For this issue, our featured artist isn’t a member of the orchestra or the B-Flats or even a master of ceramics or woodworking. Seniors Dietrich Jacobs, Charlie Cave, and Bert Green are the Panel’s artists of the issue for their work in bringing to life one of the school’s most beloved podcasts: the Techno-Feudal Lizards. What is a techno-feudal lizard? Many think we are currently living in a techno-feudal society where big-tech corporations control the population. A lizard has nothing to do with techno-feudalism. At first glance, the title doesn’t make any sense. That’s because it doesn’t. Instead, in Dietrich’s own words, the title “serves as a metaphor for the content of our podcast”. Dietrich, Charlie, and Bert started recording their podcast for a class project and soon became deeply interested in the art form. All three were frequent listeners of other podcasts and found it to be a rewarding experience. After the project, they decided that they would continue their work independently.
Recording and editing the podcast came surprisingly easy for the trio. Once they had recorded several episodes, they say, they fell into a rhythm and began producing content with surprising efficiency. Recording became even easier when the school provided a space for recording podcasts in the Maker Space building. Everyone on campus has heard of all the new podcasts at Belmont Hill, and many of these record their episodes in this space. Their criteria for guests is quite broad: anyone who works well off the cuff in the sometimes “chaotic recording environment” will do well on their podcast. Also, they try to find guests whom the school would be interested in hearing from. Anyone who listens to the podcast will agree that the combination of personalities and the interesting guest list makes for a lot of good listening. In their own words, “what really drives our success is that we aren’t confined to a single framework and always foster dynamic and occasionally random conversations that allow everyone’s personalities to shine”.
With the spread of the podcast, Charlie, Bert, and Dietrich have ushered in a new age of podcasting for the school community, and for that they are the Panel’s artists of the issue. You can find their episodes on Spotify, as well as tons of content on their Instagram page. We hope they will continue their podcasting journeys as they continue on from Belmont Hill.
