What I Learned When I Started to Listen
March 31, 2023
Much before I started my podcast, I had secretly been wanting to launch one for a few years, well before our world became saturated with 5 million podcasts. But the right moment never seemed to present itself: I was either in a place professionally where I couldn’t see myself having the sort of candid and deeply personal conversations I envisioned on a podcast, or I was daunted by the amount of work it would take to invite guests, learn about their work, and have great conversations with them that someone would want to hear. And then there’s all the post-production and technical aspects of stitching together a podcast episode that makes it sound jazzy and cool.
Getting the podcast off the ground was a lot of hard work and a steep learning curve for me, but as I reflect on this past year I realize that I’ve come a long way...
This month marked the one-year anniversary of the World Wise Podcast!
One year in, I’ve released 34 episodes, recorded over 30 hours of audio, and amassed a ton of technical skills as a “content creator.” But here’s the most important thing I’ve learned and it is why I don’t mind the time commitment of running a successful podcast: I learned to focus and listen deeply through conversations with individuals whose life and work is at the intersection of education, culture, and migration. I’ve discovered that there is something about the medium of a podcast that makes it powerful—perhaps it is the intimacy of the moment, two individuals engaged in a deep, reflective, and focused conversation without any disturbance—or perhaps it is the opportunity for guests to reflect on things they have never thought of before about their lives and their personal and professional journey and how the two often intertwine.
To my surprise and delight, almost everyone I invited agreed to be on the podcast, even really busy and highly placed individuals who usually wouldn’t have time to appear on something as trivial as a podcast. Perhaps what has drawn them is the timeless appeal of storytelling: as human beings we all love to hear and tell a really good story. For as long back as we can recall, human beings have been fascinated, inspired and influenced by stories. And as we move away from traditional careers and traditional work settings, individuals are increasingly shaping their work and building their personal brands that are communicated through effective storytelling. Barack Obama’s formidable storytelling skills are often credited with his election win. And consider the huge popularity of spoken word events, TED talks, and the Moth radio hour—all forms of compelling storytelling.
“Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an early form of participation in what goes on. Listening children know stories are there. When their elders sit and begin, children are just waiting and hoping for one to come out, like a mouse from its hole.” – Eudora Welty, American writer
A truly diverse podcast…
What I’m most proud of is that the podcast has shaped up to be truly diverse and global, something I had always aimed for. But it took effort: pursuing guests—many of whom were often on the move--across continents and through often patchy audio connections; recording across time differences; and—most importantly—always reminding myself to avoid the trap of viewing issues through a U.S.-centric mindset.
This past year we have featured:
An international student from Ukraine right after the war broke out a year ago (in fact World Wise was one of the first to feature an interview in the US), and has since featured international students giving voice to their experiences and issues
University founders and company founders; and international education and nonprofit leaders
Experts from academia, research, and the press, including Fulbright scholars
Two TED speakers, authors, art historians, and filmmakers
Guests who represent different racial and ethnic groups
And the countries we’ve covered include: Ukraine, Afghanistan, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Qatar, India, the U.S., Mexico, Tanzania, China, Bangladesh, South Africa, and so many more!
Some things I learned this past year
The podcast has also been an incredible learning opportunity for me, challenging some of my assumptions and beliefs yet confirming others that I had sensed to be true but that were now being validated by others.
I learned about the difficulty of returning home after a period of time spent studying overseas. The return experience is a challenging one and one we don’t often pay enough attention to—much of the effort of international education programs is on preparing and getting individuals over to the countries where they will study. Yet, we have to ask how those who have been educated abroad—whose lives have been profoundly transformed—go back to adjusting professional, personally and culturally when they return home? It is not as easy as one might imagine. Listen to Rebecca Zeigler Mano of Education Matters in Zimbabwe talk about this issue.
Also from my guests from Africa I learned that my ideas of brain drain are outmoded and don’t reflect the realities of contemporary Africa or of the Global South. Listen to Patrick Awuah, founder of Ashesi University in Ghana, and Lydiah Kemunto Bosire, founder and CEO of 8B Investments, talk about the complexity of this issue.
Over this past year, I’ve been privileged to learn about the personal and professional journeys of so many women in our field. This past month of March, where the focus is on women around the world, my company, Rajika Bhandari Advisors, ran a special feature on LinkedIn on ten amazing women leaders who have appeared on the podcast over the past year.
LaNitra Berger, President of NAFSA, art historian, and author
Miriam Feldblum, co-founder and Executive Director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
Margit Schatzman, President and CEO of ECE
Lydiah Kemunto Bosire, Founder and CEO, 8B Investments
Ronit Avni, co-founder and CEO, Localized
Vishakha Desai, Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President, Columbia University, art historian, and author
Esther Benjamin, Executive Director & CEO, World Education Services
Gloria Blackwell, President, American Association of University Women
Peggy Blumenthal, Senior Counselor to the President, IIE
Rebecca Zeigler Mano, Director, Education Matters Africa
The Stunning Statistic feature is back!
Did you know that…
As of February 2023, there were over 5 million podcasts in the world with over 70 million episodes across them, and 465 million podcast listeners! 75% of podcasts fall victim to “podfade,” which means that very few make it past about 8 episodes. Which also means that my podcast is doing well by comparison and we are now at 34 episodes and with more to come…
As I was composing this newsletter, I received this amazing note from a listener on LinkedIn:
“I’m a big fan of your podcast! Your content is always timely and shows up on my feed exactly when I need it most to be empowered!”
So What Should You Do Next?
If you’re already listening to the podcast, then a huge thanks to you. Better yet, please subscribe to the show, share it with your friends, and review it wherever you get your podcasts.
All the listening platforms for the show are on this page, and here is the direct link to the show on Apple and Spotify. And all the episodes can always be accessed on my website as well.
Where to buy America Calling
Signed copies (for sale in the U.S. only)
