The Podcast Host
A podcast setting out to define what love feels like. Made by and for college students.
ThatΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s the opening pitch for DefLove, the new podcast by Abi Shorter ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½24, an acting, film TV, voice-overs, and commercials (FTVC) major. As the host and founder, sheΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s got her hands fullΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½but thatΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s exactly how she likes it. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½IΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ve been itching to make something for months. I constantly have to be creating or IΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ll burst,ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ she told us.
Initially, she had quite a few projects planned, but COVID-19 forced everything to a screeching halt. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½IΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½m tired of grieving,ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Shorter said of the temporarily shelved works. She needed a new creative venture, and it was a talk with a friend that sparked her idea for the podcast. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½Neither of us really knew what love was,ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Shorter explained. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½I had my idea of itΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½I was in love at the time actuallyΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½but itΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s not the sort of thing you can receive confirmation on. ItΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s somehow different from that crush feeling, but how do you know when youΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ve reached it? Can you?ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½
From there, she planned to start the podcast off with two stories from her own personal experiences with love. The script turned into a ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½forty-page monsterΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ in only a few nights. Talk about motivation! ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½I took inspiration from the podcast Alice IsnΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½t Dead with the narrator structure, mushed a few separate events together, and approached my roommates with the text,ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Shorter told us. (TheyΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½re acting majors. Very helpful.) They recorded everything on their phones as voice memos, and after editing it all in one five-hour sittingΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½geez!ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½the podcast was ready to be launched. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½It truly is a passion project,ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ she said.
ItΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s that level of passion and dedication to the craft that truly elevates ShorterΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s work. But then, sheΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s always been fueled by her creativity. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½I love telling stories in ways that hit someone in the face,ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Shorter told us. While she had plenty of experience in the theater, having put up a play she wrote herself, ultimately, she chose to pursue film instead. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ThereΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s a humanity to acting for film because itΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s mimicking reality. IΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½m fascinated in the real because thatΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s where stories happen.ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½
ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½I love telling stories in ways that hit someone in the face,ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ says Shorter.
She took her time choosing a college once she knew what sheΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½d be majoring in. It was a decision that happened fairly quickly thanks to her experience during the process. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½Other schools just emailed me to check my portal,ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Shorter told us. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½By the time their program head actually reached out to me, IΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½d had a Zoom call with [Pace] FTVC students and realized it was where I wanted to be.ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ She emphasized how ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½chillΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ everyone seemed even in those initial virtual meetups, which was another big selling point for her. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½I came from a program where the air in the room would change every time the program head walked in, so itΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s nice to feel like our instructors are actual people and not god-like entities in stiff button-downs.ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½
So, whatΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s next for the DefLove podcast? ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½I donΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½t really have an end goal in mind,ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ she said. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½I just give my all to little projects like this because itΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½s where I find my life. If the podcast makes even one person happy and believe in their ability to love just a bit more, then it will have achieved its purpose.ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ WeΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½re excited to see where it goes from here! If youΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½re interested in getting involved in DefLove, whether to share your own story or lend your voice acting talents, please email Shorter or .