Every Asbury student has opinions about aspects of our culture, on topics ranging from Spicy Chicken Thursday, to campus dating, to Asbury traditions. Most students have debates on these subjects while eating a meal together in the caf or while sitting on the couches in the Stuce. However, some students have gotten more creative in how they express their opinions.
Seniors Zeke Friedeman, Logan Carver and Luke Phillips have started a podcast, which was inspired by their own conversations and debates about life at Asbury.
“[Starting a podcast is] something that I’ve actually been thinking about for a while,” said Friedeman. “Since I’ve been at Asbury, there’s always been these constant conversations going on — like Caf or Bistro, chapel, etc. — and I thought that it would be cool to make some content surrounding it, since most people are having those types of conversations anyway.”
The content of the conversations in the podcast is familiar to Asbury students, and the name is too. The podcast is titled The Smokestack after one of the most familiar Asbury landmarks.
“After Logan, Luke and I had the first few conversations about starting the podcast, I was asking people if they had name ideas, and my brother Elijah suggested ‘The Smokestack,’” said Friedeman. “We were really looking for something that didn’t necessarily have ‘Asbury’ in the name but would be recognizable to most people in the community. Since the smokestack is passed, or at least seen, by most students every day, we thought it was a good fit.”
Also, the guests on the Smokestack are people who are well-known by the Asbury community. A different guest is invited on the show each week. Friedeman shared that they currently have a running list of guests that they’d like to have on the show in the future, which includes faculty, staff and students.
“We have tried to pick guests that most people are familiar with who would be good in a more casual, conversational setting since most of our episodes are on the fun, light-hearted side,” said Friedeman. “As far as what to ask, we’ll usually have a couple questions related to the guest’s job or position, and then ask some more ‘behind the scenes’ questions about other areas of their lives. Occasionally we’ll throw something completely random in there as well just to keep it fun.”
The Smokestack has been described by its creators as a fun way to interact with the community about campus culture, and they want students to be involved in their conversations.
“We want the podcast to be an interactive and community-based thing, not us just talking to ourselves for 30 minutes a week,” Friedeman said. “We made The Smokestack to be a campus-life based podcast, so our main goal is to create content that is entertaining for students, staff and faculty. All that to say, we really want to hear from the Asbury community about what content they enjoy and want to hear more of. Instagram is our primary social media platform, so go follow us @thesmokestackpodcast and interact with us on there.”