“The Time Warp” is a podcast created by the Pascack Hills History Club in the fall of 2022, and the first episode was published in the spring of 2023. The club releases podcasts on Spotify about historical curiosities.
The current members are juniors Zackary Ben, Yulianna Krol, and Sophia Padilla, sophomore Alexander McKay, and freshman Yasaswini Polamraju. Each member provides a part of their knowledge and research on the topic and contributes it to the script. The script is free for the hosts to discuss and make it more like an interesting conversation people would love listening to.
“The Time Warp” podcast members sat down with the Trailblazer for an interview.
Yasaswini Polamraju: Why did you create this podcast?
Christopher Volk: Opportunity for students to experience history with a sense of curiosity learning something new and unique. Lots of curiosities in the world that we walk by. First episode was about pineapple, once it was a status symbol seeing how rare it was.
YP: What was the inspiration behind it?
CV: We got a grant and it’s cool to have something for school. It was unique and a new club, helped gain attention, was really fun and interesting, and shared information that we know.
YP: How often are episodes published?
CV: Episode per month, and we want to work with student schedules. Ideas come from visiting places and field trips. Open to receiving ideas from the community and school.
YP: How did you feel when the first episode was published?
CV: It was really exciting, learning curve for everybody, professional development run by [the] school, a lot of effort by members in research, technology, after many takes, and different avenues to show history in a different way
YP: What are the past two episodes about?
CV: The past two episodes were on the Super Bowl where football enthusiast, Alexander McKay, provided the idea to talk about the origins of the game and its “historical impact.” The episode before was on “Winter folklore” talking about Slavic, Norse, and Inuit folklore for the winter season.
YP: What is the process of making an episode?
CV: The process of making an episode is a fun procedure to look in on. 1) ideas: the ideas for a topic may vary from recent events like the recent podcast about the Super Bowl to inspiration from field trips which was about an 18th century pineapple, and an insight on the expression “sleep tight.” 2) The members of the team do deep research on the topic, its cause and effects, and the events surrounding it. 3) Anyone can volunteer to be hosts, and the script is recorded and edited.
YP: How did the history club get the equipment?
CV: This larger district intuitive from grant with Montclair State University with Workshop for practice with technology and scripts
YP: Why did you join “The Time Warp?”
Zack Ben: It stemmed from a podcast grant, asked if interested in making a podcast. Goal is to educate people about niche and random history topics.
YP: What is the future of “The Time Warp?”
CV: It really depends on the student, since this is a student-centered and student-driven club. We want to offer historical curiosity, expand in technology, and publish more episodes in a year
YP: How do you brainstorm topics for “The Time Warp?”
CV: It is mostly based on student interest, and curiosities in history that they have.
YP: Where do you record your podcast?
ZB: Anywhere that is quiet like the media center, Mr. Volk’s classroom, and conference rooms.
YP: What does “The Time Warp” mean to you?
ZB: Very much a small community of students that are able to geek out about on a platform, put online. Community of people interested in topics.
Sophia Padilla: Time Warp is a place to show historical details and show our interests
The main purpose of the podcast is to talk about ideas and events in history that interested students. The episodes last about 10 minutes so it’s easy to listen to.
Check out “The Time Warp” on Spotify or the link on the Trailblazer website.
