About "The Los Angeles Human Rights Podcast"
For my Human Rights Practice capstone project, I decided to create a podcast titled The Los Angeles Human Rights Podcast that specializes in LA human rights issues and our current state of the world. My original capstone idea was to have a one-night art show because I love how art and human right intersect. But due to Covid restrictions, I had to change up my project. I do believe that podcasting is a form of art and I can personally attest to that.
The creative process of making a podcast from scratch all by yourself is probably one of the most difficult things I have ever done, but I am sure glad I did. I learned so much from each of my guests and I hope my viewers did as well. I have a total of nine episodes in my season ranging from topics of: racism in healthcare, policing in LA, multimedia storytelling, art and human rights, the BLM movement, mental health and incarceration, sustainable development goals, and the human relations commission in LA.
The last episode is especially near and dear to me. Before I started this program, I was in a limbo with what I wanted to do in life. Did I want to be a social worker? a counselor? I didn’t now. Then I picked up a book titled My Master Plan, by Chris Wilson, and it changed my life. Chris will be the guest on my final episode to bring everything full circle, and I would recommend his book to anyone.
There are multiple reasons why I decided to create a podcast for my capstone. First, I believe in this day and age podcasts and/or YouTube is an easy way to spread information. One of the things that surprised me the most is the amount of people who do not even know what human rights are. So, with that being said, I wanted to create a podcast where not only could I learn something, but as many people that watch can learn something as well.
Another reason why I wanted to do it is because I knew it would be a challenge. Some might think, “well that’s odd why wouldn’t you just do something simple, it’s your last month in the program.” And I would say, “I like a good challenge.” Isn’t that what the capstone is supposed to be anyway? Not easy, but something that gets you out of your comfort zone. And boy, did this podcast do that for me. I am used to being on the other side of the camera, and I do not consider myself a good public speaker, unfortunately. But I am extremely passionate about human rights so that is why I believe the podcast ended up being a success.