ME Time: Interviewing the hosts behind the new podcast

​By Amy Knowles

‘ME Time’ is a podcast set up by two Edinburgh students: Maya Sargent and Emma Gill. The podcast has just finished its first successful season and is in the midst of recording its second in which The Perspective Collective is featured. The first season addresses issues many young adults face such as anxiety and “Hangxiety”, stress, relationships, university and many other topics. The women started the podcast on their own and with no previous knowledge of podcasting or the technical side to the job, but have managed to finesse their brand. I was grateful to sit down with Maya and Emma and ask them some questions with regards to ME time.
 
Firstly, I asked the hosts to describe to me what ME Time was. Emma described the podcast beautifully as their "passion project, born out of a love for talking about anything and everything". She describes the podcast as having a lifestyle and culture focus that she hopes will not only create a community but encourage everyone ‘to take some “me time”. Maya added that the podcast not only discusses topics they feel strongly about but also gives their audiences recommendations, whether that be books, recipes or podcast episodes. Maya noted that informally "it’s also just a weekly conversation from two girls trying to navigate the ever-changing environment of the 21st century’" which summarises the light-hearted and welcoming nature of the podcast.
 
With the rise of podcasts and with so many people wanting to start their own, I asked Maya and Emma what inspired them to create their podcast and to explain the process they went through. Emma described simply how the hosts were baking brownies over Facetime and ‘Maya literally just said “we should start a podcast”’. Within a week, the women had a trailer, logo and Instagram account and thus the podcast was born. Emma spoke about how both Maya and herself were living at home during the pandemic so due to a need for something to do and their friendship primarily being online, the podcast allowed a chance for their boredom to be curved whilst nurturing a budding friendship. Maya reiterated her throw-away comment on Facetime about starting a podcast and the speedy process of laying the foundations. She mentioned how not only was it a learning curve but a motivator in lockdown when Maya, alongside many others, felt isolated from normal university life.
 
As the hosts started the podcast with no prior knowledge of the technical side to it, I asked if they had any major difficulties and what they learnt along the way. Emma told me how microphones were a worthy investment and the difficulties of technology improved with practice. Maya agreed that the main difficulties were technical and how everything they've learnt, they learnt on the job. Maya explained how they use Garage Band as the initial software to do their rough cuts and then they use Anchor to upload the episode. Maya and Emma take on differing jobs within the editing and uploading processes and the balance of jobs is primarily, according to the hosts, what makes them such a successful team.
 
My personal favourite episode in season one of ME Time, was the food and menu episode in which the hosts discuss their ultimate three course meals. When I asked Maya and Emma what their favourite episode of season one was, they both told me it was Episode 4, the relationship and singledom episode. Maya told me how for the first time, she "spoke without pre-meditated thought", transforming the discussion into "a cathartic conversation". Both hosts mentioned how it was the type of episode they wished they could listen to as a young teen, and after speaking to some listeners, realised the effect they had had on them, whether that be through their relatability or by making people feel less alone.
 
With Maya and Emma currently recording the second season, I asked what we can look forward to as listeners. Season 2, according to Maya, will "be full of collaborations and guest appearances with so many interesting people, organisations and voices", of which The Perspective Collective is one. Alongside this more collaborative season, the hosts have set up a book club, with a new book handpicked each month; Maya and Emma started this with the hopes of encouraging the listeners to read for pleasure and education, as well as cementing the community that ME time has created.
 
In order to stay up to date with ME time, you can listen to their podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, with every review and subscription helping the brand grow. Further, you can follow their Instagram at @metime_podcast to keep informed on their book club and release of episodes.