“Running Required Radio has definitely changed how I see the industry,” said senior radio production major Adam Castar, current president and one of the founding members of Required Radio.
“When I was a freshman, I thought this industry was easy, but after three and a half years, it has become apparent how hard you have to work to be a great radio broadcaster or podcaster. I think that without this club, I wouldn’t have been able to get the internships I’ve had or hopefully a job in the future.”
Required Radio is a student-run club that allows Hofstra students of all majors to create and broadcast their own podcasts.
Every member has the opportunity to have their own podcast and is responsible for its topic, production and hosting.
“[The club] is independent of [88.7 FM] WRHU. The founders [of Required Radio], myself included, thought that since WRHU didn’t do podcasting at all that was a niche that could be filled by us,” Castar said.
“Required Radio actually started as a class in the radio department; it’s still a class, and it’s taught by professor Dennis Quinn,” he said.
“It was after I took his class that a bunch of people and I began to take it more seriously and file the paperwork necessary to become an official club.”
Along with running Required Radio’s website and cross-posting to Spotify, Soundcloud and iTunes, Castar hosts two shows on the network.
The first, The NerdCast, is a show about video games he co-hosts with Nick Koumis, a senior television and film production major and vice president of Required Radio.
The second, Required Radio Fantasy Show, is about fantasy football that he co-hosts with Hofstra alumnus Ed Birdsall. Castar is also a big fan of listening to other people’s podcasts when he’s not busy creating his own.
“I’ve been listening to Bill Simmons’ podcast at the moment and also a variety of video game podcasts,” he said.
While some of the work done in podcasting is individual, podcasting is very much a collaborative effort as well – starting in college is a great way to develop ways of working with others and getting help before entering the working world.
“As far as advice is concerned, start early and learn how podcasting works,” he said. “You need to be a self-motivator, people aren’t going to guide you forever ... Make your own shows, ask people for tips and once you get comfortable, then you can make what you think you can. Also, don’t hesitate to ask questions. It’s better to ask how to do something right rather than get it wrong in a high-pressure situation.”
For anyone interested in joining Required Radio, the club meets weekly on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in room 141A in the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication. The club also hosts ProTools workshops in which students learn to record and edit their own podcasts.
