In case you didn’t know, The Innis Herald not only produces bi-monthly issues but also banger podcast episodes! For the past year we have produced about eight episodes, two per issue. We talk about all aspects of student life at Innis and at U of T more broadly. We also highlight the amazing works of our contributors! We stream on Spotify and Youtube. 

The Innis Herald Podcast was founded by me and two former masthead members (Josie Meza-Silva and Stephanie Lee) and we released our pilot episode on March 25th, 2022. 

This year, I signed on to become the leading Podcast Director and hired our fantastic Podcast Producers, Marty Hewitt and Huipeng Li, who have worked extremely hard to host, edit and produce high quality episodes. Check out episodes such as the V58 Halloween Special, Introducing Karen and the Heralds!, A Return to Pragmatism with Kyle Newcombe, Innis Lore with Briane Nasimok, and so much more. 

But as you may be aware, Innis College is going to be renovated to accommodate for a brand new expansion. This unfortunately throws a wrench in the possibility of recording at the Herald’s (“ICSS”) office, when the libraries are completely booked. So the Podcast Team desperately needs its own studio. 

Now I always knew that the CIUT-FM Radio Station was based at Hart House’s Map Room, but I never saw anyone use it. This led me to think there has to be a studio that we could book from and produce our show.

I tracked down the radio station manager, Luke Smith, who runs CUIT-FM. I presented to him our problem and by some miracle it turned out that CIUT-FM was in the middle of renovating their new student podcast studio, which is free to use for all U of T students! 

The studio provides access to equipment and audio editing software. It also covers the cost of podcast distribution to improve the discoverability of student podcasts. Students who plan on using the room will be trained by CIUT-FM staff and will be given support. They also are always looking for new student volunteers! 

Luke Smith says, “Providing a resource to students to express themselves is a key to our mission of broadcasting remarkably diverse and compelling programming. We have already heard from several campus podcasts looking to use the space.” 

On March 13th, 2023, the Innis Herald Editor-in-Chief, Yash Kumar Singhal, and two members of the podcast team (Marty and I) visited the new studio after they officially opened. We were impressed by the studio, its professional soundboard, its audio software, the number of microphones we could use at the same time, and how soundproof it is. 

Our last episode for the year will be recorded at the new studio, marking a brand new transition for the upcoming year with our new Podcast Director.  

I am very grateful to have stumbled upon this opportunity. Thank you to Luke and the rest of the CIUT-FM team for supporting us, and to The University of Toronto Community Radio Inc. (UTCRI) for investing in this amazing resource for students!