May 4, 2026
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Since 1957, the Friends of the New Orleans Public Library have been standing up for the Library’s mission through sponsorship, fundraising, and advocacy work.
Tulane University Podcasting Class Highlights Crescent City Sounds Artists
Joshua Smith
Joshua is an adult programming associate at the New Orleans Public Library and the facilitator of Crescent City Sounds.
Finding your new favorite artist or song is a daunting task these days. We suffer from an overabundance of options at our fingertips — the flip of a radio dial or a couple of taps of a finger opens a floodgate of new music. We set out to alleviate the struggle when we launched Crescent City Sounds by offering listeners a curated collection of totally local talent.
Now that we are a few years into the project, our collection has grown large enough that everyone could use a little help sifting through all of the amazing artists that we host on Crescent City Sounds. Fortunately, we were contacted by a listener with a plan.
Tulane University professor William Saas reached out to the Library about a class he was starting in conjunction with the Tulane Center for Public Service, which tasks students with a semester-long assignment designed to aid a local group in their mission. Saas is a senior professor of practice in Digital Media Practices (DMP) and the associate chair of Tulane University’s department of communication, where he teaches podcast production, among other courses.
He saw an opportunity for his students to produce a series of podcasts to promote Crescent City Sounds and its hosted artists. Using their classwork to lift up local artists was a motivating factor in enrolling in the class, according to students like James Fogarty, one of Saas’s students.
“The service-learning component really appealed to me,” Fogarty said. “Getting to celebrate local artists while producing my very first podcast felt like an exciting and rewarding opportunity.”
In addition to the value the project adds to the community, these podcasts also allow students an opportunity to connect with the city in a deeper way.
Arya Glenn, a student of the class and now a teacher’s assistant for the class has worked on both rounds of episodes.
“This project is an incredible opportunity to spread awareness about some incredible New Orleans artists, and to appreciate the individuals behind the art. It also provides Tulane students, many of whom are not from New Orleans, with a greater appreciation of and connection to the city,” Glenn said.
“The ‘Tulane bubble’ often prevents students from really engaging with community members, but the focus of Professor Saas’s classes allow students to build individual relationships with community members and culture bearers,” she continued.
The students work individually and in groups to produce two different podcasts. Individually, the students produce a short show titled “Your New Favorite Song,” in which they each pick out a song from the collection to explore. In groups, the students produce “Your New Favorite Artist,” a longer show exploring a particular artist that is hosted on Crescent City Sounds.
“Your New Favorite Song” is a short-form podcast that takes its inspiration from the popular music podcast “Song Exploder.” Taking that inspiration in a different direction, the students are the ones that interpret the track as opposed to the artist, explaining what drew them to the track and what it is about it that they resonate with.
Crescent City Sounds at Tulane University
Joshua Smith, William Saas, and Arya Glenn at Tulane University
Crescent City Sounds at Tulane University
Joshua Smith, William Saas, and Arya Glenn at Tulane University
Podcast Class at Tulane University
Library associate Joshua Smith sits with Arya Glenn inside a recording booth at Tulane University, where Glenn takes a podcasting class.
Arya Glenn and Professor William Saas
Student Arya Glenn and Professor William Saas produce podcasts about Crescent City Sounds artists at Tulane University.
“Your New Favorite Artist” takes a longer form for a deep-dive into an artist that is hosted on Crescent City Sounds. These episodes come in at around 30 minutes each, allowing the students time to really feature the artists. They all take a slightly different path than each other to tell the artist’s story and why that artist is their new favorite. Episodes range from standard interviews, recordings from live shows, and even a live sound bath that was recorded in a basement room on Tulane’s campus.
Fogarty discovered Midnight Menace on Crescent City Sounds and chose him for the team’s “Your New Favorite Artist” episode.
“My favorite part of working on this project was collaborating with my production team to spotlight an artist who truly deserved the recognition. When I discovered Midnight Menace on Crescent City Sounds, his music instantly brought me back to the first time I heard some of my all-time rap favorites, Joey Bada$$, Nas, and Earl Sweatshirt,” Fogarty said. “And the fact that he was self-producing nearly all of his tracks made him even more impressive. I knew I couldn’t pass up the chance to feature such a talent.”
You can find these podcasts as well as music from 151 local artists streaming for free at crescentcitysounds.org. All music hosted on Crescent City Sounds is curated by luminaries of the New Orleans music scene. Maybe you’ll find your new favorite.
May 1, 2026
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May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and to celebrate, we’re taking a look through our City Archives & Special Collections to honor the history and heritage of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the New Orleans area.
April 27, 2026
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View the winning entries of the 2026 Black History Month Art Contest.