As the night draws to a close and most people are getting ready for bed, senior Emily Adams is just getting started. Unable to fall asleep and with an appetite for creativity and discussion, she puts in her earbuds and gets on a call, not knowing what the next few hours will bring.
Senior Emily Adam’s podcast Podsomnia has been bringing late-night comedy and conversation not just to PHS students but listeners across the globe. While originally started for a class project, Adams decided to continue the assignment and has since released eight half-hour long episodes online, each with different guests and conversations.
“I started this podcast because I used to call people really really late at night and would have the most interesting conversations in the world but I didn’t remember them,” Adams said. “I would only remember laughing and debating and just talking about random things and weird hypotheticals, and I [thought] I should just record these.”
Adams said she had wanted to start a podcast in the past but had worries no one would listen to it. So, when the opportunity arose as part of a project for her Acting 3-4 class, Adams decided to fully commit. Wanting an open conversation style, Adams said she made the choice to keep the conversations almost completely free of predefined topics or questions.
“There’s only one question that I ask every time which is ‘Are you a morning person or are you a night person,’” Adams said.
Because of this, the podcast is driven mostly by authenticity, vulnerability, and connection, she said.
“I have no idea what I’m going to be talking about when I sit down with the person,” Adams said.
Part of what Adams said makes the podcast entertaining is the fact that it’s recorded late at night, which she believes contributes to the atmosphere that is created.
“I find that people are more comfortable late at night and they have less walls up so they’re gonna talk about things that maybe they wouldn’t talk about normally,” she said. “When people are sleep deprived, but they still have to have energy because they’re interacting with someone, the things that people come up with are insane.”
Senior Seth Elkins and a good friend of Adams was asked to be on the first episode of the podcast. Elkins said their three-hour long conversation on everything from reptiles to the play Puffs felt like chatting with someone in a coffee shop.
“It’s really really casual which is so fun because I’ve done other podcasts before and people have questions planned whereas Emily is just like, we are gonna talk for as long as we can keep a conversation,” Elkins said.
Besides having close friends like Elkins on the show, Adams has invited other students she knew less well like senior Parsa Bazargani. Having spent time in Mock Trial together, they found out they both had a love for the show Criminal Minds, prompting Adams to invite him to be a guest.
“For the first hour and a half, we were actually talking about somewhat intellectual topics but in the last two hours we were both very tired and we just went off criticizing random characters from Criminal Minds and some other crazy stuff,” Bazargani said.
Bazargani said he agrees with Elkins and Adams on how the late-night atmosphere enhances the conversation.
“It’s easier to relate to other people when you know our brains aren’t functioning the best and we just feel much more at ease when we’re talking with each other.”
Adams said that doing the podcast has been a way for her to pass the time in quarantine as well as do something she genuinely enjoys.
“I’m gonna keep doing this podcast, until I can’t,” Adams said.
She said that her main reason for doing the podcast has never been to make it big online, but because she loves the process, conversations, and connections that come with it.
“But, if the opportunity arises and I think I find there’s a demand for a podcast like mine, I’ll do marketing and all of that and get to a larger audience because that’d be really cool,” Adams said.
After taking anywhere from one to four hours to record, Adams said she goes through and edits the conversation down to around thirty minutes, keeping only the most interesting moments. From there she will release it online and while most of the listeners are people she knows, she does get a few listeners from around the world.
“I have one dedicated listener in France who listens to every single episode of my podcast and I love that person,” Adams said. “I have no idea who they are, but they’re my favorite listener.”
Elkins said he believes Adam’s personal drive could take her far with podcasting.
“She puts so much effort into the most random things and this is one of the things,” Elkins said. “It’s gonna go places. If she keeps working at it eventually she’s going to get more viewers. But again, it’s not really for it to get views but it’s really for her.”
To apply to be on the podcast, email Adams at adams.emilyr99@gmail.com. Podsomina can be found wherever you get your podcasts including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon.
