Code Switch's B.A. Parker on taking up space
Hiya!
Welcome back to Starting Out from me and Transom!
This month marks one year of Starting Out, and I kind of can’t believe it. Over the last year I’ve written this newsletter in my free time: on planes, trains and occasionally in the passenger seat of a car. But mostly, I’ve written it on my couch, on the back porch, at my kitchen table. I’ve paced around my neighborhood while interviewing my radio heroes.
I’ve done a lot of cooking and crafting and writing in this little duplex but this newsletter is still one of my favorite things I’ve made here.
This newsletter would not be possible to make without the team at Transom. Jennifer Jerrett, Sydney Lewis and Jay Allison edit my work and I benefit from their sharp editorial minds all the time. The best way to support this newsletter is to donate to Transom. They’re the real deal, y’all.
As I start planning the next season of Starting Out I’d love to hear which resources you need and what narrative audio makers you want me to interview. This newsletter is only worth making if it’s actually helpful to people, so I really appreciate your feedback!
I’m so excited to have B.A. Parker in the newsletter this month — I’m such a fan of her work. I remember meeting her for the first time at WNYC and being so starstruck that I probably came off as incredibly awkward.
I’ve heard from many of you that you want to hear from people who got into narrative audio after working in another field and Parker fits the bill. Before working at This American Life (!!) she was a film professor. I spoke with Parker about making her start without any journalism experience, and about getting to know her new co-workers at NPR’s Code Switch.
Alice: I've talked to some interns who are taking on remote internships and are trying to figure out how to get to know coworkers in a remote world. You've had a bunch of freelance jobs during COVID, what is your approach to that?
Parker: With the new team that I'm on at Code Switch I'm doing one-on-ones all this week with everyone on the team, just, “How are you doing? How can I help? What's going on?” With The Cut, we all worked from home, but we all lived in Brooklyn. So it was just like, “Let's go to Fort Greene really quickly for four hours to talk about pitches or to see how everyone's doing mentally,” because I got that job in the summer of 2020.
Alice: Not a notoriously great time for mental health.
Parker: Not a notoriously great time for mental health! On another job I did this summer some people were in Seattle, some people were in L.A., one person was in Toronto, one person in Chicago. I would still try to have weekly meetings to reach out and just see how everything's going. I'm also always really concerned that I'm not helping enough. So I always emphasize, “Hey, what can I do? How are you doing in your neck of the woods?” That kind of thing.
Even with the last show I was on, I sought out the intern and I was like, “Hey, are you free for a half an hour, just to chat?” That was a show where I had no real responsibilities, I was just the guest host. But I know that being an intern during this time is really bizarre and so I’d ask, “Hey how are you doing? What kind of pitches would you like to present?” I saw myself giving assignments, being like, “Can you give me two pitches by Wednesday and we could talk 'em over. If you like.”
And then I really fought to get one of their pitches on the air and it did!
Resources
In honor of one year of Starting Out I wanted to collect all of our previous resource guides for anyone who might have missed a previous issue.
Phew, that’s a lot of resources! I’m already starting to dream up new resources for the next season of Starting Out. I’d love to hear from you what would be most helpful.
Classifieds
Internships
A Better Life?, Feet in 2 Worlds ($15/hr)
Don’t Call Me Resilient, The Conversation ($25/hr)
Fellowships
The New Voices Magazine Jewish Media Fellowship, Jewish Women’s Archive ($750/semester)
Reset Production Fellow, Chicago Public Media ($55,000)
Podcasts Fellow, Chicago Public Media ($55,000)
Education Fellow, Chicago Public Media ($55,000)
Kroc Fellowship, NPR ($50,000)
Associate/Assistant Producer
Associate Producer, Here & Now, WBUR, (WBUR did not share pay information)
Assistant Producer, SCPR AirTalk, Southern California Public Radio ($23.90/hr)
Associate Producer, The Takeaway, New York Public Radio (NYPR did not share pay information)
Associate Producer, Somethin’ Else, Sony Music Entertainment (Sony did not share pay information)
Associate Producer, Comedy and Culture, Crooked Media (Crooked did not share pay information)
Associate Producer, Audacy (Audacy did not share rates)
Assistant Producer, The Brian Lehrer Show, New York Public Radio ($61,480-$63,000/yr)
Associate Producer Digital Producer, Minnesota Public Radio ($22.62/hr)
Misc.
Digital Producer, Iowa Public Radio ($35,568 - $48,178/yr)
AES x Arup Diversity in Audio Scholarship
Podcast Producer, Slate (minimum 66,000/yr)
Narrative Podcast Producer, Slate (minimum 66,000/yr)
Calls for Pitches
Resonate Podcast Festival, Virginia Commonwealth University
If you are hiring interns, fellows or other entry level positions, send your job postings and rates to startingout [at] transom [dot] org and I’ll list them in the next issue. Please note that Starting Out features only paid opportunities.
Parker recommends
Gender Reveal: Tuck Woodstock just did a great interview with Edith Surreal, who discusses her transition while being a masked wrestler.
Turner Classic Movies's The Plot Thickens: The season on the making of "Bonfire of the Vanities" had me hooked and the set tape used is gold.
Black in Appalachia: This show is such an important public service in changing the narrative about whose stories gets recognized in the region.