Peninsula Junior Produces Unfiltered Podcasts about Teenage Struggles
Since Feb. 15, junior Matthew Wong has been recording and uploading content for his podcast, “The SupaAsian’s.” In each episode, Wong speaks for around five minutes about issues such as stress, bullying, homework and his future aspirations while bringing his own experiences into each discussion.
“The SupaAsian’s” is sponsored by Anchor, a podcast-recording app associated with Spotify. Wong was approached by Anchor with a sponsorship offer after he released his first podcast, which he immediately accepted. The terms require Wong to read a short advertisement for Anchor at the beginning of each episode, and in return, he receives a profit.
Since his first recording, he has been producing a new episode every Thursday at 3 p.m. on his platforms. His podcasts are currently available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
“It was really cool to see that my podcast was being recognized,” Wong said. “Even though I do not use the app, I think [Anchor advertises] a great way for someone who is inexperienced with podcasting to get started.”
Wong initially began his podcast purely for fun after his cousin encouraged him to do so. Now he uses it as a way to give his opinions and advice to listeners while enjoying speaking freely about the topics in his podcast.
“I quickly learned that these podcasts would help me speak about topics [I am interested in from my own perspective],” Wong said. “ It also helped me get to know more people and widen my circle of friends, especially at school.”
Many of Wong’s friends also started to listen to his podcast after hearing him talk about it throughout the past few months. Junior Michelle Tombu is one example of Wong’s larger social circle after starting the podcasts, because Tombu takes Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles with Wong, and they often hold conversations about the success of “The SupaAsian’s” during class time. She hears him express his opinions during class about the workload and structure of classes like AP Computer Science Principles and believes that the honesty Wong exhibits in person reflects how he speaks in each episode.
“I like it when he talks about school and the struggles of being a teenager because I find it very relatable,” Tombu said. “I think [these topics in particular] really contributed to his success.”
Many of his recent episodes focus on the topic of stress. Specifically, Wong voices his anger toward the American high school system for setting students up with an excess amount of homework and stress. He gives advice about how to cope with social stress caused by bullying and work from school in his episodes, based on his own experiences from middle school. Wong’s podcasts attract listeners from a young demographic, including those from Peninsula. Topics like societal expectations for high schoolers and pressure are relatable for his listeners, like junior Allison Spiegel.
“His topics discuss typical high school struggles that we all deal with, and I think Wong covers them well,” Spiegel said. “[I am able to] relate to [Wong’s] podcasts, especially when he is talking about issues within our public education system. [His podcast] makes me feel like I am not alone.”
Through recording and uploading his episodes, Wong found that he likes to speak his mind. Thus, he is grateful that he has a platform where he can state his beliefs and connect with others over universal high school issues.
“My favorite thing about my podcast is that I can [comfortably voice] my personal opinion,” Wong said. “In my family or at school, people [do not] speak honestly about what they want to say, so I think this gives me a creative outlet [to be completely] honest [and unfiltered] for five minutes while inspiring people to do the same.”
