The Voice of Verve Podcast Returns

Graphic by Finley Evans

After 3 years The Voice of Verve Podcast is being brought back to life by Sophomore Finley Evans. Originally created by alumni Samuel Rice who had a dream that was short-lived for a season, but currently being revived.

The King’s Academy is bringing back The Voice of Verve, a student-led news podcast, as a fresh way to keep students informed and connected with what’s happening on and off campus. 

The idea for the podcast began during the 2021-2022 school year when student Samuel Rice, a TKA Graduate and state alumni,  was inspired to launch a new form of sharing news at TKA.

“I started the Verve podcast because I had spent countless hours listening to podcasts over a variety of subjects,“ said Rice.

According to The Podcast Host, Studies of podcast show that podcast creators consistently show that a large majority (often 70–80%) were regular podcast listeners before launching their own show. This proved to be the case in Rice’s background prior to launching the podcast. 

“It had become one of the major ways I consumed media and learned new pieces of information that impacted the way I saw the world . . . it was a very effective way of learning more” said Rice.

Rice proposed the idea to The Verve newspaper staff, and with their support, the first episode of The Voice of Verve was recorded and uploaded to Spotify on April 27, 2022. 

“Being on the Verve, I was always looking for new ways to give the student body of TKA better and more entertaining methods for involvement and gaining information; a podcast seemingly fit all of the criteria and was a fun challenge,” said Rice. 

However, because the episode was released late in the school year, and Rice graduated just a month later, the project wasn’t continued in the following years.

Now, three years later, The Voice of Verve is returning with a new host. As a new staff writer for Verve this year, I (Finley Evans) was excited to learn about the podcast’s past. Having experience in producing my own weekly podcast, like former student Rice, I saw an opportunity to revive The Voice of Verve and build stronger connections within our school community. 

“I loved the chance to create it, and I am glad that it is being dusted off and used once more,” said Rice.

With having two sessions in our school, things can be divided, and I saw this as another opportunity to bring the sessions together. After discussing the idea with our editor-in-chief (Ashleigh Ward), I was given the green light to bring the podcast back.

This time, The Voice of Verve will publish one episode with each issue of the newspaper. The show will cover a wide range of topics, from school events and students activities to interviews and behind the scenes stories. Some episodes will feature one on one conversations with students or teachers, while others will include multiple interviews to highlight different perspectives around TKA. 

The goal of the podcast is simple, to provide news for the school in a more engaging and relatable way by allowing all students to be involved in the podcast. While writing  articles is still an important part of how we share information, hearing familiar voices can make the news feel more personal and exciting. 

“When students listen to a podcast and hear someone they know, maybe even themselves, it can grab their attention in a way that reading alone doesn’t,” Finley Evans said.

Even more than just news updates, The Voice of Verve also aims to help students get to know the Verve staff and understand the work that goes into producing our newspaper. Our mission is to find the most important news happening around TKA and bring them to the student’s attention. With the return of this podcast, we’re adding another platform to have a place that speaks directly to students in their own voices.

The first episode of the revived Voice of Verve podcast was launched with the first issue of the Verve. Be sure to tune in on Spotify, and listen for the latest updates, student interviews and stories that matter most to the TKA community.