140: Season 15 Finale- Crafting Narratives in the Creative Landscape

Catalyst is a Creative Industries podcast, from Chapman University. Each episode features Chapman students who have completed a Podcasting course through the Center for Creative and Cultural Industries at the university. Students who had no podcasting experience or technical ability in the genre before taking the course were able to contribute all the segments to Catalyst this season with the goal being that they will take this ‘hands-on’ experience and carry it over to the launching of their very own series. Each episode of Season 15 will feature one to two different interviews conducted by CCI students, exploring different aspects of the Creative and Cultural Industries.

To begin the last episode of the season Mariana Fernandez leads us through a fun and informative conversation with published writer and editor, and English Instructor at Irvine Valley College, Lisa Alvarez. The pair discuss Lisa’s newly published short story collection Some Final Beauty and Other Stories, and she opens up about what first drew her to advocacy work. They also dig into the short stories themselves, exploring how each one builds toward characters Lisa had always wanted to see represented in print. They close the conversation by reflecting on the current wave of ethnic-centric literature being published today and what she believes makes her own collection distinct within that landscape.

And as a season finale, we have an interview with Mike Gravagno the Senior Content Marketing Specialist at Workiva. Mike talks to Sydney Snider about his life and career trajectory. They discuss his roles as a content marketing manager, podcast host, and editor and explore how he first found his way into the world of podcasting. Mike reflects on the early days of the medium, when podcasting was still a niche pursuit, and walks through how dramatically the industry has shifted since then in terms of production standards, audience expectations, and the growing number of creators entering the space. The conversation expands into the creative process behind editing, the skills required to do it well, and the behind-the-scenes work that goes into shaping a compelling show. They close out the episode with the podcasts Mike loves listening to and the advice he would give anyone looking to start a show or find their footing in an industry that keeps evolving.