This episode features a discussion recorded at the Podcasting Poetics Conference held on October 11th-12th 2019 at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz in Germany.  Dario and Richard were keynote speakers at the event, alongside Lori Beckstead from Ryerson University. This conference is the first time either of us have been to a conference that only focused on Podcast Studies, and we both felt that event was a great step in expanding the field. As you will hear in the episode the speakers included PhD students, academics who have already published on podcasting, as well as academics drawing on work in related subjects. Papers explored ideas of intimacy, language, creativity and how we might better understand the medium of podcasting.  This was a fascinating conference, that hopefully will make a return; not least so we can produce another podcast with such a big panel.  The conference was organised by Alyn Euritt (a self-proclaimed 'podademic' based at the University of Leipzig) and Patrick Gill, our host in Mainz.  The conference website is here: https://podcastingpoetics.wordpress.com/ Thanks to everyone who took part in the discussion

This episode was recorded with contributions from students in the School of Media and Communications at the University of Sunderland. They have been working with New Aural Cultures Co-Editor Richard Berry on a new module in Podcasting this semester that blends theory and practice. They are now all in the final stages of producing their own podcasts for assessments; some of which may live on as independently produced shows. All of the work they are producing will be distributed as podcasts via hosting platforms.  The module has drawn students from across the school, with students from journalism, media studies, film production and media production. Some of the students are active within the University owned community radio Spark, whilst some have never made audio before. Although students have been introduced to complex narrative formats, their focus has been on how they can use interview or discussion based formats to communicate ideas to audiences. As the discussions in the episode will show this has allowed them to develop skills in audio production and to explore some of the key concepts in podcast studies in a practical way.  We recorded this episode during a workshop and then added each clip into Anchor to build the episode online to save editing time. The students have gathered in their production teams to discuss what drew them into podcasting and to talk about their own work.  In this Podcast you will hear from:  Sarah and Ellie -Hun that ain't it -https://podfollow.com/1488546429 Sam, Callum and Brad - The Cinejoust podcast - https://podfollow.com/1483228235/ Hannah and Sophie - Why would you go there? (released soon!) If you've been working with students on courses in podcasting, please do let us know via Twitter @richardberryuk or @newaural so we can share some ideas on how to teach podcasting

Musicianship, sound design, composing, live performance, podcasting and PhD research are all a part of the rich creative make-up of Ben Horner, our guest on this week's show. His wide-ranging output plays with the complexities of meaning that can be evoked through sound as language and material phenomena. After completing a BA (Hons) in Creative Music Technology (Canterbury Christ Church University) and an MA in Digital Media (Goldsmiths University of London), he is in the final stages of a PhD by practice analysing podcast feature documentary. Here he talks to Dario about research, his own development as a podcaster, how podcasting relates to other media forms, being creative for non-commercial reasons, and host of other topics. In this episode, we showcase two of his works Nota Bene, an experimental podcast documentary made at Canterbury Christchurch University summarising the work that is produced by the Centre for Practiced-Based Research in the Arts. Part ethnography and part radio art experiment, Goodwin Sands Radiogram is an award-winning series of 30-minute podcasts about the lives of people in the south-east corner of England.  For more about Ben Horner and his work visit The AudioSphere and follow him on Twitter: @SonicCircles

New Aural Cultures returns with this fascinating in-depth discussion with the science communicator and podcast producer (among many other things) Joseph Fridman. Joseph very generously took a brief break from his role as executive director of the upcoming Sound Education Conference taking place in Boston, MA from the 9-12th of October to talk about a range of themes particularly science communication and journalism, and the possibilities that podcasting provides in such areas.  Joseph also outlines the aims of the conference and give an incredibly astute insight into the many strands of sound-based practice and education.  Two other podcasting related conferences are coming up very soon including ECREA Radio Research Conference (University of Siena, 19-21 September and Podcasting Poetics Conference (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 11-12 October).  References This is Your Brain on Music – Daniel J. Levitin Surveillance Capitalism - Shoshana Zuboff Being Brains. Making the Cerebral Subject - Fernando Vidal & Francisco Ortega Possessive Individualism Shannon-Weaver Model of Communication Science and Technology Studies (STS) Science experienced through mediation - Dietram A. Scheufele Podcasting as Liminal Praxis - Dario Llinares Para-sociality Nick Quah’s Hotpod News   

This edition of New Aural Cultures is drawn from a podcasting workshop lead by Dr Dario Llinares at Birkbeck, University of London. Invited by Professor Catherine Grant, Dario introduced 5 PhD students to both the technical, structural and aesthetic elements of podcasting, along with the ways it can supplement or even be integrated as a key part of a researcher's methodology. The PhD students split into groups in which they produced 2 segments outlining the themes and commonalities of their work.  What results is an incredibly fruitful discussion that touch on areas such as the voice, authenticity, embodiedness, mediation of the self, creating and revealing truth, composition and decomposition, all of which linked to aspects of podcasting as a medium. The PhD Students involved were: Henry Mulhall – Henry’s research looks at how language use in a specific area of Plymouth forms an informal constellation across a range of arts organisation. This is with an aim of identifying communities of practice through language and habitual uses of rhetoric limit that communities access to a wider public sphere. Paul Martin – Paul’s research looks at the music industry especially the role of A&R in the period of the 1990s in London and specifically Black British electronic music (e.g. Drum and Bass) of the period.  Emily Best – Researching the wider contexts of changes in listening culture in the age of the smartphone and the mediation of voice through technology. Also through working with the National Literacy Trust Emily explores how audio can support literacy in different ways. Mah Rana - Mah's research derives from her current experience of being a daughter caring for her mother who has dementia, and also as an artist & researcher using crafts & creative practice in community projects.  Lily Green - Lily's research is based on a series of interconnected performance-based social experiments focussing  on eusocial insect's intricate social systems. As the first and most enduring global civilisation, what can we learn from them? And what is the basis for people's irrational fear of insects. Many thanks to Prof. Catherine Grant, Jo Coleman & Ayca Ince Onkal for their support. Transition music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Christian_Bjoerklund/

Hot on the heels of the publication of our own Podcasting book came another foundational text in the development of Podcast Studies. Podcasting: The Audio Media Revolution was written by Dr Martin Spinelli and Dr Lance Dann and is accompanied by a podcast entitled For Your Ears Only.  In a wide-ranging conversation Dario talks to Martin Spinelli about the development of the book, it's role in the expanding field of Podcast studies, and the similarities and difference to our work Podcasting: New Aural Cultures and Digital Media.  Martin and Dario also onto discuss the interview methodology and the impressive range of podcast producers that underpins the research. They then get into the weeds on a range of conceptual themes related to the medium of podcasting including the ontology of knowledge through sound, empathy and vulnerability, authenticity and intimacy, Techo-discursivity, diversity of voices and podcasting's commercial and structural future. Dr Martin Spinelli has a hugely impressive C.V. as both a radio producer and academic. He began a career in radio as a reporter, anchor and producer in Buffalo, New York, he produced national award-winning news features and documentaries for public radio as well as the nationally acclaimed literary series LINEbreak.  In the mid-1990s he produced cutting-edge pieces heard on innovative stations around the world, as well as on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4.  Both his benchmark radio art series Radio Radio and LINEbreak are included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Television and Radio in New York while all of his radio work and media research are archived in the Martin Spinelli Collection at the University at Buffalo Libraries. Martin holds degrees from the University of Sussex and Virginia Tech as well as a PhD from Buffalo.  He was the founder of the Academic Radio Program at the City University of New York at Brooklyn College where he produced the AIDS-informational soap opera Welcome to America broadcast on Radio Africa International.  His many essays about media art, law and history have been published in anthologies as well as scholarly journals such as Postmodern Culture, Convergence and Object. He currently a Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at the university of Sussex. Follow Martin on Twitter @exilewriter. Follow Dario on Twitter @dariodoublel Follow New Aural Cultures on Twitter @NewAural Subscribe to New Aural Cultures on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/new-aural-cultures-podcast/id1456960578

In this our 4th episode of New Aural Cultures, Richard Berry has been talking to 3 more authors about their work. Whilst each of authors arrives at podcasting from different routes there are themes that cut across each of their interviews that are central to some of the debates in podcast studies.  In this episode Stacey Copeland talks about her work in feminist media and radio studies, and in particular the work of podcaster Kaitlin Prest in The Heart (if you haven’t already binged through The Heart we suggest that you add it to your list). Stacey is a media producer and Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University’s School of Communication in Vancouver, Canada. She received her Master of Arts from the Ryerson York joint Communication and Culture graduate program where she studied with a focus on radio production, sound studies, media culture and gender studies. It was during her Master’s work that Copeland co-founded FemRadio, a Toronto, Canada based feminist community radio collective. Some areas of scholarly interest include feminist media, oral/aural histories, sound archives, media history, phenomenology of voice, sensory ethnography, and cultural heritage. Our second interview is the artist Robbie Wilson, who merged podcasting with art practice in his work called Wandercast. As piece of work this podcast provides an alternative application for the podcast form. Robbie is a creative practitioner, artistic researcher, and published author. His practice-as-research PhD was awarded in November 2018 – the project developed and examined playful, participatory strategies for finding novel ways of perceiving and interacting with people, places, things, and ideas. In this way, Robbie’s practice facilitates creative learning: it creates the conditions for creativity to be learned. In our third interview Kathleen Collins talks about her love for podcasts as a listener led to this investigation into comedian hosted podcasts and their link to conversations around mental health. Kathleen is a librarian and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. since 2007. Previously, she was in the journalism field for a decade, working as an editorial researcher. She has written about television, media history and popular culture in both scholarly and popular publications.  Some of the podcasts recommend here are:  20,000hertz - https://www.20k.org/ The Shadows - https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/the-shadows/ The Kitchen Sisters - http://www.kitchensisters.org/ And while London Burns - https://platformlondon.org/p-multimedia/and-while-london-burns/ Adrift with Geoff Lloyd - https://play.acast.com/s/adrift WTF with Marc Maron - http://www.wtfpod.com/ Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-aural-cultures-podcast/id1456960578  Follow us on Twitter @NewAural

The founder and producer of Podnews.net, James Cridland talks to Dario about the latest industry moves that have potential implications for the future of the medium. In a series of articles on his website, James explores the BBC's decision to withdraw Podcasting Content from Google in a move the corporation claimed was about data sharing and licensing but has been widely viewed as part of a trend towards further institutional gatekeeping of podcasting content. The BBC's motivation may be more about control of branding, but with Spotify's capture of Gimlet and Anchor the hosting and production site, along with new company Luminary about to offer subscription podcast content (calling itself the Netflix of podcasting), the medium might be about to go through its next transformational iteration. Dario and James discuss these issues along with wider topics related to podcasting. With over 28 years in the radio and online business, in 2005 James Cridland helped launch the first daily podcast from a UK radio station and the world’s first radio station streaming app, and has been operating online publications since 1993. He offers a truly international view: a Brit, living in Australia, working for companies across the world including North America. This daily newsletter is a unique opportunity to contextualise the international podcast landscape. Follow us on @NewAural. If you are a podcaster, research or listener and would like to contribute to the show,  please don't hesitate to get in contact and pitch us an episode idea.

Some of the fundamental discourses around podcasting are discussed in episode 2 of New Aural Cultures. In this edition Dario speaks to three of the contributing authors to the book Podcast: New Aural Cultures and Digital Media. John Sullivan Professor of Media & Communication at Muhlenberg college, Pennsylvania US. John's research explores links between media industries and systems of social and economic power. We talk about his chapter on the entrepreneurial  discourses that are shaping podcasting particularly out the podcast movement conference in the USA. Lieven Heeremans is a Masters Student in Media and Performance studies at Utrecht university and a of @podcastclub111 based in Amsterdam. We discuss syndication production culture in podcasting. The final guest is Luk Swiatek Lecturer in Communications and Public Relations at Massy University University, and we explore his concpetualisation podcasting as an intimate bridging mechanism. We have a twitter account @NewAural - we would really appreciate retweet and comments online to help us build an audience and expand the discussion of podcasting's place in the media landscape. If you are a podcaster or in a related field – academia, journalism, media etc - and want to talk about podcasting on a forthcoming episode please get in touch and pitch us an idea. The podcast is now available on all the major hosting platforms - see the links below. If you enjoy the content please think about leaving us a review wherever you can. Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-aural-cultures-podcast/id1456960578?mt=2&uo=4 Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy84ODgyODI0L3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4s6f8pua68fC1LuA4lYaE2 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1456960578/new-aural-cultures-podcast

Episode 1 of the New Aural Cultures podcast sees co-editors of 2018’s Podcasting - New Aural Cultures and Digital Media (Palgrave), Dr Dario Llinares, Dr Neil Fox and Richard Berry, provide an overview of the first academic collection to tackle the nascent media of the podcast and discuss some of the underlying issues, advances, challenges and joys of the medium and try and contextualise why it means so much to so many people and why it’s worthy of such scholarly scrutiny.  Over the course of the hour the three editors discuss how the book captures a significant moment, not only in terms of content but also in terms of the interdisciplinarity of the contributors, highlighting the potentiality of podcasting at a moment when it’s threatened by the corporatisation that has befallen other mediums and art-forms historically. It’s not all doom and gloom though, as Neil, Dario and Richard talk about why they love the medium and hopefully convey some of the energy and excitement that comes out of the book, for this emerging, empathetic and enlightening medium. Successive episodes will feature interviews with the book’s contributors and a final episode will see the co-editors come together again, this time to discuss their own contributions to the collection.  The music used for this series is Winter Walk (Silver Trumpet Mix). It is licensed under creative commons attribution 3.0 and is available here.