Byrd Pinkerton ’15
![Photo portrait of Byrd Pinkerton](/sites/default/files/styles/image_4_3/public/2019-08/Pinkerton_Byrd.jpg?itok=mvvU5yZ3)
All I’ve ever wanted to do was make podcasts (and become a marine biologist). I now make podcasts, and it’s an absolute joy. I travel around the country, interviewing people whose lives have been directly affected by laws and policies, and then I shape those interviews into audio narratives that (hopefully) bring dusty and difficult concepts to life.
The German Department taught me how to think about the structure of a story, pushing me to use my tape in creative ways that fit form with function. My work with Tom Levin’s Phonopost collection taught me respect for archives – and also how to listen deeply and critically.
“Hear Yourself as Others Hear You” On the Aesthetic Politics of Gramophonic Self-Recording
Thomas Y. Levin