Reflecting on the ethical terrain of university students’ narrative non-fiction podcasts and exploring the value of emotion and discomfort in higher education

ABSTRACT There is an uncomfortable moment in the podcast, The Ballad of Billy Balls, that prompted me to think about a podcasting course I teach, and my approach to the emotional aspects of some of my students’ own non-fiction stories. This article reflects on the course’s first iteration from the perspective of Boler’s pedagogies of discomfort and emotion. What became clear is that providing opportunities for students to engage with emotion and discomfort aids the development of their personal growth; yet, my approach to ethics in this course was preventing students from engaging with emotional aspects of their stories. After establishing the value of discomfort and emotion, this article presents teaching activities for the second iteration of the course. These activities are developed from my reflection and, following practitioners of speculative practice, they are designed to encourage students’ exploration of emotion and discomfort and my own pedagogical experimentation in the classroom.