Reporter

Evie Orpe is one of the presenters of The TAHI, a new podcast from RNZ/Tahi FM.

A passionate advocate of public service media for youth, she tells us why podcasting allows her to be herself and the importance of gaining trust from your audience.

“Podcasts allow a listener to form a relationship with the hosts more than any other medium,” says Auckland-based Evie Orpe who describes podcasting as an amazing medium for community building.

She says longer formats allow for more nuanced, in-depth discussions where all sides of an issue can be addressed to give the audience a greater understanding of the issues.

But amidst the challenges is misinformation, a topic that has been discussed in another podcast Orpe hosts called ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) - a news show for kids.

“Being able to gain trust from your audience is great, but it is often taken for granted, and [is] misused. There’s basically just a lot of bullshit out there.

“In a world where clickbait headlines dramatically influence opinions, it’s so important to have a safe non-judgmental space to address and discuss large issues,” Orpe says.

The podcast presenter describes herself as “an extremely nosy person” who has the opportunity to interview people about their lives and their art. She says shining a light on the achievements of others is also something that brings her joy.

“It is a real honour [and] I don’t take [it] for granted…so having a platform to do that is incredible,“ Orpe says.

Podcasting has also provided the presenter with a medium where she can be herself, especially on The TAHI.

“I love that I get to talk about anime and people listen. It’s special to form a relaxed relationship with an audience [and] being on a podcast allows me to…connect with people in a more authentic way than many other mediums.”

When not making podcasts, you’re likely to find Orpe listening to Murder, Mystery & Makeup by Bailey Sarian.

“Bailey has a great conversational storytelling style, and it always just feels like a friend telling you something interesting, which is sort of the magic of podcasting. Also, her co-host on Dark History is a fake bird (very cool).”

As for her own work, Orpe is happy to be part of two youth podcasts.

“The TAHI is special to me because I get to be myself, talk about things I’m interested in, show my passion, and hopefully, help people to understand it’s okay to not know everything… I’m wrong all the time and our audience accepts that,” says Orpe.

Find out more by listening to the podcast episodes above or head to The TAHI for more.

Also read the story with Evie’s co-host So’omalo Iteni Schwalger.

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