Swipe Up or Shut Down? — A TikTok Ban Podcast.

About Our Topic

TikTok isn’t just an app. For many young people, it’s a mirror, a stage, a marketplace, and sometimes a lifeline. That’s why we chose “ What's Your Feeling about TikTok be banned?” as the central question of our podcast project. The issue was timely—headlining debates in the news and across social media—but also deeply personal for our generation. We knew that if we walked down Venice Beach, nearly everyone we stopped would have something to say, not as experts, but as everyday users, creators, or quiet scrollers.

We didn’t want to just ask yes-or-no questions. Instead, we designed our interview structure around experience and emotion. What’s your first reaction to the ban? What would you lose? What would change? Our aim wasn’t to confirm facts, but to record feelings. We asked about screen time, favorite TikTok content, where people get their news, and even whether national security felt like a real concern to them.

Street Interview

There’s a magic in capturing reality through sound, the ambient hiss of the salty air, passing laughter, and a voice mid‑thought, traversing the invisible border between observer and participant. That’s what our Venice Beach interviews felt like: living waves of human stories, made tangible only when you record them. In my role as both recording engineer and audio‑editor, I became the guardian of every whisper.

I set up the recorder and hand‑held mic, monitoring every input level, keeping peak levels between –12 and –6 dB. Then I added a backup layer via smartphone, using Dolby On to ensure redundancy. Each interview followed by 15 seconds of room tone: the seagulls, skateboard wheels, guitar music blending with ocean hums.

I thought I was just there to make sure everything was “technically clean”, no wind, no clipping, no distortion. But once we started, I realized I was also listening differently. When one girl said she spends 12 hours a day on TikTok, I didn’t just hear the number, but I heard a kind of dependency in her tone, and maybe a hint of defense. Another person talked about using TikTok to find restaurants while traveling, and the way his voice brightened reminded me that this app isn’t just for scrolling. It’s a tool, a companion, sometimes even a map.

The most surprising part was how quickly people opened up. On a noisy beach, under the sun, facing strangers with a microphone, they still offered honest reflections: funny, thoughtful, sometimes a little conflicted. It made me think that maybe the mic doesn’t just record. It invites. It gives people permission to slow down and say something real.