Entertainment podcast by Central senior

Senior Bethy Hernandez has expressed her opinions in an innovative way this school year. She runs a podcast with her cousin, Sophia Ridder, who is a journalism major attending UNO. Their podcast, “Watchable,” is centered around discussing all forms of entertainment, especially movies and books. 

Of the duo, Ridder has more experience in the field. She wanted to add to her portfolio of works, so she asked Hernandez to join her in creating “Watchable.” Hernandez is new to the podcast world. 

“To be honest, I hadn’t even listened to that many podcasts before starting one and I had never really thought about it before,” Hernandez said. “Both of us are really into movies and TV, so we decided that would be our topic.” 

Some of the recent episodes have been about “1917,” “Moana” and the Oscars. Hernandez’s favorite entertainment pieces to review are movies. 

“I love to discuss movies that really left an impact on me,” she said. “When you discuss something that is important to you, I find the conversation more substantial.” 

The cousins began the podcast last September and have filmed an episode every week since then. They typically release episodes every Monday. 

Hernandez and Ridder have upgraded their recording equipment as their podcast has gained more attention. 

“When we first started, we just used an iPhone to record but then once we had more listeners, we got a higher end recording microphone,” Hernandez said. 

When asked about facing any adversity or difficulty throughout this creative project, nothing in particular comes to Hernandez’s mind.  

“Since we mainly do it for fun, there isn’t much to stress about,” she said. “The main struggle is finding time to record and making sure our sound and content quality is consistent. It can also be hard to promote on social media platforms.” 

Ridder and Hernandez have discovered that their most successful episodes are the ones they do not expect. 

“Our episode with ‘Anne with an E’ was our most successful with over a hundred listens,” Hernandez said. “We find that the episodes that we do just for fun, not thinking it will be popular, actually turn out to get a lot of listens.”  

Now that she is more immersed in the world of podcasts, Hernandez has gained a few personal favorites. “The Daily Show,” “Teenager Therapy,” “Hello from Elsewhere” and interviews with film directors are her favorites. 

This creative journey has helped Hernandez appreciate entertainment in a new way. For those looking to start their own podcast, she has a few words of advice. 

“They should just jump right in! Do some research, listen to other podcasts and just make sure you are willing to put forth some effort,” she said. “Overall, it’s easier than you would think, especially if you’re passionate about it.”