Campus podcast explores vocation at all ages
In mid-September, Augustana’s own recording studio, Studio 47, debuted its new faculty-led podcast “Calling All Years Good.” Hosted by the Rev. Ann Rosendale, the podcast is inspired by a book of the same title and focuses on vocation throughout life.
In “Calling All Years Good,” Rosendale interviews people from all stages of life, ranging from childhood to older adulthood, who have some connection to Augustana University.
In these interviews, Rosendale asks the interviewees about their calling in life, which leads to a discussion about how they are doing what the world calls them to do. For listeners, these episodes offer introspective food for thought that can lead to a deeper understanding of callings in life.
Rosendale believes in the importance of discussing lifelong vocation.
“Every student here at Augustana has a calling,” Rosendale said. In her eyes, “Calling All Years Good” is a way for students to hear stories of the callings of others and apply it to their own lives.
In the introductory episode, Rosendale said because everyone can relate to certain episodes, everyone can learn something from it.
“We hope [. . .] that you’ll find yourselves in these stories,” she said.
For editor and producer Peter Folliard, the Augustana Orchestra conductor, the podcast has a very noble goal.
“This is a really concerted effort to talk about vocation in all aspects of life,” Folliard said.
Folliard hopes that the podcast will reach the ears of as many people on campus as possible. That is Dr. Folliard’s realistic hope for “Calling All Years Good,” but in a perfect scenario, he would love to see the podcast picked up by someone else and shared with a larger audience.
“Wouldn’t it be awesome if [the podcast] got syndicated by something else?” Folliard said.
Writer, editor and producer Katie McCollough, assistant professor of communications, recounted the story of how the podcast came to fruition.
According to McCollough, President Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and Rosendale attended a conference about the book “Calling All Years Good: Christian Vocation Throughout Life’s Seasons” by Kathleen Cahalan and Bonnie Miller McLemore.
After the conference, they were thinking of ways to integrate the ideas of the book into life at Augustana. Once Studio 47 was built, it made sense to use the space to create a podcast about vocation.
“Calling All Years Good” consists of 14 episodes, as well as a brief introduction. The podcast highlights the campus community. Interviewees include children at Augustana’s Campus Learning Center, teenagers that attended Augustana’s Faith Fest, current students, former professors and even Herseth Sandlin. All episodes can be found on Spotify and Google Podcasts.
