‘Silent’ podcast in the spotlight
A recording of a silent Quaker Meeting for Worship made by The Young Quaker Podcast has received widespread attention in the national press
A recording of a silent Quaker Meeting for Worship made by The Young Quaker Podcast has received widespread attention in the national press.
The thirty-minute recording from Nottingham Meeting House was the subject of an article in the Guardian and featured on the BBC. It was also mentioned in the BBC television programme Have I Got News For You.
Jessica Hubbard-Bailey, the host and producer of The Young Quaker Podcast, also wrote an article in the i, sister newspaper to The Independent website, about why Quakerism has helped her in a challenging world.
The article, which appeared on 16 April, said: ‘As a young adult, I’ve found a particular relief within this community that values stillness and calm. My generation of “entitled avocado addicts” are the children of unprecedented economic instability and austerity… But Quakerism has taught me the power and value of sitting in silence and made a tangible difference to the way I move through the world.’
She added that Quakerism ‘has sparked a flicker of hopefulness that I can make a difference, in whatever small and mundane ways’.
Jessica Hubbard-Bailey told the Friend: ‘I honestly didn’t anticipate this level of interest at all. It’s been so exciting. I was keen to make this kind of silence accessible but no way did I think it would get such attention or give me such great opportunities to talk about Quakerism.’
According to Jessica Hubbard-Bailey, the attention has had a ‘massive impact’ on the number of people downloading the Quaker podcasts. ‘Before, we were averaging around 200 downloads per podcast, but within twenty-four hours of the Guardian article [being published], this went up to 900 for the silent podcast, which has now surpassed 2,300 downloads. Overall, we have gone from 1,000 total downloads for all the podcasts to 5,000. It’s been really exciting for the young Quaker community to see this happening too. We’re quite a rare breed, so to see ourselves represented in the media and having a voice is amazing.’
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