Feeling very sentimental, Katie ends her time as the Bear in Mind host, and interviews the next host, Andrew Galster. She reflects on her podcast experience over the past year, while learning more about Andrew, his passion for media, and his goals for when he takes over Bear in Mind in the fall. (Running time: 10:28)
Katie: Hi everyone, and welcome back to this week's episode of the Bear in Mind Podcast. I'm your host, Katie Nord. Let's jump right into it. Over the past year, since I took on the role of host and producer of the Bear in Mind podcast, I've met so many incredible people and learned so many new things I would have never heard of before. I tried my best to make each episode its own, focusing on a different category for each person I interviewed. We covered so many genres ranging from AI, global education, opera, environmental research, and so much more. I'm really proud of how much I've grown over the last year, but my time here is coming to an end. I'm not dying, I swear. But I'll be graduating in May, and it's my time to pass the torch to the next Bear In Mind Host. This episode, I'll be introducing you all to Andrew Galster, the next host who'll be taking over my job for his senior year at UNC. Andrew was such a kind person who's got a knack for holding super fun conversations, and he is absolutely hilarious. You guys are going to love him. First off, I'll just have you introduce yourself. You can tell us your name year and major here at UNC and anything else you'd like us to know.
Andrew: Yeah. Hi, my name is Andrew Galster. I am a junior here, about to go into my senior year. I am a journalism major and a political science major, so that's what I'm up to.
Katie: Political science?
Andrew: As of very recently.
Katie: I was gonna say I didn't know that.
Andrew: I had been taking political science classes since my freshman year because they're interesting. Yeah. And then I went and talked to my professor. I was like, hey, I got a lot of these. Can we, can we do some? And we could.
Katie: Can we make my time worth it? Please, please.
Andrew: Please.
Katie: I know so much about politics and science. So what's your experience been like at UNC over the past few years?
Andrew: You know. Like anyone's college experience, I've had my ups and downs, but overall I've really enjoyed my time here at UNC. I've gotten to meet super cool people like Katie Nord.
Katie: What?
Andrew: I'm such a fan. Katie. My God, Katie, but, um, I've had a good time. Not only do I feel like I'm learning a lot, I'm also, you know, making friends and life experiences.
Katie: Yeah, and if you didn't know it, Andrew is a rock star in the journalism department. You should see him when he's recording in the green room. It's crazy. Just to get to know you a little bit more. What would you like to do after college?
Andrew: Ah, that's a tough question. I would like to have a job.
Katie: Yeah, same.
Andrew: I'd like to work probably somewhere in broadcast. I actually enjoy being behind the scenes a little bit more than I do on camera, which I know that might seem a little backwards here because I'm hosting, but I like working with people and making sure that we're producing shows, and I think that's kind of what I want to go into.
Katie: Yeah, I mean, there's something nice about podcasting. It's kind of like the introverted version of hosting, because you only have to talk to maybe 1 or 2 people at a time. It's really low key, but I feel like you do really well backstage and doing behind the scenes stuff, so I feel like you'll do really great.
Andrew: Thanks, Katie.
Katie: It's so exciting, so fun. It's like when you go to a family reunion and they're like, Katie, what do you want to do after you graduate? Do you have a boyfriend yet? I'm like, no grandma, no.
Andrew: I can't answer that right now, Grandma.
Katie: Have mercy.
Katie: So what made you want to host Bear in Mind.
Andrew: I'm actually the host of The Reflection podcast, which is the podcast associated with the UNC Mirror, and I really love doing that. Um, so I figured, hey, let's see what's going on with the bears in mind. And then our mutual professor Shawn approached me and I was like, hey, good work over here, Andrew. You should go look over there. And so that's what I'm doing.
Katie: We had two very different introductions to this. Before I was the host, I wasn't introduced in a normal way. He wasn't like, hey, Katie, you're doing great work. You want to be on the podcast? I was walking in the hallway, Shawn runs after me. He's like, Katie, Katie, do you want to be the host for Bear in mind? I'm like, what? What's happening?
Andrew: I mean, it could have been worse, you know, middle of the night bag over your head. Get in the van. We're going to the podcast booth. Get ready.
Katie: You had a very calm introduction to it.
Andrew: Yeah. I didn't get chased into the Bear Studio.
Katie: Yeah, mine was very sudden. I do appreciate it. I'm very thankful for where I am. It was definitely a shocker though I can imagine. For those who don't know, for the past semester you've been shadowing me and learning all the ins and outs of creating these episodes. So after seeing all that, is there anything that makes you really nervous or excited about hosting in the fall?
Andrew: Katie, you're a phenomenal host and I've seen that like, not to not to gas you up too much or whatever, but you're a great editor and a great host, and I feel I have some very big shoes to fill, so.
Katie: I wear a size six. They're actually quite small. Don't worry, you'll be fine.
Andrew: Okay. Okay.
Katie: Is there anything you're really excited about?
Andrew: Yeah, I'm kind of excited to, like you were talking about, meet new people and talk to people about a whole range of interesting things. And I think that could be a good time.
Katie: Yeah. You're gonna do great every single conversation you have. Or at least what you've had with me always ends up being really fun. The reflection podcast, where Andrew hosts it is very low key, very high energy, but also very educational, where mine is very like professional but calm. He's like very chaotic, educational. I'm very calm, educational. So I think you guys are gonna really love the chaotic energy he's bringing into the room. When I first got interviewed, Isabella asked me what goals I had to set for myself. I talked a lot about time management, and I don't know how well I did that, but I think I tried. So I'm gonna ask you what goals you want to set for yourself, and then you can listen to it in the future and find out if you actually succeed.
Andrew: If I managed.
Katie: Yeah.
Andrew: I would like to keep the quality that you have brought to this podcast.
Katie: Okay.
Andrew: That is my number one goal. Yeah. I'm hoping to talk to interesting people like you did. And I'd like to, you know, have a high quality editing and have it sound good for the audience. And so I think that would be my goal.
Katie: Yeah, absolutely. You're underestimating yourself, Andrew. You've got more experience editing than I do. He was teaching me how to do shortcuts on the keyboards. I was like, oh man, hold on. Let me manually scroll back to the beginning of the audio. He's like, just hit this control and this button. I'm like, you can do that?
Andrew: If you're listening to this when I'm already hosting, ignore the irony.
Katie: That's crazy you say that. What do you think will be the biggest change with bear in mind once you take over?
Andrew: I like your fast paced style of editing. I think mine might be a little bit slower and then kind of like you also said, I am a little bit of a more. I'm a lot, you know, I talk a lot and laugh a lot and loudly. So yeah, well, you are very calm and inspire like a calmness. Make it easy for people to talk. I think the energy might be a little different.
Katie: Yeah. Honestly, I feel like and you can dog on yourself all you want and be like, oh, I have big shoes to fill. Whatever. Whatever. You are so, so funny. If you guys haven't listened to the reflection before, it's like, bear in mind, without the restrictions, it's so nice and they can say all this funny stuff and you guys will laugh so hard. I just recently listened to their Dark Sky Tourism episode and it was really interesting, and they talked about a lot of really cool stuff that I would have loved to talk about. They got to talk about a bunch of different things all in one episode, which I find really interesting. And do you have any questions for me since you're taking over? I have a small but dedicated fan base. They'll show up at your address.
Andrew: Okay.
Katie: They'll cheer you on outside the window.
Andrew: Oh, cheer me on.
Katie: Yeah, yeah.
Andrew: I thought this was going in a different direction.
Katie: They have pitchforks and flames.
Andrew: Look what you did! Where's Katie?
Katie: Bring back Katie.
Andrew: Bring back Katie.
Andrew: Okay, that'll be my question, then. Like Katie, what do I do?
Katie: They're outside my house.
Andrew: They're outside my house.
Andrew: So, You've obviously done this for a while now. Do you have a favorite episode, one that was the most interesting to you?
Katie: Okay, well, I don't want to pick favorites. It's like picking a favorite child. This podcast has been like my baby, but I am gonna pick a favorite. I really like the episode where I interviewed Brian Luedloff. We talked about his upcoming opera that's going to be in November, I believe. He is such a funny guy. I was laughing so hard and I had to edit most of that out, but it was just so fun to edit and it was really also very informative. Had such a blast with that. Do you have any genres or categories you want to talk about?
Andrew: I think it's super impressive when students get up to things that you wouldn't normally expect from them. So I was here in the studio when we talked about the students who went to Finland, Norway, Finland, Finland and worked on environmental teams, and like that was super cool. And it's a small campus, but it's not that small. Every single one of UNC students is up to something interesting. So I think I really want to dig deep into some UNC stories about, you know, kids who are making short films or discovering new species, like, who knows, you know, and I that excites me.
Katie: Yeah, for sure. There's a lot of things also that I found out really late in the semester that I just don't have time to interview. So I'm going to let you know of one of them now. I think UNC used to have a robotics club where they make the robots that fight each other. I don't know if that's still a club, but if it does exist by next fall, in my honor, you have to interview them, because it would be so cool to talk about fist fighting robots.
Andrew: That would be absolutely electric.
Katie: You can bring them into the studio and fist fight in front of the mics.
Andrew: You guys can't see this, but they're going crazy right now.
Katie: I paid 200 bucks on the red one.
Andrew: That's so funny.
Katie: That would be a lot of fun.
Andrew: This kind of feels like you're knighting me and giving me like a sword, but instead of a sword, it's an episode I need to do.
Katie: I pass on to thee the Bear in Mind stress. Go to every single PR meeting and don't cry. Don't worry guys, I only cry in the studio when no one's here.
Andrew: Okay. We're good. All right. So, Katie, what tips do you have for me going into this hosting game?
Katie: I have so many tips. Okay, first and foremost, taking rejection is probably easier for most people than it is for me. But you may reach out to someone and be like, do you want to be on the Bear in Mind podcast? They go, no. And then I cry a little bit, but you bounce back. That's why I could never work in sales, because rejection is hard. Reach out to a bunch of people you find interesting, and then if you find them interesting and you have a fun conversation, it'll make for a fun podcast. Also time management. We actually talked about this when I was first being introduced. Time management is really important. When it comes to editing, I'm pretty sure you'd probably be faster than I am, but don't do what I do and don't edit all in one session in like 6 to 8 hours because it will kill you.
Andrew: You are a trooper. That is an insane amount of editing.
Katie: Eventually I'm going to be like those people that have the headset dense into my skull where I turn to the side and it's like a crevice.
Andrew: Yeah.
Katie: Don't be afraid to ask people for help. Help and advice is really important. To finish off. I'm going to do something that I don't think anybody else has done on the podcast. Andrew, how about you record a little message for yourself in the future so that when you are editing your last episode next year, you can listen to it?
Andrew: That is so cute. The thing I would like to tell myself in the future when you're editing this, future Andrew. Did you have fun? Did you have a good time? How much did you learn? Was this worth it for you? And hopefully in my last episode I can answer those questions.
Katie: Heck yeah! That is a wonderful sign off, Andrew. It really feels quite bittersweet to be ending my time here at UNC and hosting Bear in mind. I'm really proud of what I've done, and I'm confident that when Andrew takes over, it will be nothing short of amazing. After watching him work over the past semester, I can see that he is going to do great things. He's got a lot of good things going for him. I hope that you all got to learn a whole bunch of new things, listen to us laugh a bunch, and I hope you enjoyed listening to me ramble over the past year. For the last time, I've been your host, Katie Nord signing off.
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