Summary: A key step to getting the most out a college degree program in the sciences is the
opportunity to "do science". Unfortunately these opportunities are often limited, with only a minority of
students able to take advantage of them. To address this limitation, the SkillsCenter program was
initiated; it allows students to establish their expertise with various techniques at their own pace within a
supportive community. To improve the interactivity of these experiences we have used generative
artificial intelligence (genAI), in the form of Notebook LM, to generate technique-specific podcasts that
are available to students. We speculate on how the next generation of interactive podcasts can help
students develop both technical mastery and a sense of belonging within the scientific community