Impeesa Now: the Magic of Scouting through Audio Storytelling
More than 60 minutes of recording, 13 episodes and over 20 speakers interviewed. This is impeesa now, a French documentary podcast, exclusively dedicated to tell the story of Scouting, a movement that continues to inspire millions of young people since 1907.
Envisioned and produced by Grégoire Dubois, a 24 year-old former Scout from France and community manager at a local radio station, the podcast is available on many audio platforms such as Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts.
We met with Grégoire who was eager to tell us a bit more about himself and about his new documentary. Enjoy reading through our exchange !
What is your relationship with the Scout Movement?
I have been a Scout for over 12 years. I joined when I was 7 and I stopped being active about 5 years ago. I owe my passion for media production and artistic creation to Scouting. That’s where I first discovered my photography skills and my passion for video production and the world of social media.
What does Scouting mean to you?
My time spent in Scouting has been filled with incredible moments of fun, continuous discoveries and endless learning. I was pretty shy when I was younger and Scouting helped me to be myself while connecting to others. I have always been an audiovisual enthusiast and I had the opportunity to practice photography and video editing through Scouting. In that sense, Scouting empowered me to find out about what I really wanted to pursue as a career path. I’m now working as a community manager for a radio station in Lyon. At this moment of my life, I can safely say that if I do what I do, it is thanks to Scouting.
What motivated you to produce a documentary podcast fully dedicated to the Scout movement?
I have always loved documentaries and I have watched a lot of them, but I never found one of good quality on Scouting. In 2017, I started a movie project with many Scouts. I interviewed about 20 of them in France, and I ended up with several hours of recording. I struggled a little bit, mainly because I was doing everything on my own, and at some point the project strated to slow down. Now the movie is almost ready, fully edited, its release is pending some copyright issues. In the meantine, I have grown fond of podcasts and audio programs and considering the obstacles with the movie, I decided to launch a podcast using the collected audio recordings under the consent of the interviewees of course.
What is the meaning of impeesa now?
I opted for a unique title. I wanted to avoid a commonplace concept. Impeesa was the nickname given to Lord Baden-Powell in South Africa, meaning 'the Wolf that Never Sleeps' in one of the local languages. I added now because the focus is on the present. It showcases the Scout movement in France and globally nowadays . Even if the title is a mix of two foreign languages, the podcast is fully in French.
What did you find out during this journey about Scouting? Is there an aspect that has positively surprised you?
The main goal was to introduce the world of Scouting to people that have never been exposed to it. That was done through featuring multiple and diverse experiences that engage young people through the approach of learning by doing. The diversity of the movement is truly fascinating. Here in France, you can find many different Scout associations, and you can decide to join the one that fits you the most for example. Not many people know that there are faith-based as well as secular associations in France. Scouting is open to everyone.
In what way do you think that Scouting is able to reflect changes and challenges of our modern society?
To me Scouting is fundamentally an education for peace. Since its foundation, it has promoted the culture of peace. For example, following World War II, French and German Scouts met at the so-called Peace Jamboree in 1947, as a great testimonial of the power of Scouting to overcome conflicts. Therefore, Scouting is a movement fully devoted to promoting a culture of peace. Up until this day, this peacebuilding legacy of Scouting is well alive. This year WOSM and WAGGGS have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their contribution in advancing peace and development worldwide. Our world will always need peace and a school of peace, such as Scouting, is capable to teach generations after generations how to live together despite our differences .
Have you received any feedback on your podcast from non-Scouts?
The episodes are available online on several platforms for podcasts and I’m happy with the feedback that I have received so far. I am happy to hear that more and more people are discovering the impressive educational offering of Scouting and the impact that it has on both youngsters and adults. This is what I am mainly told, particularly by non-Scouts.
Tell us more about your future projects, will there be more episodes of impeesa now?
The next step is to release the movie project on Youtube, if possible with subtitles available in many languages. This is hopefully going to happen within the next few months. I’m also considering the possibility to start a live streaming program, like a channel on twitch, dedicated to long interviews with Scouts and live events to promote Scouting.
Impeesa now is available in French on:
Website: : https://impeesanow.lepodcast.fr/
Spotify: : https://open.spotify.com/show/4vr0OAIoeQWvyO3odZr4Au
Deezer : https://www.deezer.com/fr/show/1907572
Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/playlist...
Apple Podcasts : https://podcasts.apple.com/.../impeesa-now.../id1537774949
Google Podcasts:: https://podcasts.google.com/.../aHR0cHM6Ly9pbXBlZXNhbm93L...
SoundCloud: : https://soundcloud.com/impeesanow/
Podcast Addict: : https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/3143493
Flux RSS: : https://impeesanow.lepodcast.fr/rss