Abstract

When Ben Hammersley quickly pulled the word “podcasting” out of the air for a Guardian article in 2004, the revolution that became podcasting was a new and emerging movement that re-appropriated the tools around it. As a word, a distribution system, and a production convention, podcasting is now considered mainstream. As the medium approaches teenage years podcast listening continues to grow, but today listeners favour smartphones over iPods, an ecosystem which seems to be generating renewed interest in the medium. The podcast Serial is leading this charge; raising the question ‘has podcasting finally grown up?’