Skip to main content

The Podcast as an Intimate Bridging Medium

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Podcasting

Abstract

In this chapter, Swiatek argues that the podcast can be conceived as an intimate bridging medium: a means of communication that generates a sense of intimacy among listeners who are physically separate from each other, thus enabling boundaries of knowledge and context to be crossed. The chapter also suggests that while the technology of podcasting can be conceived in terms of its equalising potential, the digital public sphere in which it exists is unequal. Specifically, many of the hierarchies in other media systems are replicated in the realm of podcasting, which, in turn, prevents bridging from being as successful as it could be. These arguments are illustrated through an in-depth analysis of an episode from the podcast series Nobel Prize Talks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 37.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Bautista, M. L. S. (2000). Bridging research and practice in literacy work among minority language groups in the Philippines. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences, 30(1), 203–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry, R. (2006). Will the iPod kill the radio star? Profiling podcasting as radio. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 12(2), 143–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, R. (2015). Serial and ten years of podcasting: Has the medium grown up? Radio, sound and Internet. Proceedings of Net Station International Conference, Braga, University of Minho (pp. 299–309).

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulianne, S. (2007). Connecting, informing, and mobilizing youth and the advantaged: The role of the Internet in political engagement. PhD thesis, The University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1977 [1972]). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1989). Social space and symbolic power. Sociological Theory, 7(1), 14–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bozeman, B. (2004). The internet’s impact on policy evaluation: Information compression and credibility. Evaluation Review, 28(2), 156–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brabazon, T. (2012). The sound of a librarian: The politics and potential of podcasting in difficult times. In T. Brabazon (Ed.), Digital dialogues and community 2.0: After avatars, trolls and puppets (pp. 137–162). Oxford: Chandos Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Brabazon, T. (2016). Press play. In T. Brabazon (Ed.), Play: A theory of learning and change (pp. 119–144). Cham: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Brantner, C., & Herczeg, P. (2013). The life of a new generation: Content, values and mainstream media perception of transcultural ethnic media—An Austrian case. Communications, 38(2), 211–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaffee, S. H., & Kanihan, S. F. (1997). Learning about politics from the mass media. Political Communication, 14(4), 421–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94(Special supplement), 95–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downing, J. D. H. & Husband, C. (2005). Representing ‘race’: Racism, ethnicities and media. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, B., & Hand, C. (2017). America, the owner’s manual: You can fight City Hall – And win (New ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE/CQ Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene, S. (2016). Market domination for podcasting: Secrets from the world’s top podcasters. New York: Morgan James Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1989 [1962]). The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of Bourgeois society (trans: Burger, T., & Lawrence, F.). Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hills, M. (2015). From para-social to multisocial interaction: Theorizing material/digital fandom and celebrity. In P. D. Marshall & S. Redmond (Eds.), A companion to celebrity. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horton, D., & Wohl, R. R. (1956). Mass communication and para-social interaction: observations on intimacy at a distance. Psychiatry, 19, 215–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ISRG. (2015). The scout report. Internet Scout Research Group, 21(39). Available at: https://scout.wisc.edu/report/2015/1009#13

  • King, K. P. (2017). Technology and innovation in adult learning. San Francisco: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, K. P., & Sanquist, S. R. (2008). Case study of empowerment through new media among underrepresented groups: GLBT adults gain dominant voice in the first wave of podcasting. Adult Education Research Conference 2008: Conference Proceedings. Kansas State University Libraries: New Prairie Press. Available at: http://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2008/papers/38

  • Meyerson, M. (2010). Success secrets of social media marketing superstars. Toronto: Entrepreneur Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manchester Metropolitan University. (2015). Researchers’ weekly bulletin: The blog. www.library.mmu.ac.uk [Internet]. Accessed 2017.

  • NC State University. (2015). Agriculture and life sciences news. www.news.lib.ncsu.edu [Internet]. Accessed 2017.

  • Nobel Media. (2017). Explore the Nobel Prize Talks podcast. www.nobelprize.org [Podcast]. Accessed 2017.

  • Platt, S., & Truant, J. B. (2013). Write, publish, repeat: The no luck required guide to self-publishing success. Published Online: Sterling & Stone.

    Google Scholar 

  • Platt, S., & Truant, J. B. (2016). Iterate and optimize: Optimize your creative business for profit. Published Online: Sterling & Stone.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Reed, J. (2012). Get up to speed with online marketing: How to use websites, blogs, social networking and much more. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • RFS. (2017). About. www.rosalindfranklinsociety.org [Internet]. Accessed 2017.

  • RFS. (n.d.). They saw that we were in love with science. www.rosalindfranklinsociety.org [Internet]. Accessed 2017.

  • Schäfer, M. S. (2015). Digital public sphere. In G. Mazzoleni (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of political communication (pp. 322–328). Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuller, T., Baron, S., & Field, J. (2000). Social capital. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senior Women Web. (n.d.). Another scout report post: Comforts of a luxury cruise, grammarly, to live and dine in L.A., Privacy Palette. www.seniorwomen.com [Internet]. Accessed 2017.

  • Singh, G. (2012). Video teleconferencing as a bridging medium in open and distance learning (ODL): Making it more effective. Malaysian Journal of Distance Education, 14(1), 25–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sousa, H., Pinto, M., & Silva, E. C. (2013). Digital public sphere: Weaknesses and challenges. Comunicação e Sociedade, 23, 9–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker, K. (2011). How to get your message out fast & free using podcasts: Everything you need to know about podcasting explained simply. Ocala: Atlantic Pub. Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, C., & Pichler, F. (2007). Bridging and bonding social capital: Which is more prevalent in Europe? European Journal of Social Security, 9(1), 29–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei, R. (2008). The convergent mobile telephone: An emerging bridging medium. In A. C. Harper & R. V. Buress (Eds.), Mobile telephones: Networks, applications, and performance. New York: Nova Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lukasz Swiatek .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Swiatek, L. (2018). The Podcast as an Intimate Bridging Medium. In: Llinares, D., Fox, N., Berry, R. (eds) Podcasting. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90056-8_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics