Intern, Chompers
The Company
Gimlet media tells stories through audio. Our roster of podcasts includes the newly-launched Horror of Dolores Roach and The Cut, critically-acclaimed shows like Homecoming and Heavyweight, and perennial favorites Reply All and Science Vs.
We are looking for precise, curious, talented, and kind people to join our team and help us make the most fun show in podcasting.
We come from diverse backgrounds, brought together by the desire to make something wonderful, and have fun doing it. We believe in working hard, embracing creativity, and supporting one another. At Gimlet, good ideas matter more than titles. People who tackle problems with creative solutions, and who love the energy of a collaborative, team-oriented creative process, thrive here.
The Show
Kids are weird. Chompers celebrates kids’ natural weirdness. We help our listeners understand our big, strange world without talking down to them. And we make life a little easier for parents.
Chompers is a twice-daily tooth brushing podcast, that helps kids keep brushing for the full two minutes that dentists recommend. Every week on Chompers has a theme (animals, food, music), and every day has a stunt (jokes, riddles, songs). You can listen here.
The Chompers team believes in teaching fishing, that everyone deserves an editor, that every problem has a solution, in using process to break big problems up into small tasks, and that even a kids’ show should have big ideas. Chompers believes in inclusivity for all families, and that representation matters.
The Internship
We’re looking for someone who wants to learn about making a high-volume podcast, about running a tight ship, and who likes to be a little silly.
If you think someday you’d like to be a senior producer — the kind of person who keeps a show on track, knows the answer to every question, and finds a way to say yes to every fun and crazy idea — this is a good place to start your training. If you want to be reporting stories and getting them on air right now, this probably isn’t the opportunity for you.
We’re looking for someone who’s ready to observe our process and learn how to use it, to support making the show, and build skills in writing, production, and working on a team. You should like collaborating, but also be able to work independently with direction. If you have experience with podcasting, digital audio editing, or radio journalism, that’s great too!
What You’ll Do
- Get assets: sit in on tracking and learn to direct, cut tape, learn to run the board, research episode ideas, sit in on interviews and writing sessions, prep for interviews, chase guests, find scoring and sound effects, draft scripts, train on promo writing
- Manage assets: keep materials organized, log tape, build and clean-up assemblies, own writing and production on one or a handful of episodes, handle social media and newsletter if needed
- Give feedback: give mix notes, QC episodes, train on fact checking, participate in group edits, identify opportunities to improve the show process, and add value beyond assigned tasks
What You Have
- Some familiarity with audio or video editing
- Strong attention to detail
- Collaborative approach to work
- Willingness to ask questions
- Ability to hit or beat external deadlines, and set internal deadlines
- Eagerness to help, and to receive and absorb feedback
- Clear and effective communication
What You’ll Walk Away With
- ProTools proficiency
- The ability to hear what’s not working in audio and tools to try to fix it
- Group edit etiquette and best practices
- Basic understanding of what makes a good story and how to outline a structure
- The ability to break down edit feedback into actionable steps
- Relationships with Gimlet folks outside of Chompers
This is a paid, full-time internship based in our Brooklyn, NY offices and will run January to July (with moderate flexibility). To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter as well as answers to the questions below.
This posting will close at 5pm ET on Thursday, December 6.
Additional Questions (Please keep your answers to one paragraph each):
- Tell us about your favorite moment from a podcast you recently listened to.
- Tell us about a holiday that doesn’t get enough recognition — you know, your Arbor Days, your Sadie Hawkins Days — and what’s interesting about it. Imagine you’re explaining it to a six-year-old.
- What’s something you watched, read, or heard recently that could have/should have been amazing, that came so close, but … there was something about it that just didn’t work. What would you change about it to make it better?
- Tell us about something you remember being confused about as a kid, or something that you misunderstood, or something silly that you used to do.
- Optional: Please send us a link to a thing you made that you’re proud of. It can be audio, print, visual, whatever medium you work in.
See more and apply here.
