Nicholas Grayson

Breaking the Colored Sound Barrier aims to explore the current state of the podcast landscape from the perspective of creators of color, a group that is disproportionately represented in the conversation surrounding the medium. Over three parts, this project examines the presence of creators of color in traditionally white spaces, analyze the types of shows that people of color are creating, and explore media organizations and the interplay between diversity and the representation of people of… Show more

Breaking the Colored Sound Barrier aims to explore the current state of the podcast landscape from the perspective of creators of color, a group that is disproportionately represented in the conversation surrounding the medium. Over three parts, this project examines the presence of creators of color in traditionally white spaces, analyze the types of shows that people of color are creating, and explore media organizations and the interplay between diversity and the representation of people of color in their multimedia projects. By using the analysis and research of race as it relates to media from academics including James Baldwin, Edward Said, and Donald Bogle, the research will be contextualized into broader representations of minorities in media. In order to acquire an accurate snapshot of the landscape, this project features an analysis of selected quotes from an interview with an African-American podcaster based in Los Angeles, discourse analysis of the space and its creators, content analysis of an episode of Bodega Boys, a podcast hosted by Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, and academic research on the representation of minorities in the US and in media. Show less

Drawing inspiration from a wealth of actual play podcasts like Critical Role, The Adventure Zone, and Friends at the Table, I tried to create a concept for a film that took the variety of interactions and interpersonal relationships baked within a tabletop roleplaying game and told a new story. Writing the first act of Twenty was a great exercise in understanding aspects of worldbuilding and character development, and it has served as an inspiration for my future tabletop RPG… Show more

Drawing inspiration from a wealth of actual play podcasts like Critical Role, The Adventure Zone, and Friends at the Table, I tried to create a concept for a film that took the variety of interactions and interpersonal relationships baked within a tabletop roleplaying game and told a new story. Writing the first act of Twenty was a great exercise in understanding aspects of worldbuilding and character development, and it has served as an inspiration for my future tabletop RPG campaigns.

Twenty is the story of a group of longtime friends that thrust into a fantastical world of intrigue. They must solve a mystery created by one of their own, but failure to save the world is only a bad dice roll away. Show less

My YouTube channel is a bit of a playground where I experiment with all types of video, including traditional vlogs, video essays, and documentaries. What initially began as a workplace to learn practical video editing skills in Premiere and Final Cut Pro has evolved into a valued personal creative outlet.

Tangential is a culture and comedy podcast that works through the events of a week by reading through weekly internet histories. Over the course of an hour, my co-host Julianna and I try to explain and share where our minds wandered to that week, and how we got there.

In addition to my co-hosting duties, I am the audio engineer and editor for the show, and together Julianna and I manage Tangential's analytics through our host (Simplecast) and interact with providers like Apple Podcasts… Show more

Tangential is a culture and comedy podcast that works through the events of a week by reading through weekly internet histories. Over the course of an hour, my co-host Julianna and I try to explain and share where our minds wandered to that week, and how we got there.

In addition to my co-hosting duties, I am the audio engineer and editor for the show, and together Julianna and I manage Tangential's analytics through our host (Simplecast) and interact with providers like Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, and Spotify. Show less