Three students and the campus chaplain lean back in well-stuffed armchairs around a coffee table with magazines and cups of water. If it weren’t for the black headsets and the mics pointed at their chins, you’d think it was a casual afternoon in the Campus Center. But Dustin Comm, Jaymes Cheney, Juliana Dalotto and Pastor Roy Ice are in a Pacific Union College studio, recording the next program of the brand-new PUC Radio podcast.

A technological trend that has only recently become widely available (there was no such thing as a “podcast” two years ago), podcasting allows listeners to subscribe to audio/visual programming that automatically downloads to their computers. From CNN podcasts to programs about Scottish folk music—and now even PUC campus happenings—the podcasting world has expanded to include pretty much every area of life.

PUC’s involvement in this latest wave of technology began when students were looking for ways to continue the student body’s active involvement in college affairs. “There was a lot of good dialogue that we started last year, and we wanted to keep it going,” says senior theology and television and film major Comm. So during the summer, Comm began work on establishing a PUC podcast.

Comm created a network of connections with staff members such as Ice, webmaster Nic Hubbard, and Media Services. With the first week of school came the first installment of PUC Radio, hosted by Comm, Ice, senior business major Cheney, and Student Association president Dalotto. Since then, each Sunday has seen a new program posted at www.pucradio.com, where listeners can download programs or subscribe for automatic downloads.

Each episode is devoted to PUC news and headlines from a distinctively unique angle, with topics and guests that are important to PUC. Guests have included such figures as college president Richard Osborn, and discussion topics range from senate bills to dorm rivalry.

A listener count in the thousands and abundant student feedback indicate that the program is fulfilling its purpose of facilitating dialogue and connection. The PUC Radio team is pleased with the program’s popularity, but they want to make sure that it keeps going after they graduate. “We’re really proud of what we’ve done,” Comm explains, “but we don’t want it to be something that just lasts this year and then dies out.” The team is working to build a production crew that includes a wide variety of students, and especially younger students who will be here for several years.

To check out PUC Radio, go to pucradio.com and select “Listen” for program archives or “Info” for subscription instructions.