A new outlet for student voices will soon be available.

Senior English major Ryan deBiase and sophomore English major Elizabeth Tussey are starting a new radio program for Black Squirrel Radio. Called “The Postmodern Experience,” deBiase said he had the idea for the show after listening to “This American Life” on NPR.

“I just started listening to ‘This American Life’ four months ago and got hooked on it,” he said.

“This American Life,” he said, is a radio show in which writers share personal, non-fiction stories according to a theme. DeBiase, an ALL correspondent for the Daily Kent Stater said he wants “The Postmodern Experience” to be similar in this aspect but have students and those in the Kent area submit stories.

“It’s a scaled down version,” he said, meaning the limitations of a college radio show compared to a national show. “But we’re trying to do the same thing with articulate storytelling.”

Tussey, who already works for BSR as a DJ for the “Local Show,” said she will handle the technical aspects of the show as well as be a moderator with deBiase. They will also occasionally write for the show. The show will be an hour long during her “Local Show.” She said the tentative schedule is one show every two weeks on a Monday or Wednesday. Once the station managers finish the schedule, she said they will know for sure when the show will air.

DeBiase said they are looking for human interest stories to which their audience can relate.

“Anything with a human voice,” he said. “But it should tie into the bigger issue.”

DeBiase said anyone is welcome to submit stories to the show, but he expects the majority of stories will come from students. They are looking for stories with more than 1,000 words to take up about 10 minutes of air time.

Tussey said she hopes the show will give people motivation to write because it offers them a voice.

“This gives a new medium to get your writing out there,” Tussey said.

DeBiase said the show would help writers through the revision process as well as add to their portfolios because it’s “something tangible they can take with them.”

He said he plans to set up a new e-mail account for the show, but for now writers can submit stories to him at [email protected].

Contact religion and minority affairs reporter Bryan Wroten at [email protected].