Podcasts are quickly becoming many people’s preferred method of media consumption. Many of the storytelling projects featured in this research have podcasts that showcase the collected stories from a different angle. Podcasts have the potential to be an incredible way to share stories with diverse audiences especially if an aspiring practitioner already has audio recording and editing experience.

Things to Consider

  • Equipment: Podcasts can be made on a shoestring budget but certain equipment is required for a high-quality final product such as microphones, recorders, and sound editing software.
  • Engagement: Podcasts rely solely on audio to capture an audience’s attention, stories need to be captivating and can be supplemented with additional audio such as music
  • Interviews: How will podcast episodes be formatted? Will the audience listen to a full interview or will it be sampled from?
  • Host Power: Who is the voice behind the microphone? In the quest to challenge dominant narratives and amplify diverse voices it is important to consider whose voice is featured along with the storytellers

Affordances

  • Storytelling podcasts have already become very popular, so there is an audience for this type of projet
  • Podcasts are an excellent way to process and share oral history interviews in a way that is more accessible to general audiences
  • Fairly inexpensive to produce
  • Can be recorded from anywhere so hosts can reach storytellers from around the world

 

Constraints

  • Most successful podcasts are heavily edited and smoothed out to create the most desirable listening experience, this takes an incredible amount of time and effort to learn and complete for each episode
  • The podcast market is fairly saturated, creators will have to work to create a podcast that stands out
  • There is a limit to how many voices can be featured in a single episode
  • Without the reliance on visual aids, written word, or the energy of a crowd, stories told on podcasts need to be captivating in order to engage and keep a listener’s attention.

Podcasts to Explore

Name Description Link
El Paso Food Voices Podcast Podcast episodes based on oral history interviews collected for El Paso Food Voices digital archive https://volt.utep.edu/epfoodvoices/podcast-series#:~:text=Podcast,a%20 city’s%20history%20beyond%20borders.
Femidish Podcast that amplifies womxn’s voices by exploring the infinite ways they interact with food and tell stories that challenge the idea that food is unimportant work until there are profits or fame to be had https://www.femidish.com/
Gravy Podcast produced by Southern Foodways Alliance https://www.southernfoodways.org/gravy-format/gravy-podcast/
How I built this Interviews with successful entrepreneurs who share the journey of how they got to where they are today. Many food businesses are featured https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this
Point of Origin Podcast produced by the makers of Whetstone Magazine exploring travel and the origins of food https://www.whetstonemagazine.com/pointoforigin
Preserves Podcast produced by the Manitoba Food History Project https://www.manitobafoodhistory.ca/preserves-pod
Smart Mouth Podcast featuring interviews with celebrities and other individuals who share their favorite food and stories about themselves while the host explores the history of the food http://www.smartmouthpodcast.com/about-us
The Pickle Shelf Radio Hour Storytelling podcast hosted by journalists covering Appalachian and other rural communities exploring food and the rural/urban divide through the conversations had with the people they meet https://www.pickleshelfradio.com/
Underground Airwaves Podcast featuring personal stories and interviews about food and community https://ecotrust.org/project/underground-airwaves/