Intended: Behind the Scenes with our Hosts

​We sat with the Intended showrunners to get a behind the scenes look at the creative journey of producing this science-based dialogue all about the past, present, and future of male contraception.

Here’s a Q&A with our own Heather Vahdat, Logan Nickels, and Kevin Shane.

​Did you find any part of the production process challenging?

​Logan: Audio production is challenging in and of itself, even if you know what you’re doing. Intended is something that’s born of love, and cleaning up the rough edges was a learning experience, especially when doing it on top of other job functions. But the biggest challenge is certainly synthesizing the bigger picture for listeners–zooming out so that they can see how the whole landscape interacts with the other parts.

Kevin: We were very fortunate to have someone like Logan, with his passion for the subject and radio production background to lead the way. Making a podcast is not easy: there’s a ton of research and writing that needs to be done, hours of interviews to conduct and record, and then the production process to make everything a cohesive story. Intended is definitely a labor of love, and it came with plenty of blood, sweat, and tears along the way!

​​Out of all the instruments used in production, what has been your favorite and why? 

​Kevin: I’d say my spare bedroom closet that acted as our recording studio. We lined the walls with a comforter to “sound-proof” it a bit, and would cram sometimes two people at a time in there to record segments. I don’t think I’ll look at the closet the same way again.

​Logan: Our field recorder, which was borrowed from a dear friend, and has laid down nearly all the tracks for Intended across the country. It’s missing a battery cover and has some scars, but it’s done everything we’ve asked and more!

​Were there any folks or groups you really wished were able to participate this season?

Heather: I’d like to hear more from young people because ultimately they will be the first users of any methods that are currently in development. Our experiences working with young people–like our Youth Advisory Board, MCI fellows, and interns–have been so rewarding that I would love to showcase their thoughts and ideas.

Logan: I’d love to interview more potential users! Especially potential users who haven’t heard of male contraception, and what their take is when they aren’t familiar with the concept. On top of that, people who aren’t interested in the technologies–Why not? It would be great to talk to these people and see how we could mitigate their fears in the future.

Kevin: I would love to interview Dr. Sujoy Guha and his RISUG team in India. They’ve been working on RISUG for a long time, and in a different context than we are working in, so it’d be great to hear what his and their experiences have been like.

Which episode are you super excited about and why? 

Heather: I was excited about We Said. I especially like that it was preceded by He Said and She Said because it was an excellent way for us to present that there are two sides to contraception, but ultimately it comes down to two people considering their options together. 

Kevin: I’m definitely excited about the He Said episode. We talk to a lot of folks about male contraception and it’s always interesting to hear what men have to say. There’s this perception that men aren’t all that interested in male contraception, but I think we’ll hear differently in this episode.

Logan: I’m super jazzed for We Said–It’s so important to talk to men and women together here, as sex, contraception, and all these things are inherently a collaborative process, and we’re going to have to understand relational dynamics to really understand what male contraceptives will look like when they get out there into the world.

​What can our listeners look forward to in future seasons?

​Logan: We’re exploring areas that we didn’t have time to get into in Season 1. Things like more diverse users, sex education, and how relationships might change with male contraceptives. We’ll also cover some historical perspectives and follow up with some Season 1 participants. Stay tuned!

Kevin: We definitely want to speak to more and more people. I think listeners can plan on hearing from a greater diversity of voices on even more areas of the male contraception development pathway than we covered in the first season. Reach out to us if you want to be one of the voices people hear from in season 2!

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​That’s right, you read it! Season 1 laid the foundation by discussing the status of male contraception research. In future episodes, we will delve into conversations with potential male contraceptive users of varied backgrounds and beliefs as well as further examine the progress of the development pipeline. If you’ve missed any episodes from Season 1 or simply want to listen again, you can download here for your on-demand listening. 

The Intended podcast assembles our collective voices to help better understand why we don’t have “the male pill” yet and recognize that having more male contraception methods is empowering for our relationship with our partner, other people, and our world. We welcome you to be an Intended collaborator! In this spirit, we ask you to join us to help further increase the awareness about the demand for new reversible non-hormonal male contraception. 

Want to engage in future male contraception conversations? You can keep up with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. But as you’ve read, our team enjoys actively mining perspectives from the public and strongly believes in this unified effort for strengthening our global advocacy. Let us know how you’d like to participate here and we’ll connect with you!