PRX expands Podcast Garage project with San Francisco installation

PRX has opened a Podcast Garage production and education facility at KQED’s new San Francisco headquarters. Eric Dahn will manage the space.

The Podcast Garage venture started in 2016 with an installation in Harvard University. The new KQED outpost will host audio and podcasting workshops and panels on the art and business of podcasting, lectures, and networking events in a dedicated multi-purpose space and across multiple other flexible meeting spaces within the building.

Public programming will begin this October. The podcast recording studio is being built and will be ready for action early next year.

Events will feature creators and leaders from within the Bay Area audio community, including a career panel with Women’s Audio Mission (the only podcast studio in the world built and run by women/GNC individuals) and an audio interviewing and recording workshop with Peabody Award-winning producers Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva of The Kitchen Sisters. Events are ticketed and attendees are required to follow evolving COVID-19 safety protocols to access the space.

Upcoming events at the PRX Podcast Garage at KQED include:

  • Wednesday, October 20 – Podcast Career Panel with Women’s Audio Mission (WAM). In this live in-person event, attendees are invited to learn more about the various roles and skills required on a podcast production team. Tickets are available here.

  • Thursday, November 4 – An Interviewing, Recording, and Podcasting Workshop with Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva of The Kitchen Sisters. Acclaimed producers Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva will lead an in-person workshop covering topics including interviewing techniques, sound gathering, use of archival audio, framing evocative questions, and how to use music. Tickets are available here.

“KQED has a long history as a trusted broadcaster and, more recently, as a podcast producer,” says Tim Olson, Senior Vice President for Strategic Digital Partnerships at KQED. “We are also an educator and convener. The PRX Podcast Garage at KQED partnership allows us to share resources and knowledge to educate the public and community partners on how to produce and develop audio to tell their own stories. The Podcast Garage is one of the ways our new headquarters allows us to engage more directly with the audiences and communities we serve here in the Bay Area.”

“I’m excited for the PRX Podcast Garage at KQED to open its doors,” says Eric Dhan, Community Manager. “I’m particularly excited to collaborate with and learn from the many incredible audio creators here in the Bay Area, and to build a space where people can meet up, exchange ideas, and explore audio together. I hope the Podcast Garage will be a welcoming home for anyone interested in audio storytelling who is looking for inspiration, feedback, and community.”

“We’re so thrilled to partner with KQED, a leader in public media, to open the PRX Podcast Garage at KQED,” adds Gina James, Vice President of Strategic Impact at PRX. “As we listen to the voices within our communities, both in the Bay Area and Boston, we know that many of their perspectives are not visible or lack presence in the dominant media culture. Opening the PRX Podcast Garage at KQED allows us to champion community storytelling as a way to inspire change together. With our programs, we aim to equip local creators with resources that empower them to amplify critical issues, embrace departure from norms, take risks, and practice an abundance mentality.”

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Brad Hill