Neon Hum Unveils Participants and Instructors from Across the Audio Industry for Second Annual Bootcamp

Neon Hum Media, in partnership with Sony Music Global Podcasts, is proud to announce the selected participants and contributing instructors for its second annual Editors’ Bootcamp, which was created as a training bootcamp for aspiring podcast editors from underrepresented groups and designed to provide an opportunity for Black and Indigenous storytellers, the LGBTQ, Latino, AAPI, people with disabilities and all communities of color, to help drive their rarely heard, yet critical, stories in podcasting.

The course, led by Neon Hum’s Executive Editor Catherine Saint Louis, will kick off on Monday, March 21, 2022. At the conclusion of the course, one graduate will be offered a staff editor position at Neon Hum. The program is designed to develop the selected students into top candidates for employers to also consider hiring as editors after graduation.

The immersive eight-week program will be led by experienced professionals across the audio industry. Neon Hum’s Jonathan Hirsch and Stephanie Serrano (who was hired after the inaugural Bootcamp) will also offer critical guidance.

Meet the 2022 Instructors:

• Annie Aviles, VICE audio and worked on Painkiller, The Crisis and A Show about Animals.
• Emanuele Berry, Executive Editor of This American Life
• Marlon Bishop, VP for podcasts at Futuro Studios and helped create LOUD: The History of Reggaeton, Anything for Selena and La Brega.
• Martina Castro, CEO of Adonde Media who leads multilingual and multinational production teams; Co-founder of Radio Ambulante
• Antonia Cereijido, Executive Producer of LAist Studios and Host of Norco ‘80
• Phyllis Fletcher, Senior Editor for Podcasts, The New York Times
• Lynn Levy of Resistance podcast, Gimlet
• Sophia Paliza-Carre, Senior Producer and Editor at LAist Studios and worked on LOUD and Anything for Selena.
• Audrey Quinn has edited podcasts for LAist Studios, Futuro Media and Frontline

Meet the 2022 Participants:

• Mayowa Aina (she/her) is a member of the Special Projects team at NPR member station KNKX, based in Tacoma, WA.
• Oluwakemi Aladesuyi (she/her) is an editor and reporter based in Brooklyn.
• Miguel Contreras (he/him) is a journalist, writer and producer based in Los Angeles.
• Ariana Gharib Lee (she/her) is a producer striving to tell bold, original stories that highlight marginalized voices and perspectives.
• Lucy Kang (they/she) is a second-generation Chinese American radio journalist and artist.
• Sasha Khokha (she/her) has spent 18 years as a public radio reporter, correspondent, and host.
• Isabella Kulkarni (she/her) is a creator, producer and writer based in Los Angeles.
• Jimmy Ramirez (he/they) was raised in Northern California by his mother. They spent their childhood in hair salons and community college classes.
• Alejandra Salazar (she/her) is a producer and associate editor at the award-winning public radio show and podcast Latino USA.

Read about the 2022 cohort of Bootcamp participants, their full bios here.

Neon Hum has welcomed an overwhelming response to the return of the Bootcamp, with applications received from longtime producers, print reporters and editors, documentary filmmakers and people in public radio interested in switching to narrative podcasts. After participating in the 2021 course, Sacramento based journalist Stephanie Serrano joined Neon Hum as a staff editor in June and has worked on several top series for Neon Hum, including Smoke Screen: The Sellout and the second season of Spectacle about Las Vegas. Other graduates of last year’s program went on to work on hit shows across the industry, including Snap Judgment’s Spooked and Virginia Public Media’s Seizing Freedom. At the end of the 2022 Editors’ Bootcamp, one participant will also be offered an Associate Editor position.

Funding for the bootcamp is made possible by Sony Music Entertainment.