Episode One: Happy Vox Day!
Hosted by Marius D. Carlos, Jr. and Jay-ar G. Paloma
Vox Populi PH released their first-ever podcast episode through VOX POPcast, the broadcast platform of the group. The premiere episode was hosted by Jay-ar G. Paloma, Associate Editor and Podcast Head, and Marius D. Carlos, Jr., Creative Director.
The 22-minute podcast tackles the publication’s self-effacing beginnings, starting from digital publications, segments, and a digital magazine. The long-term goal of expanding the voices of the young, independent creatives begins with creating a collective. Through the help of various writers’ vast experiences from different regions — with the common goal of elevating the writings and providing ample spaces for everyone, the collective was formed.
“Vox Populi PH is a youth organization and also a youth platform for writing. What we are doing here is we’re opening spaces for young writers and creators, so they don’t have to ‘wait in line’ basically with other platforms just to be heard,” Marius explained. He further added that the podcast group will be an essential part of the collective, initiating the group’s upcoming projects. “We plan to expand what we’re doing right now to interviews and talking basically to other creators in the field,” he continued.
Rise of the digital youth magazine
The podcast duo also tackled the production of a youth magazine in digital format. “On this monthly magazine (as Marius said), this not will be a one-time thing, so we’re planning to make a monthly collection of our digital magazine,” Jay-ar said. He further discussed the details about it. ALPAS, the digital magazine’s maiden issue, was created in response to the overflowing of the Cagayan River, affecting Isabela, Ifugao, Kalinga, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino. The maiden issue was also an appeal for better crisis management in the country, spearheaded by the youth sector. Partial sales from the maiden issue will be directed to Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership, the leading government charitable organization.
Breaking the collective norm
Part of the podcast’s discussion was to showcase how an independent youth publication could stand against the publication norm. Marius shared his personal insights on how several publications and institutions tend to monopolize the writing sphere. “In other publications, writers are expected to write a single genre,” he stated. He further added that ‘certain technicalities’ must be committed — which tends to produce monotonous writers. “The writers should get the respect that they need,” Marius responded against the rough treatment with writers, most especially with the younger generations.
With this, Jay-ar made it clear that collective groups should be created to break the norm. “The group must be diverse,” Jay-ar added as he opens the possibility of creating an independent publication composed of young writers. He shared the age diversity Vox Populi PH has on the podcast, with writers ranging from 15–35 years old.
“It is about time for writers to step out the usual campus journalist and Wattpad writing boxes,” Marius adhered on the podcast. He even opened the opportunity for the other group to create platforms and collectivize, implying that the country’s publications are too few to provide room for every writer and creative. “Walang monopolyo ng kapangyarihan (Vox Populi PH). We are even encouraging everyone to model our platform,” he stated.
Upcoming events
Lastly, the podcast ended by providing hints on the upcoming projects on the VOX POPcast episodes and the publication platform. “We will be having a series called “How-not-to Series,” wherein we will discuss reverse psychology of what not to do on some things. We’re also gonna do some reviews of literature, and some I would say event-specific topics,” Jay-ar introduced. He even stated the ongoing topics for the listeners to know what episodes they will be listening to. They plan to release episodes about EDSA, Women’s Month, works of literature, and other youth-related interest.
“And let’s not forget, people that are interested in youth writing; those who want to read, and those who want to write with us, please, please, reach out to us to our submission channel on Medium. We are waiting for your creative works,” Marius stated. He further explained the submission guidelines and the types of output accepted on Vox Populi PH.
“Episode One: Happy Vox Day!” is available on Spotify and Anchor.
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