MAIJA ARIELE FIEDELHOLTZ (she/her)

"The Crushing Podcast, hosted by Maija (aka DJ Ditch Bitch), provides an ideal space to explore the psychology of crushes, the ocean as a reflection of our actions, or simply the intangible charm of sharing crowded spaces with strangers in New York’s subways. Tune in on Tuesdays at 7 pm to listen to Maija have candid conversations with guests about topics that are typically discussed behind closed doors."

"BC alum Maija Fiedelholtz ‘19 has turned her Senior Scholar research into a published article! Maija, a sophomore at UCLA, worked with the help of the grassroots surf and skate magazine “WITHITGIRL” to adapt her Senior Scholar research about the representation of women who surf into a four part online series. Read Maija’s essays at the link on our Facebook page."

Ines: Tell us a little bit about yourself so name, year, major, and when we can tune in to your show.

Maija: My name is Maija, aka DJ Ditch Bitch, I’m a second-year history major and The Crushing Podcast plays on UCLA Radio on Tuesdays at 7 pm!

Ines: What inspired you to create “The Crushing Podcast”? 

Maija: So I feel like it’s sort of two things. I’ve been thinking about this question a little bit. So the first thing is this idea of the crush and how it could have a double meaning because I was sort of torn between having a radio show about surfing and having a radio show about crushes. And then I was like, well, surfing is kind of my biggest crush in life really, like, I’ve done it for my entire life. It’s my favorite thing in the entire world. And crushing also works as a describing word for surfing like you’re crushing it or like, the waves are crashing or crushing. And the movie Blue Crush, which I’ve done some writing about, and then also the idea of the crush. So that’s kind of the double-meaning thing. And then the second part of it, it’s just like, crushes themselves. Like, I’ve always felt really embarrassed to talk about crushes. And since I’m the older sister in my family, and I feel like I’ve taken that role in a lot of other places in my life, I kind of wanted to open the door to like that big sister conversation and put it out in the open instead of having it be something that’s kind of on the down-low or happens behind closed doors.

Ines: How do you curate your show playlists? Do you have your guests submit songs or play more music you’re currently listening to?

Maija: Yeah, so I usually just have my guests submit, like, five songs that they feel like they can talk about, and then I listen to them beforehand and kind of develop my own take on their music. And actually, oftentimes, a lot of my guests’ music happens to be songs that I’m really into too. So yeah, we sort of just go from there.

Ines: You’ve interviewed and highlighted the narratives of some really rad people including your mentor from Sea Together Magazine and Molls from Withitgirl. How do you choose who to interview?

Maija: Well, I actually did an internship with Brianna at Sea Together this fall. And she has her own podcast actually. Just called like the Sea Together podcast that you can string on iTunes. And I actually, like, did some work editing that for her this fall. So, I thought it’d be cool to have her on my show. And she’s also just like, a super cool lady. And like, I guess I’ve been really curious about asking people that I know from different contexts in my life about their experience with crushes because I feel like that’s not really something that we would normally get to talk about.