The Drip: A podcast birthed out of COVID-19 for the Millennial Mind

BY CHRISTINA GWIRA

It seems that every news outlet is covering the effects of COVID-19 and with good reason. For the millennial – those born between 1981 and 1996– this is more than likely the first time that we are living in an extended state of emergency. This is a season of change, forced innovation and questioning. But out of a time such as this, I am sure greatness can be birthed. One such act of greatness to be birthed is that of the podcast called The Drip. Patience Adamu, a fourth year Ph.D. student at Ryerson University, as well as a diversity and inclusion specialist reached out to Kurtis after interacting with his content on the social media platform Instagram. Kurtis Vermont, a passionate entrepreneur with over 7 years of business acumen under his belt, decided to further extend his post-secondary education and pursue urban studies. On his decision to put business on hold, he says, “[my] focus [turned to] community and improving life for members of our community […] people of color at large.”

Since the federal election of 2019, Vermont had been sharing news and information surrounding the candidates, platforms and policies building up to October 2019 over on Instagram. The news and information that he was sharing at that time was met by lots of positive feedback and positive responses. When COVID-19 came along, he decided to do the same thing, “in [about] 2 weeks, my people received 102,000 views on Instagram”. One of those views was that of Adamu, who reached out to him to find out if he would be interested in partnering with her to product a podcast that would, “find some space to talk about how COVID-19 is impacting people of color in the Greater Toronto Area”.

Adamu states that the demographic and perspective that the Drip captures is often a, “perspective that wasn’t achieved by mainstream media. […] The‌ ‌Drip‌ ‌caters‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌multicultural,‌ ‌‌millennial‌ ‌audience‌ ‌and‌ ‌informs‌ ‌you‌ ‌of‌ ‌important‌ ‌developments‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌fight‌ ‌against‌ ‌the‌ ‌virus,‌ ‌while‌ ‌assessing‌ ‌decisions‌ ‌being‌ ‌made‌ ‌by‌ ‌our‌ ‌political‌ ‌leaders.” When you listen to the first two episodes, you are able to feel the synergy between Adamu and Vermont. You can expect to receive the, “deep dive from Patience, and the day to day understanding from [Kurtis].” One thing that is key and fundamental to The Drip is ensuring that through their platform, they are, “pointing people in the right direction of the right news, news that is fact checked.”

When I listened to the first episode, not 5 minutes in, I was challenged with Vermont’s point of view on the good side that COVID-19 is bringing to our attention and I’ve even seen if for myself. Vermont makes mention of how there are less people driving, which is having a positive effect on the environment. In my house, I noticed that my dad – who never goes for a walk – has been itching to take a stroll outside to get some, “fresh air”. This is a great thing! Adamu states, “75% [of people] will never catch COVID-19, but we will all feel the impact environmentally and economically. [But] the unintended consequences are also very powerful”.

The truth is, things are happening so fast with COVID-19, not just in Canada, but the world at large. On top of everything that’s happening, The Drip seeks to help people – especially within our community – “thoughtfully digest the information”. The second episode came out on April 13^th, 2020 and you can catch new episodes of the podcast each week. The Drip is on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

This article is the first in a series chronicling local, community-based podcasters. In light of Coronavirus keeping more and more people working from home, this series intends to provide you with profiles of local podcasters who are producing excellent content, which you can tune into during your Pomodoro work sprints.