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Opening Doors for Academic Voices

March 23, 2026 · 34 min

Show notes

How can podcasting bring diverse voices and forms of academic work to a larger audience?

Neil and Jen sit down with Will Brehm, creator of FreshEd, to talk about how a decade of academic podcasting has evolved from a simple interview show into a broader platform for research, storytelling, and new voices. Will shares how FreshEd grew into a multi-show network, why moving beyond English-language content matters, and what he’s learned experimenting with formats like narrative series and audio journals.

The conversation digs into bigger questions, too: what it would take for podcasting to be recognized as legitimate scholarly output, how institutions can start to value non-traditional research, and why building an audience is just as important as creating the work itself. It’s a thoughtful look at where academic podcasting is today and where it needs to go.

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Chapters:

  • (00:00) - Introduction
  • (03:21) - Fresh Ed’s Mission and Making Research Accessible
  • (07:05) - Will & Fresh Ed’s Journey
  • (13:32) - Flux and Putting Students at the Center
  • (13:46) - The Thinking Ear and the Idea of an Audio Journal
  • (18:03) - Funding, Open Access, and Staying Ad-Free
  • (21:12) - Advice for Recognizing Podcasting as Research Output
  • (24:34) - Lessons Learned After 10 Years of Podcasting
  • (26:41) - What Needs to Change for Podcasting in Academia
  • (31:35) - Conclusion

All episodes of Continuing Studies: Higher Ed Podcasting

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