Great news! I have an official podcast interview date set with Dr. Mormino. In this blog, I will talk about how that came to be, plus my experience reading one of his first (if not the first) book of his illustrious career. Also, I will quickly mention some of the other subplots that happened during this week.
On Sunday (6/26), as I said I would from last week's blog, I emailed Dr. Mormino to setup an official date for the podcast interview. I used Holly's sample email as a foundation, but changed it around to fit the context that I was dealing with. The context being that the first time I met him in person was at the Tampa Bay History Center on June 15th, and this email was essentially a follow up and confirmation from that encounter. I boldly (or at least it felt bold because it was not part of Holly's template email), included some dates that I had as preference for the interview, but emphasized at the end of the email that it was ultimately his choice of which date we would settle on. I also emphasized to him that I do not mind traveling back to Tampa to do the podcast interview in person. I listen to a lot of podcasts during my free time, and I find that the best podcast episodes are ones that are done in person. Not only is that the reason why I want to do this interview in person, but also since this is going to be my first podcast ever, I would like it to be an in person experience. Thankfully, I do have some equipment to record the podcast for an in person setting, as Dr. Cassanello gifted me an old microphone of his last semester (shoutout to him, I told him then and will say it again right now, that I appreciate that immensely) that connects to a audio editing software program on my computer. He responded back to the email the following day, Monday (6/27), kindly stating that he can do whichever date I mentioned, but preferably July 9 (I said any date in the range of July 8-11. My thought process behind this date range was to leave some time for the editing and airing of the podcast before the summer semester ends). He also mentioned that he is free in the afternoons, but did not mention a specific time to do the interview. At the moment, there is still no official time for the podcast interview, however, July 9th is the date! I will be emailing him back either tomorrow or early Sunday, as to confirm a time for July 9 and a location to do the interview. I am beyond excited, and ever since his response on Monday afternoon, I have been envisioning in my head what the experience is going to be like.
That same Monday, I started my note-taking journey that I admitted last week I was struggling with. The strategy I implemented that I believe is the most effective and efficient is where as I read the material, I type down any facts or statements I believe is important to know for my topic of the history of immigration in Florida, as well as anything I would like to have with me when I do the interview. I know what you're thinking. Typed notes are not as effective as written notes. This is true however, for what I am doing, I don't need to fully memorize the material I am writing down. Typed notes will ensure that I get everything I want to down on a piece of paper (as seen in the image, I print the notes when I am finished) without taking up too much time. At the end of the day, I want the podcast interview to be as conversational and natural as possible. The best produced podcasts, regardless of the subject, accomplish this tone. So writing down everything and anything related (which I tend to do for a class), would not be helpful in establishing that conversational tone that I am going for. I will only refer to my notes if I absolutely have to or if I want to say something verbatim, without butchering it. Moreover, the days before the podcast I will be going through the notes to refresh my memory and understanding since it will be material that encompasses 4 books. Thus, the notes I took down for the first book I read, Tampa: The Treasure City (1983), include absolutely important information to know for my topic, in addition to things I possibly might reference in the interview (and I made that distinction within my notes). Just a quick side note: anything that is italicized that isn't the name of a book or within a point Dr. Mormino made himself, are my synthesized notes. This is when I finished reading what I read, and not only put it into my own words, but also connect to other material I know (or will know as I continue to read his other books) and things I possibly might want to do when I do interview him.
Now that I talked about the note-taking strategy I implemented, and will continue to do as I read the other three books, I want to briefly talk about my overall experience reading Tampa: The Treasure City (1983). What an awesome book. Truly, I had such a joy reading it and getting to know more about the history of Tampa, that I honestly did not know much of prior to reading. Dr. Mormino's style of writing elevates the reading of this book to such a thought-provoking and entertaining level, that I did not even realize how many hours I have spent reading. Since the book encompasses the history of Tampa from the beginning (I'm talking even from before humans were a major role in the story), I skimmed through the chapters that did not have much information pertinent to my topic (still read through it with the same passion because I am a history nerd at the end of the day). The book had a total of 11 chapters, and chapters 7-11 were the ones where I spent most of my time in reading and taking notes, since it had the most relevant information pertaining to my topic. Specifically, Chapter 7 which is titled "A City Called Ybor", which I am guessing will be a precursor to the next book of his that is on the list which is The Immigrant World of Ybor City (1987) (we'll find out next week). As I continued to read, I honestly got more excited to do the interview with him because I vividly pictured what questions I think will be great ones to know his answer or perspective of. However, on the other side of that coin, as I continued to read I notice how specific I can get with my topic of "the history of immigration in Florida", and I carefully wrote down in my notes what "subtopics" within this overview I am doing would I want to talk to Dr. Mormino about the most. As Holly mentioned to me when I visited her at the FHS (see Week 4 blog), you do not want to take up a lot of time with them in the interview, an hour at most, she said. Not only out of courtesy for the interviewee, but also since these podcast segments are not long to begin with, it will just make the editing/postproduction side of it much harder. I kept this in mind throughout my reading and clearly emphasized it in my notes. This is something I will continue to carry with me as I go through his other books because knowing me, I can easily pull out an hour of content from just this one book, so I have to discipline myself to not get out of hand like that (because spoiler alert: I can). As I finish the other 3 books, I will probably make a separate document of my most important things/topics/subjects that I really want to nail down during my podcast with him.
Some other subplots that happened this week: I emailed Holly this afternoon (7/1) about wanting to do another Zoom meeting with her at some point next week where I can ask her about some guidance and advice during the interview, since this will be my first one. She did this during my first Zoom meeting with her, and especially when I visited her at FHS, but I want a refresher since now I have an official date that is approaching. She has not answered yet, but that will be most likely what happens next week, as I continue to read and take notes of his books. The short term plan moving forward: read the remaining 3 books of Dr. Mormino and take the same style of notes, as I did with the first (I am really confident in the notes I took-----not too short, not too long, and more importantly the quality is there), and have a Zoom meeting with Holly next week. All of this to ultimately prepare me for the podcast interview on July 9th. I usually don't like using cliches, unless I mean it, but I truly cannot express with words how excited I am for July 9. As I mentioned last week, I have such high expectations for myself and for the interview, that its hard to contain myself from the excitement. The short term plan is what I'll be talking about next week, and the following week will probably be the biggest blog yet as that week will be when the interview takes place (even though technically it is almost a week away, hence the short-term plan urgency, but I see these blog weeks starting and ending on Fridays). Thank you again as always for reading, and stay tuned as we are reaching the climax!
SG
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