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Immersive #11: Podcast

At the top, there is a square floral podcast graphic of a man holding a daughter with the text "Family Time Quality Time with Ba Ba." To the right of the graphic, the white text reads: "Podcast," "Family Time Quality Time," "Ba Ba." Underneath, there are two descriptive tags in gray boxes: "Family" and "lifestyle." Below that the about section reads, "Spending quality time with your family doesn't have to be a Herculean feat. Through spontaneous conversations with his daughter, Christina, Ba Ba shows how closer relationships can be formed over time despite the lows of life... see more." Underneath the text, it says "All Episodes" with a gray box that says "Oldest to newest" with a white down arrow to the right. At the bottom, there is a small icon of the podcast image. To the right, the white text reads "EP 1 - A New Home for Everyone" and underneath the gray text reads "Ba Ba shows Christina around her new room for the first time after..." Underneath the date of the podcast is August 2019, and it is 14 minutes and 44 seconds long. On a dark gray background, the white text reads as follows: "Transcript," "EP 1 - A New Home for Everyone." Below this text, the transcript starts: "[THEME MUSIC] Ba Ba (BB): Hello I'm Ba Ba and you're listening to Family Time Quality Time. Life has been difficult for everyone since the divorce, but in honor of starting fresh, we're kicking off this podcast by showing Christina the new house where Ba Ba will be living for the time being. [CLASSY ELEVATOR MUSIC] BB: Say hello to the recorder, Christina. We're now live. Christina (CH): Hi. BB: Hello Christina, thank you for agreeing to come on to the podcast today. Are you excited to see your new room? CH: I'm tired. BB: Well, it has been a long day for you with all the driving around. But, Ba Ba just wants to show you one last thing before you go to sleep. Before you arrived, I made sure to decorate your room just the way you've always wanted - space themed! [DOOR CREAKS OPEN] BB: Ba Ba tried really hard to make sure the stars were in the right place on the walls. What do you think? Do you feel like a real astronaut? CH: It's smaller than before..."At the top, there is a small icon of the podcast image. To the right, the white text reads "EP 13 - Literally Home-schooled" and underneath the gray text reads "Ba Ba talks to Christina about her first day of online school during the..." Underneath the date of the podcast is August 2020, and it is 52 minutes and 13 seconds long. On a dark gray background, the white text reads as follows: "Transcript," "EP 13 - Literally Home-schooled." Below this text, the transcript starts: "[FRUIT PLATE CLATTERS ON THE TABLE] BB: Ba Ba brought his favorite daughter an after-school snack because she doesn't have in-person school anymore! How was your day? CH: It was okay. BB: How did it all work? Did you have to join those online meetings for every class? CH: Yeah, they sent us emails with the meeting links to join the classroom. From there, it was just like... regular school? Nothing else too different. BB: That's good to hear. Were you able to make any new friends? CH: It's only the first day! BB: First day of high-school ever! It's important to make those friends sooner rather than later, especially if you need help with school. CH: Yes, I know. I'll try harder next time..." At the top, there is a small icon of the podcast image. To the right, the white text reads "EP 25 - One Day They'll Leave Us"" and underneath the gray text reads "Ba Ba drives Christina to her friend's house for a birthday party while..." Underneath the date of the podcast is August 2021, and it is 1 hour and 28 minutes long. On a dark gray background, the white text reads as follows: "Transcript," "EP 25 - One Day They'll Leave Us." Below this text, the transcript starts: "B: You should take driver's ed soon. It'll be good for you to get around quickly without having to wait on Ba Ba to drive you. CH: Don't worry, it's okay if I'm late. Everyone's always late to these things anyways. It's always awkward being the first one there. BB: Do you have everything that you need? Present? Clothing? Phone? CH: Yes, Ba Ba, you don't have to ask me again - Oh, turn left here, it's that house on over there with the yellow balloons on the mailbox. [TURN SIGNAL CLICKS] BB: Well, I hope you have fun. Text me if you need anything, and don't stay up too late. It's not good for your health. CH: I will! See you later, Ba Ba. [CAR DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES] BB: Looks like I'll have the house all to myself tonight..."On a dark gray background, the white text reads as follows: "[CLASSY ELEVATOR MUSIC] BB: It's been a long time with many failures in trying to be a good father for Christina, but I think this is the first time it has set in that I only have two more years left to spend with her until she goes off to college and starts her own life... BB: But even though I only have those two years to make the most of our time together, I'm thankful that I started this effort to talk publicly about this struggle for connection and work on developing a functional relationship for two years rather than all four years. To those of you looking to change your relationships with your kids, start now. You never know when they'll leave you and what you have to lose until they're gone. BB: Anyways, thank you for listening to Family Time Quality Time. This podcast would not be where it is today without your continued support. All the advice and feedback really means a lot to me and helps others learn more about developing healthy family dynamics as well. But, until next time, this has been Ba Ba, and I hope you all take care."

Creator’s Note: Welcome to this semester’s section of Immersive, where we take our learnings from the first 10 articles and experiment with new mediums of storytelling. Immersive is dedicated to disrupting the way in which we facilitate relationships in the digital era by exploring intimate narratives about life through unconventional storytelling mediums. And together, each piece seeks to challenge the way in which we communicate our thoughts and seek connection from others.

For this week’s article, I wanted to experiment with the interview-esque nature of the podcast format, which led me to ultimately creating a narrative that explored the transactional nature of stilted family relationships and how they can become more natural over time with the host’s improved ability to navigate different situations.

Let me know your thoughts on the medium and the story if you have any! I’d be interested in seeing how the podcast format can further be utilized. But, either way, I hope you all enjoyed this first experiment and look forward to reading more Immersive works and mediums in the future.