Jarrett Hill

Jarrett Hill is a pop culture journalist and writer, and co-host of FANTI. Follow him on Twitter here. Follow FANTI on Twitter here.

How did the idea of the podcast pop into your brain? There is nothing else like it.
the concept for FANTI actually grew out of a segment for another show my co-host and i were developing. we'd gotten the note that the show was good, but we needed something that would be unique and special. it began as a segment and we eventually thought "this is actually the show!" and so we repitched it, the rest was history. 

Can you tell us about your relationship with Tre'vell? How did you start working with him?
tre'vell and i met as members of the national association of black journalists. we began working together when he'd reached out to me to aid him as vice president of the organization, which put us together in front of audiences pretty regularly. eventually people started coming up to us insisting we host some sort of a show together. 

What's a hurdle POC have to clear in podcasting that white people don't know about?
audiences have a tendency to think a show is for the people that look like the hosts, that can be true in plenty of cases, but not always, maybe not even in most cases. we did an episode called "why white people love wakanda" and our white listeners have told us repeatedly that they started on that episode and then followed up with various other episodes, growing to love the show. but we did the episode because white people kept writing us saying they knew they weren't our intended audience because they (insert their intersections here). but really what that was saying to us was "you like this show, but you think because black queer people are hosting it that it's not supposed to be for you. white people have never had to see themselves in people that didn't look like them, however black and brown people have always had to find themselves in jennifer aniston, or tom cruise, or amy poehler, or whomever else because that's what the media makes most available/ white people aren't used to not being centered in everything around them. i quote a friend of mine in the episode, a brilliant writer and performer named fanshen cox. she says "white is the default for human" in this country. this was a perfect example of that. so we did a show on it, it's still one of the most popular shows we've done in our entire catalog. 

What’s something listeners don’t understand about podcasts and what goes into making them?
i think people don't appreciate how much work goes into putting together a podcast. it's a good bit of work to make the conversation sound natural, even between to people who have natural conversations every day like tre'vell and i. it's hours of discussion, research, writing, booking of guests, recording, editing, more writing of episode notes, posting. That doesn't consider the social media clips that have to be cut, posted, maintaining the inboxes on each platform, etc. you get it, lol. To be fair, we're on the higher end when it comes to production value so it's more work, but it's a lot. 

What do you hope the show does for people?
i genuinely try to not attach myself too much to the outcome, as it's so different for every individual listener. but my overall hope for the show is that we're able to open up discussions that people are either having themselves and want another perspective to add to their viewpoint, or that we're having discussions people wouldn't have normally thought to have, inspiring a new way of thinking, or at least informing their perspective with another point of view.

If you were going to create another podcast, don’t worry about the logistics or whether or not anyone would like it, what would it be?
i actually have a lot of shows/content in development, some in my head, some with partners. i always enjoy a conversation podcast, where i can interview people and learn their stories. I think there's real value in learning about other people, why they do what they do, how they became who they are. so, mostly all the content I'm developing centers around telling the stories of black (and brown) people in the hope of making our lives better.  

Women in podcasting are constantly being criticized for their voices. What is your relationship with yours? How would you describe your voice?
i hated my voice for the longest time. i used to love the sound of my voice on a live microphone, but when recorded i would cringe. someone said to me "of course it sounds different, you normally hear your own voice from inside your head, not outside of it." that made sense, it should sound a little different. it took me more than a year of hosting my old show, and listening to the shows every week, to get used to the sound of my voice. now i don't think two things about it anymore. but it took a long time. 

Do you think there are any rules all podcasters should adhere to?
no. i think that's the beauty of this platform, there are no rules. you can make whatever you want to connect with whoever takes an interest. there's a freedom in that, i hope people can embrace that. also, with great freedom can come a lack of focus, which is difficult for me sometimes. but no, there are no rules except do what feels honest to the intention you have for what you're doing. 

Should podcasters read their Apple Podcast reviews?
maybe? i think there's value in knowing how your show is landing, what themes are being established, etc. reading the reviews has highlighted for me the perception people have, or are developing, about what we do and i think being aware of that is wise. but don't make the reviews dictate your show, it's direction, it's purpose. 

Thanks, Jarrett!