Jennifer Duck, instructor of Journalism/Cinema, Media and Television in Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business, and Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel, assistant professor in Interdisciplinary Studies & Global Education, participated in an episode of the “Words Matter” podcast earlier this month.
Hosted by Journalist Katie Barlow, “Words Matter” brings together fellow journalists, elected officials, policy-makers and thought-leaders to analyze the week’s news. In an episode titled “October Surprises – What’s Next?” Duck and Pethel joined Barlow to talk about the debates, President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis and the history of women as candidates, among other topics.
“News of President Trump’s hospitalization broke as right we were recording, so we scrambled and came up with some additional talking points,” said Pethel, who co-teaches an Honors Interdisciplinary Seminar Democracy and the Media with Duck.
Prior to her work with Belmont, Duck was a producer for CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and Katie Couric’s syndicated show in New York. Additionally, she worked for Oprah Winfrey Network in Los Angeles. Duck began her career at ABC News in Washington, D.C. and traveled around the world aboard Air Force One as White House producer covering President George W. Bush and reported from the campaign trail as President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain canvassed the country in 2008. Duck has been a consultant for Words Matter on-and-off since its launch in August of 2018.
In addition to her work at Belmont, Pethel is an author, historian, digital humanist and academic entrepreneur. Her latest book is “Athens of the New South,” and she is currently working on a manuscript celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title Nine. She teaches courses such as “Making the Modern City,” which inspired the historical walking tour app, NashvilleSites.org. She also teaches a course called “The Good Life.”
The episode can be heard here.
