Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Maya Benjamin and Olamide Olayinka called each other multiple times a week during the beginning of the pandemic. Olayinka remembers “make it make sense” was a phrase she found herself repeating.

“We talked on the phone a lot during quarantine about everything going on in the world surrounding COVID and things in our personal lives, and Olamide would always say, ‘Make it make sense,’” Benjamin said. “One day, we joked about how we should do a podcast.”

The Syracuse University sophomores turned this joke into their podcast “America, Make It Make Sense!” where they search for logic in current events. The podcast recently became available on streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The duo’s chemistry stems from rooming together freshman year, and the pair released the first episode of their podcast — “Is College Worth It?” — in January. Their conversation topics range from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to interracial relationships and the British royal family. The two choose their discussion topics based on what people are talking about at the time.

“I really stress the importance of what people are talking about,” Olayinka said. “And what people are discussing within themselves, because it’s how we attract more people to the platform.”

If there’s one thing they hope people can take away from tuning in, it’s the power of conversation. Olayinka said that discussion, especially when uncomfortable, is how change happens. She hopes listening to the podcast can inspire this.

So far, the duo has received feedback from people who don’t necessarily agree with the hosts, Benjamin said. After the podcast’s third episode “Is Love Really Colorblind?” dropped, the hosts received some comments taking the opposite stance.

Sophomore Meredith Cooper was a featured guest on the third episode, where she shared her perspective on the stigma associated with being a white woman in an interracial relationship, which she has personally experienced. Cooper said that “America, Make It Make Sense!” sticks out from other student-run podcasts because of the hosts’ willingness to not shy away from controversial topics, but rather encourage them.

Cooper believes change needs to happen in this world and raw discussion is one of the first steps to making it happen.

“The message they want to get across is that we as people of this Earth need to talk about certain things and figure them out to make where we live a better place,” Cooper said.

Part of how Benjamin and Olayinka want to continue these conversations is by featuring guests that have opposing views, something they wish to incorporate in their future episodes.

This endeavor has also led the pair to developing skills they did not previously have. Despite the assistance of a friend who helped design their graphics, Benjamin and Olayinka wear many hats within the podcast like creating designs by using the graphic design platform Canva.

Benjamin, a policy studies major, finds these differences as opportunities to strengthen opinions and learn something she might not have known before. Olayinka, who is also pursuing policy studies in addition to her public relations major, sees the opportunity as helpful to put her knowledge from class to practice in podcasting since she hopes to continue podcasting as a career.

“I don’t ever want to limit myself,” Olayinka said. “Sometimes we all show a purpose. And I think that this podcast really helps to fulfill it, because it’s another step into what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Published on March 24, 2021 at 11:11 pm