But where are the researchers producing good podcasts?
I would imagine the researchers are doing research. If good podcasts take as much work as good lectures (and these take a whole lot of work), I’m not sure how much time there would be left for doing research.
It’s never occurred to me to look for podcasts. I have listened to a few lectures online, usually on the recommendation of peers.
It strikes me that creating a good podcast is a lot of work. It is no work to let someone record a lecture, and it seems significantly easier to edit text or even slide presentations than to edit audio.
Is there any evidence that this work would be rewarded? I don’t mean financially. Rather, is there an audience hungering for podcasts in general, let alone academic podcasts?
I suspect that many academics never liked lectures, just like you (and me). And not only because of rambling, but because of (recorded) spoken word is a fundamentally inferior form of delivery compared to written word. The main reason is that it is less interactive: you can’t control the pacing, and it is much harder to jump to where you want. But it is also harder to understand: you don’t have to deal with dialects and other idiosyncrasies in written text.
Non-recorded spoken word, i.e. a conversation, is on the other hand a good complement to written word.
Ed Bilodeausays:
I’m hoping to relaunch a personal podcast this month, although I can’t say for sure how much content would be considered ‘academic’. I do plan on including excerpts from my lectures, but beyond that, no firm plans. I agree that more examples would be useful! 🙂
You can find good academic podcasts here, at http://backdoorbroadcasting.net
with podcasts from Judith Butler, David Harvey, Andrew Bowie and many others.
But where are the researchers producing good podcasts?
I would imagine the researchers are doing research. If good podcasts take as much work as good lectures (and these take a whole lot of work), I’m not sure how much time there would be left for doing research.
It’s never occurred to me to look for podcasts. I have listened to a few lectures online, usually on the recommendation of peers.
It strikes me that creating a good podcast is a lot of work. It is no work to let someone record a lecture, and it seems significantly easier to edit text or even slide presentations than to edit audio.
Is there any evidence that this work would be rewarded? I don’t mean financially. Rather, is there an audience hungering for podcasts in general, let alone academic podcasts?
I suspect that many academics never liked lectures, just like you (and me). And not only because of rambling, but because of (recorded) spoken word is a fundamentally inferior form of delivery compared to written word. The main reason is that it is less interactive: you can’t control the pacing, and it is much harder to jump to where you want. But it is also harder to understand: you don’t have to deal with dialects and other idiosyncrasies in written text.
Non-recorded spoken word, i.e. a conversation, is on the other hand a good complement to written word.
I’m hoping to relaunch a personal podcast this month, although I can’t say for sure how much content would be considered ‘academic’. I do plan on including excerpts from my lectures, but beyond that, no firm plans. I agree that more examples would be useful! 🙂
You can find good academic podcasts here, at http://backdoorbroadcasting.net
with podcasts from Judith Butler, David Harvey, Andrew Bowie and many others.