Call for Chapters

Conceptualising the Podcast: Interdisciplinary Analyses of New Aural Cultures

Edited by

Dr Dario Llinares – University of Brighton, UK.

Dr Neil Fox – Falmouth University, UK.

On June 22nd 2015 Barak Obama appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast. Perhaps this was just another interview for the President of the United States, however, it could also represent a symbolic acknowledgment of podcasting as a culturally prescient media form. In many ways the podcast remains a curiosity sitting on the periphery of mainstream forms such as radio film, television, publishing. It is perhaps an esoteric offshoot of digital culture, in content and form indicative of a hybridised identity. Yet there are a vast range of podcasts being produced, reflecting hugely diverse thematic, generic and stylistic approaches. The most popular podcasts command download audiences in the millions and fervent fandom from listeners who ardently support the form’s individual and collective pleasures . In theorising the podcast one might focus on its liminal status between the mechanics of old and new media, between professional and amateur production values, and the form’s reliance on mainstream industry whilst retaining an alternative, even outsider, sensibility. In the present tumult of online media discourse the podcast could yet be the closest any new media form has got to realising a digital public sphere. Over the course of the development of The Cinematologists podcast (www.cinematologists.com) we have engaged in conversations about the material and theoretical implications of the podcast medium and what it offers to the expansion of cultural conversation in our own area of film criticism and analysis. Also, how it can be understood within wider media & cultural studies frameworks? Academic study of the podcast is presently somewhat limited in its scope, being largely focused on its potential usefulness in pedagogic practice. We believe this to be a pertinent juncture for research that interrogates the podcast from a range of disciplinary perspectives, which is the purpose of this edited collection. Therefore we are inviting abstracts for contributing chapters within, but not limited to, the following areas:

Podcasts in relationship to other media (old/new).

Podcasting and its differences/similarities to radio.

Podcasting and the democratisation of media production.

Podcast Audiences.

Podcaster as Identity.

Podcast genres

Formal analysis of Podcasts.

Academic attitudes to Podcasting.

Podcasting as a Research Tool.

Podcast as Transmedia.

Podcast and Research Dissemination

Podcasts and Pedagogy

We are currently in discussions with both journal and book publishers and indend to submit a final application by September 1, 2016. If you are interested in contributing to a publication in this area please contact us. We are looking for abstracts, of no more the 250 words, to be submitted by July 1, 2016. Abstracts should be submitted in word format to [log in to unmask] and any enquiries can be made to the same address.