Our Story
The next generation of podcasters will come from The Drag. We’re an audio production house built by students, professors and Moody College alums. We love long-form podcasts that guide listeners through a complex story and conversational podcasts that bring insights, humor and need-to-know information to listeners’ daily lives. And we want to help the media world figure this out, so we partner with on- and off-campus organizations to help and empower them to tell their stories.
The Drag is part of Texas Student Media, but its reach extends beyond campus. Our true crime series “Darkness” has charted in the top 20 of Apple Podcasts, in league with productions with full-time staffers and budgets 10 times the size of ours. Our production house is the first and only of its kind on a college campus, providing students with an unparalleled hands-on experience that paves the way for thriving careers in this high-demand field. Audio isn’t just for journalists. The world’s leading companies use podcasts as extensions of their marketing efforts. Those companies have C-suite executives who regularly appear as guests on podcasts. And audio is a valuable tool for advertisers — reports show over half of podcast listeners pay more attention to podcast ads than other types of advertising. And it’s not just audio. Our students are also working on graphic design, marketing and public relations projects.
From 2019 to 2023, The Drag expanded from three student staffers to more than 25. Two podcasts turned into more than a dozen in various phases of release and production.
“The Orange Tree” was our first podcast, released in July 2020. Since then, we renamed that podcast “Darkness” and turned it into a serialized true crime show, in which each season tells a different Texas-based true crime story. “Darkness” is now in its fourth season, and season five is in production. We also created a historical true crime spinoff podcast called “Devilish Deeds.” In total, we’ve released eight unique podcasts, several of which span multiple seasons. The result? Over 54 hours of audio content produced from July 2020 to August 2023.
It’s not just true crime — our narrative podcast “Lady Bird” uses never-before-heard recordings of Lady Bird Johnson to tell the former first lady’s life story. “Crooked Power” examines corruption and the free press in Latin America. “Planet Texas” examines climate change events in Texas and looks to the future with hope.
And there’s more coming. We’ve got eight podcasts in production as of August 2023. In future releases, we’ll look at criminal justice and public policy in Texas and ethical uses of artificial intelligence. We’ve even got an upcoming podcast that reviews other podcasts. It’s an experience students can’t get anywhere else, and it’s happening right here on campus.
Our Team
We aren’t a typical team of audio storytellers. We’re professional staff, professors and students. Some of us didn’t know how to hold a shotgun mic when we started, while others edited audio in their closets all night. All of us love a good story and are passionate about podcasts. Looking to join? Fill out our participation form.
Jill Ament
Managing Director
Jill Ament is the Managing Director of Drag Audio, bringing a background in broadcast journalism, teaching, and multimedia storytelling. She previously worked as a news producer and reporter and served as a Lecturer of Practice at Texas State University. Jill earned her bachelor’s degree in Electronic Media from Texas State University in 2012 and completed her master’s degree in Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin in 2025. She first discovered The Drag when its inaugural podcast, The Orange Tree, debuted. “It was such an outstanding production,” she says. “I’ve been impressed with the student work ever since.” In the spring of 2026, Jill stepped into the Managing Director role, succeeding Katey Psencik. She is committed to continuing The Drag’s tradition of exceptional long-form audio storytelling and interview-driven podcasts while leading its growth into video and expanded social media storytelling.
Robert Quigley
Founder
Quigley founded The Drag in 2019 as a way to give students a chance to create compelling podcasts. He is the Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Moody College of Communication and a professor in the School of Journalism and Media. He spent 16 years as a journalist, mostly at the Austin American-Statesman.
Christian McDonald
Consulting Partner
Christian is the director for the DMN Journalism Innovation Endowment and an associate professor of practice in the School of Journalism and Media, teaching data, coding and digital media project classes.
2025-2026 Student Staff
LEADERSHIP
Amy Kingston, Operations Manager
Jake Gripp, Executive Producer of Originals
Abby Breyfogle, Business and Executive Partnerships Manager
Emily DeMotte, Senior Producer
Caroleen Saba, Marketing Manager
Adrian Gomez, Creative Coordinator
Gabriella Dunn, Outreach Coordinator and First Year Program Leader
PRODUCTION
Sean Edwards, Producer
Leisha Jhamnani, Producer
Priyal Talwar, Producer
Bailey Sepolio, Producer
Isabella Izaguirre, Producer
Khiry Duffey, Producer
SCRIPT & STORY
Riddhi Bora, Script Editor/Fact Checker
Emma Slaughter, Script Editor/Fact Checker
Justin Doud, Researcher
SOUND DESIGN & AUDIO EDITING
Aparna Patait, Audio Editor
Beau Beaudette, Audio Editor
Rhea Chowdhary, Audio Editor
MEDIA AND MARKETING
Miriam Zewdu, PR/Marketing Producer
Madison Goudeaux, PR/Marketing Producer
Daniella Garza, PR/Marketing Producer & Newsletter
Alyssa Tellez, PR/Marketing Producer
Gabrielle Norman, PR/Marketing Producer
Jovani Arellano, PR/Marketing Producer
Victoria Brooks, PR/Marketing Producer
Josie Lin, Videographer
Poet Williams, Videographer
FIRST-YEAR TRAINING PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS
Collette Crosby
Danielle Kaylee Elizondo
Mia Groeninger
Natalie LaPaglia-Pisaño
Elaine Lin
Liliana Lopez
Rain Maakestad
Bhavya Mahajan
Emily Martin
Isabella Martinez
Analiyah Olivarez
Ana Ortega
Johnson Phung
Jaxon Sampsel
Crystal Soto
Amiah Starkes
Madeline Ursprung