The We Reads Podcast: A Conversation with Imani Spence, Producer
Jennifer Arévalo Ferretti sat down to talk with Imani Spence, Producer of the We Reads podcast, about what we can expect to hear once the podcast drops later this year. The podcast is hosted by Jennifer Brown, nicholae cline, and Sofia Leung.
Patreon and Seed Circle members get exclusive content monthly and they got this conversation in its original format, which is a weTV episode (video recording where we discuss things that resonate with us and behind-the-scenes news). To get behind-the-scenes and early notification of we here work, join us by supporting our work.
This version has been edited for clarity.
weTV 12: The We Reads Podcast with Imani Spence
JAF: Hi everyone, Welcome to another episode of weTV. If you are new to weTV, they are short, mostly unscripted videos where we talk about things that are resonating with us or behind the scenes at We Here HQ. My name is Jennifer Arévalo Ferretti. I'm the founder, principal, creative director of we here and for this episode I'm joined by Imani Spence. Welcome, Imani.
IS: Thank you. Thank you. I'm excited to talk about the podcast.
JAF: Imani is the We Reads podcast producer. Can you just very briefly tell us: what does a podcast producer do?
IS: So it really does depend on how the team works. [It’s been] great working with such a great team, the We Reads folks. So for this particular project I have been supporting the editing of the episodes, but also helping draft the conversations with the hosts. So they already had a really great roadmap, but I have been creating documents, so that we're all on the same page, and making sure that whenever the podcast comes to our listeners it's smooth and it makes sense, and it's enjoyable to listen to. So, a little bit of editing and a little bit of logistic planning has been what I've done for this project. It's been really cool.
JAF: So through this process, how many episodes have been recorded so far?
IS: So far we've only recorded two [episodes]. With our third episode, we'll be recording weekly. So we've started about two weeks ago. I'll get them a draft. So we're hoping to have about four or five episodes. It seems like, so we're still in the very beginning of our process. But it's been really smooth, and I'm like so lucky to work with these folks.
“So I know for me personally, if I have an idea and it doesn't come together quickly, I tend to forget about it, or I just let it fall. But it's been really amazing to see the value of keeping up with your ideas and growing them and just being patient until all the things align.”
Imani Spence
JAF: Through the 2 recordings, and the planning, what has been your biggest Aha moment, or while production is going on this creative journey?
IS: I think the main thing is the perseverance of this idea, and the storing of this idea. So when I joined the project. nicholae [cline], Jen Brown, and Sofia [Leung], had all basically put together this [podcast] document years ago. [It] was just an idea that they had. So I know for me personally, if I have an idea and it doesn't come together quickly, I tend to forget about it, or I just let it fall. But it's been really amazing to see the value of keeping up with your ideas and growing them and just being patient until all the things align. So now we're able to produce this podcast, in a way that is maybe better than what they could have done when they originally started the idea. So that's been really an Aha moment for me, because it's just I didn't have — not in a negative way — but you know, when you start something you don't have, the perfect hopes for it at the beginning, because you're still learning. But I felt like, even with these first two episodes, it's already been really smooth. There's already such a great rapport with the hosts, and I'm really excited to see how the conversations grow and flow from there.
JAF: That is such a great point, Imani... you know, just because something doesn't happen maybe when you want it to happen, or as quickly as you want it to happen doesn't mean that you can't go back to it. Because you're right, I've been hearing about this podcast for a minute now. And it's amazing to just even see it from afar, just to see the planning process. Everything that you've been providing to them.
Are there any topics you're really excited about getting into, or like ones that you've already gotten into with the team?
IS: We had a good episode about genre that we recorded actually this past week. All three of our hosts have different genres that they really like. There's some commonalities. There was a small conversation defining the romance genre that I thought was really funny. And I'm really hoping that we'll have more conversations where we just kind of notice the ways that we're different, but also the ways that we're the same. So it's been fun to have the hosts learn more about each other because they've known each other for years as well, and they're learning more about each other's backgrounds and what they do in their day to day life. So I'm really excited to see the genre piece will probably continue to come up. We're also hoping to have a recurring episode [about] the books of our lives which talks a little bit about books that were significant to the hosts. And I say us, but I'm not going to be a voice on the podcast but I just you know, it's nice to have these conversations. And we have talked about books that were significant for us as young people, but also books that stick with us as adults. And just noticing that when people ask what your favorite book is that's so hard to answer, because it's not about favorite is about significance. So I'm excited for that hopefully recurring episode.
JAF: Is there any other aspect, and those might be - it might be the same ones - any other aspects of the show that you're most excited to bring to life?
IS: I think I'm most excited to bring to light... is the rapport amongst our hosts, and how I think that there's an assumption, especially with librarians, that there's some rigidity with reading, or there's good reading, and there's bad reading. And I'm really hoping that we pry open the box on that a little bit and also getting to talk shop about things that we know about marketing with books. That's what came up a lot in our genre episode. And then also what we know about what it takes to make a book successful, what it takes for it to even get in our hands. So I'm really excited to give some some listeners a peek behind that curtain a little bit.
JAF: That goes into my next question around what you hope the community would gain from listening to the podcast or even just the general public. But I think one thing that I think is super important that you said is just to give a peek behind even how maybe librarians think of reading.
IS: I personally don't do collection development in my library role. But I know that the collection development piece of this will be so amazing because there's so many short pieces like short fiction, or even not quite books, right? Music, or things like that, that I think will be helpful to collect in the library, and because our hosts have such disparate ideas about genre and their favorites, I think it would be really widespread for folks who do collection development, especially when it comes to speculative fiction or science fiction, which I feel like [are] genres that if you don't know, you don't know. So I think that's what I'm hoping for our internal community to get from it. As far as the general public, I think you're right, the way I talk about reading or how it feels to finish a book, or like the priority reading plays in your life, is something that is really cool to have librarians who do different types of work talk about. On one of our first getting to know you kind of questions we asked [was] “Why do we read? What does reading do for you?” Hopefully our listeners will see themselves reflected in some of these answers, so they can feel more empowered that there's no wrong way to do it. It's just about doing it.
JAF: Can you give us a peek of around timeline, when we can expect the podcast?
IS: We're hoping that we'll have first episodes towards the end of 2025, I'm thinking November-ish, fingers crossed. They will likely come out monthly, and as we're recording, we'll also [see] if there's any special features that we'll be able to share to some of our private spaces as well. So we're still thinking about that. But I'm excited to say that by the time you all start to hear about it we'll have recorded some, so you won't be like left hanging, which is what I'm excited about. It'll be consistent.
JAF: Is there anything else you wanted to add?
IS: I'm really grateful that I was chosen to do this work. And I'm excited to use these skills in a new way that I have.