I made you a final exams care package 💌
Plus more jobs and some reading on the podcast industry
I started writing a version of this newsletter back in 2017, when I was an intern in New York. I’d write it in the control room before recordings, or before bed in front of the TV. One of my favorite features, one that I’m bringing back now, was the final exams care package.
It’s a digital care package for the overwhelmed college student, but could be useful to anyone dragging themselves over the finish line this year. I’m one of those people, tbh.
I made you a collection of my strategies for hard times, videos to help with focus, advice for stealing food from the dining hall, and permission to put your work down and just go to bed.
Speaking of which, I’m taking a break and will be back with new issues of Starting Out in February.
There’s still time to share your feedback with me and help shape the next season of this newsletter. I’ve gotten three responses so far (embarrassing for me!). I promise it takes two minutes to fill out and will help me so much!
💌 Your Care Package 💌
Listening
These episodes of Ologies always make me feel better.
This series from Las Culturistas should win a Peabody, tbh.
Eating/Drinking
This collection of easy to read (and make) recipes from Great British Bakeoff’s Ruby Tandoh.
If you have a meal plan, fill your backpack with tupperware for all your late night meal needs. And swipe in a friend who doesn’t have a meal plan for a year of good karma.
Don’t go spending $6 on a bag of Doritos! Aldi has the cheapest snack food out there! This is not sponsored, but Aldi CEO, if you’re reading this I would totally do SponCon for you.
Skip Starbucks and visit a new-to-you local coffee shop as a study spot!
Reading
You are probably already reading a ton for school, so I’m not going to recommend any Big Serious Books. Read some fan fiction! Revisit a novel you loved as a teenager!
Maybe this is showing my age (old) but I love the Ask a Manager Archives, a true collection of bizarre human behavior.
Psst, I’m working on a story about what early career people are doing now that many internship programs have ended or been paused. If you’re facing this conundrum, I’d love to talk! Just reply to this email and we can talk!
Watching
I love these video essays (bonus points if you listen to these while doing your dishes/laundry).
This is a truly wild story: Msscribe: The Harry Potter Fandom's Greatest Con-Artist - When Posting Goes Wrong
This is canon: An appropriately unhinged recap of Pretty Little Liars (Part 1)
I love a post-mortem of a failed TV show: Gossip Girl 2021: What The Hell Happened?
I do not care about Disney but am obsessed with this video: Disney's FastPass: A Complicated History
Unsolicited Advice
Download this app to help you stay off your phone
My sister gave me this advice when I was a first year and she was so right: Don’t stay up late studying the night before an exam. If it’s 9 pm the night before, you’ve learned everything you’re realistically going to learn. The best thing you can do now is get a good night’s sleep.
Try not to get in your head about how well you are doing vs. your friends and classmates. College is already hard enough, your relationships with your friends are more important than grades. You’re all going to be fine.
If you think you’re going to need an extension on a paper, ask sooner rather than later. In my experience professors are surprisingly flexible with this if you ask nicely.
It’s all going to be fine, C’s truly do get degrees.
Classifieds
Internships
Newsroom Intern, The Pulse, WHYY ($15/hr)
Media Arts Education Intern, WHYY ($15/hr)
Major Gifts & Donor Relations Intern, WHYY ($15/hr)
Fundraising Operations Intern, WHYY ($15/hr)
Public Information Intern, WHYY ($15/hr)
Feet in 2 World Intern (Part-time) ($15/hr)
Fellowships
First Amendment Fellow, Reveal
Reflect America Fellow, NPR ($36.05/hr)
Associate/Assistant Producer
Editorial Assistant, Higher Ground Audio ($50,000 - $62,400/yr)
Editorial Assistant, Freakonomics, Freakonomics Radio Network ($45,000-$65,000/yr)
Associate Producer, Entertainment, Sirius XM ($42,000 - $48,000/yr)
Associate Producer (Part-time), Fantasy Sports Radio, Sirius XM (No pay information shared)
Podcast Associate Producer, WHYY (No pay information shared)
Bonus!
Producer, Freakonomics, Freakonomics Radio Network ($90,000-100,000/yr).
Production Assistant, Wonder Media Network ($50,000/yr)
Junior Producer, Wonder Media Network ($60,000/yr)
Apply for New Voices Amplify, an 8-week marketing accelerator for independent creators who have an existing podcast and are ready to take it to the next level.
Spooked Story Scout, Snap Judgement ($1500/month plus bonuses for successful pitches)
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.
Some end of the year reading on the podcast/radio industry:
A great “why I left” essay on Pushkin Industries.
Excellent constructive criticism on a celebrity podcast. See also, this shady (and correct) tweet.
Alex Sujong Laughlin on why RSS feeds matter.
I miss the Center for Documentary Studies!
Coming up...
I’m taking a month off, I’ll see you in February!