Two second-year, Political Science students, Nicholas Heisig and Nathan Surdej, turned a final class project into a weekly podcast and the future trip of a lifetime.
Heisig and Surdej met in a comparative politics class last year. For the final project they put together a 40-minue podcast comparing Botswana’s governmental success to lower functioning governments in the surrounding areas of southern Africa. They decided to continue discussing local and global politics in a podcast format and created Signal Vs Noise.
Signal Vs Noise is a podcast where Heisig and Surdej break down news headlines sahre their perspective with fellow students who may need help understanding today’s political landscape. Heisig said,
“We’ve taken a bunch of classes together and try to incorporate what we learned into the podcast,” Heisig said.
They have accumulated more than 1,000 listeners and can be found anywhere you get your podcasts. Audio recordings are available now, and video recordings are coming soon.
Heisig and Surdej are scheduled to graduate in May 2027 and have plans to travel to Botswana to expand on what they have learned in the classroom. They hope to explore the government enclave, national assembly, national archives, and various monuments and statues that hold significant meaning to Botswana. There are also plans to go on a safari experience and explore the diverse geological features the country has to offer.
Heisig credits UT for assignments like the Botswana project that expand students’ perspectives.
“UT has been really great because in all my classes I’ve had great professors that give me the opportunity to have freedom on what I write about,” Surdej said.
Both Heisig and Surdej hope to attend law school in the future. They want to continue the podcast throughout law school and eventually work in the political field.