Full transcript: Corey Gumbs on “Consider This Next with Kacie Luaders on CivicSciTV Radio” | Aug 20, 2025

On this “Consider This Next” episode on CivicSciTV Radio, Kacie Luaders talks with Corey Gumbs, founder of the Black Podcasters Association and board member of Air Media, about his unconventional path into science communication. Below is the shortened version of the transcript:

Kacie: Welcome to Consider This Next on CivicSciTV Radio. I’m your host, Kacie Lewaiters. Here on the show, we connect with diverse voices across the civic science landscape—scholars, practitioners, and leaders shaping the intersections of science within our society. Our mission is to uncover lessons from their work and translate them into actionable insights. Like all programs from the Civic Science Media Lab—whether on video, radio, or digital print—Consider This Next is here to keep decision-makers, from researchers and practitioners to local community members, informed, inspired, and equipped with the latest insights.

Today, we’re talking with Corey Gumbs, founder of the Black Podcasters Association and board member of AIR Media. Corey brings a unique perspective to science communication. His journey from music to web development to podcasting shows how diverse pathways can lead to powerful science advocacy. In our conversation, we’ll explore how Corey’s early fascination with taking apart radios and reading Time Life science books evolved into a mission to make tech, science, and politics accessible to his community. We’ll discuss why he believes anyone with curiosity and responsibility can become an effective science communicator, and how podcasting offers a uniquely powerful medium for reaching audiences who might never encounter science through traditional channels.

You may have seen him around within the podcast industry, and we have a very exciting story about how science actually was one of the gateways into podcasting for Corey. I would love for you to introduce yourself and tell everyone listening all of the things that you do.

Corey: Introducing myself is always a trip. My name is Corey Gumbs. I am the founder of the Black Podcasters Association. I am also a sitting board member of AIR Media, an organization dedicated to independent radio professionals and podcasters. I’m also a web developer. I have my degree in web development. It started as a hobby and became a passion. I’m also a musician. My background is in music, hip hop. My family’s background is in music. And teaching and mentorship brought me here to this conversation and industry as well.

Kacie: Could you tell us more about your career path—from music to software to podcasting and being on the boards of major organizations? How did this all get started?

Corey: I ask myself that too. It’s been a lifelong journey. I come from a family of teachers. Education has always been important to me. As a kid, I gravitated toward science and engineering. I liked tinkering. I used to take things apart—radios, anything. My grandparents had a huge library. I’d read science books and encyclopedias, especially one about the universe from Time Life.

Corey: My father was a jazz musician. My mother was a teacher. Grandparents on my mother’s side were teachers. I had a lot of musicians on both sides. As a teen and young adult, I tried the music industry. I interned at Def Jam, went on tour, tried to be a rapper. But I really wanted to be in the studio. I went to Five Towns College in Long Island to study studio engineering. I was in a rap group. We signed contracts and learned the hard way what happens when you don’t have the right representation.

Corey: Then I got a job at an internet café. This was during Napster’s legal battles. I remember thinking, “This is going to be the future.” Before YouTube, before streaming took off, I was watching business news and saw it coming. I told my friends we had to find a way to get ahead of this in music.

Corey: After getting out of that contract, I created a website called dontgetjerk.com. I was 21. I pitched it to my friends: we could have artist webpages, teach music business, and sell music directly. Web development was expensive back then, but I worked a job making $8 an hour and paid a developer in phases. That project led us to what became podcasting—we had an RSS feed and a player. I thought, “Artists could use this.”

Corey: Then I found out I was going to be a father. I had to choose: take care of my son, or keep putting money into this project. I chose my son. But I couldn’t afford the developer anymore, so I learned to code. A kid at the café taught me HTML. That hobby turned into a passion, then into a career.

Corey: In 2013, I got back into podcasting as a fan. My friend introduced me to Sam Harris’ podcast, which led me to Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. That pulled me back into science. At the same time, my friend and I were having conversations about science, tech, politics—and how people in our community were science illiterate, politics illiterate, and tech illiterate.

Corey: We wanted to change that. We thought: let’s make a podcast. Something that explains these ideas in ways our community understands. We wanted people to stop fearing tech and science—stop referencing The Matrix and Terminator—and realize there’s a place for us in this future, economically and socially.

Kacie: That’s incredibly helpful because now we can pick apart the origin story. You said you and your friend decided, based on conversations in your community, that you wanted to be the ones to bring tech, science, and politics into everyday conversations. What advice would you give someone who wants to do the same, even if they don’t have a degree in AI or robotics?

Corey: If you look at me and my friend, we didn’t come from polished backgrounds. But we had families that encouraged our “weirdness” as kids—and that’s where it starts. Embrace your curiosity.

Corey: We used analogies to explain complicated things. Like, when I explain computers to people, I say, “Computers are stupid.” And then I break it down: a computer does nothing unless you tell it exactly what to do. It’s all instructions—if this, then that. It’s fast, so it seems smart, but it’s just following steps. I say this so people aren’t intimidated.

Corey: Podcasting is perfect for this. Studies have shown the bond between hosts and listeners is strong. Listeners trust hosts. Even if it’s a small audience, you have influence. Use it responsibly.

Corey: So my advice? Just do it. Start. Don’t overthink it. You’ll learn along the way. But be responsible with the information you share—especially in science. Do your research. Be transparent when you don’t know something.

Kacie: That’s why we’re doing this on CivicSciTV. We want people to know they don’t need to be coders or professors to explore science. It might just take a conversation, a story, a spark.

With public radio under threat, independent platforms are more important than ever. Why do you think it’s essential for people without formal credentials to step up and speak out?

Corey: I remember Carl Sagan warning us decades ago about the lack of scientific literacy in Congress. That’s what we’re seeing now: anti-intellectualism in politics. It’s dangerous.

Corey: And now with the attacks on public radio? That’s why I love podcasting. You can’t gatekeep it. I could spin up a server, host my own RSS feed, and get the word out. It’s like pirate radio. When institutions collapse or restrict access, people find workarounds.

Corey: This might be the catalyst. Like when horses gave way to steam engines—then to combustion engines. There’s always a turning point. Maybe this is one. We should be upset. But then we should ask: how do we use the tools we have to build something better?

Corey: That’s how I’ve lived my life. It wasn’t smooth. But each pivot—from music to programming to podcasting—built something. Music gave me skills in audio. Programming taught me structure and problem solving. All of it helped.

Corey: Programming even helped me understand math—something I struggled with. I was terrible with fractions, but code forced me to learn it. I’m not great, but I understand more now than I did.

Corey: It all ties back to communication. How do you explain something in a way that people can absorb it and act on it? That’s what podcasting lets you do.

Corey: If even one person listens to your science podcast and goes on to become a physicist or tech founder, you’ve done your job. You won’t reach everyone. But someone will hear you.

Kacie: That’s the goal—making everyone see that science is around them all the time. For some, it’s coding. For others, gardening. For others, stargazing. That can be the gateway.

I’ve loved this conversation. I’ve learned so much about your journey and how we as media professionals can make science feel more connected to real life. How can people find you?

Corey: I’m on Instagram—my personal page has music and other things. You can search for the Black Podcasters Association. I’m also on LinkedIn. Search for Corey Gumbs, spelled C-O-R-E-Y G-U-M-B-S. I’m very accessible and collaborative, so I’d love to hear from folks.

Kacie: Now that we’ve heard Corey’s insights on using podcasting to democratize science communication, consider this next: how might your personal background and experiences be strengths in science communication rather than limitations?

Corey’s journey shows that unconventional paths can create powerful communicators. You don’t need to be a professor to share your passion—just be responsible and transparent.

Could independent platforms offer you more authentic connections than traditional media? Podcasting allows for conversational learning and intimate communication.

And finally, are you considering the pivotal moment we’re in for science communication? With traditional public media under threat, there’s urgency and opportunity. The time to build new platforms is now.

Effective science communication requires not just expertise—but the courage to start, and the wisdom to make complex ideas accessible to everyone. If you found value in this podcast, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Until next time, stay curious and stay connected to the science all around you.

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Audio programs on the CSM Network feature in-depth interviews with diverse experts who share actionable insights from their work on topical issues in civic science from multiple perspectives. The audio format provides guests with an additional way to share new insights, creating a synergistic effect with other programs on the network, on video and digital print.