It’s here.
The first season of “The Chatcast,” a joint podcast production by the News + Record and Our Chatham project from UNC-Chapel Hill, will be available for free in many places on Friday. The 10-episode production, “The Age of Anxiety,” will focus on teen mental health in Chatham County.
Before you start listening, here’s a few things you need to know.
Where to get it
“The Chatcast” is available for free download or streaming and you have several options to find it. Just search “The Chatcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn or Buzzsprout — either on the smartphone apps or online — or visit chathamnewsrecord.com/chatcast. You’ll be able to stream and/or download the podcast from all of those venues for no cost.
What you’re getting
“The Age of Anxiety” features 10 episodes, averaging around 30 minutes each. Issues covered range from academics and social media to coping mechanisms and public policy. Unlike most similar podcast series, all the episodes of “The Age of Anxiety” will be released at once, so you’ll be able to binge it right away. And again, it’s free.
Who you’ll hear from
Along with creators and producers Zachary Horner and Adrianne Cleven, you’ll be hearing from some notable names in and out of Chatham County. County Commissioner Karen Howard and Chatham County Schools Superintendent Derrick Jordan provided some thoughts for the podcast, as well as state Rep. Robert Reives II (D-Chatham) and Chatham Drug-Free coordinator George Greger-Holt. Two UNC professors — Clinical Psychology instructor Mitch Prinstein and eating disorders expert Christine Peat — will also provide insight.
But the real stars of the series are the teenagers themselves, whom we featured in a preview story two weeks ago: Abigail Holmes, Kevin Manzanarez, Chloe Rayno, Quinn Hennessey and Elijah Roebuck. Their stories are the backbone of “The Age of Anxiety.”
Where to learn more
In addition to the podcast’s release, the next One Chatham event will be a forum on teen mental health. Originally annoucned for this month, the event was rescheduled for 7-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 29, at the Chatham Community Library in Pittsboro. More details on the event, including panelist announcements, will be made in the coming weeks, but go ahead and mark the date on your calendar.
Why you should listen
We’ll let the creators and production team tell you why.
Adrianne Cleven, producer and creator: “If you’ve never tried a podcast before, I encourage you to check out Spotify or Apple Podcasts and start listening the next time you’re driving or walking from point A to point B. And, even though I’m usually an unbiased journalist, I think you should start your podcast-listening adventure with The Chatcast. You may learn something that will one day help a friend, colleague, family member, or even yourself.”
Zachary Horner, producer and creator: “We really hope ‘The Age of Anxiety’ is not only an informative podcast but an engaging one. We hope Chatham residents try it out because we’ve put a lot of time into it and it’s incredibly relevant in today’s world. Also, we as the News + Record are trying new ways to reach you with the news, and ‘The Chatcast’ is a wholly unique opportunity for Chatham residents to consume news. And it’s free, so what do you have to lose?”
Bill Horner III, executive producer: “This podcast is a natural offshoot of the work we’ve done with our ‘One Chatham’ events to spotlight community-wide issues and create public dialogue. Our coverage of teen mental health issues certainly made it clear that more attention was needed on this subject. Zach and Adrianne have worked extremely hard to put this project together, and we think it will go a long way toward creating awareness and bringing about ideas for solutions to the problems of teen mental illness.”