one podcast episode out so far and hope to release an episode every other Thursday for listeners. This podcast is a wonderful opportunity for young women to have a place where they feel comfortable and are not put down for being too passionate about something. Policarpo and Espinosa are doing just that and will continue to make a difference for people in pop culture everywhere, especially here at Rowan.
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