The Power of Podcasting: Telling Stories Through Sound

Podcasts have become an essential part of popular culture for millions of listeners. They provide a new way to absorb information that once might have been read in newspapers, books, or magazines or heard over the radio. Podcasting is hailed for its intimacy and authenticity in an age of mistrust and disinformation. But while it is relatively easy to make a podcast, it is much harder to make a great one.

In The Power of Podcasting, award-winning podcast producer and leading international audio scholar Siobhán McHugh dissects what makes a good podcast and outlines how you can create one yourself. She blends practical insights into and critical analysis of the art of audio storytelling. Packed with case studies, history, tips, and techniques from McHugh's decades of experience, this book brings together a wealth of knowledge to introduce readers to the possibilities of the world of sound.

If you've ever said you want to start a podcast, this is the book you need to understand the craft, the history, and the power of creating meaningful stories through sound.

ISBN-13: 9780231208772

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Publication Date: 10-11-2022

Pages: 320

Product Dimensions: 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

Siobhán McHugh is an award-winning writer, documentary maker, critic, and podcast producer. She has won seven gold awards at New York Festivals for coproduced podcasts including Phoebe’s Fall, Wrong Skin, and The Last Voyage of the Pong Su, and is consulting producer on The Greatest Menace, a queer true-crime podcast. McHugh has published four books of social history, including The Snowy: A History (2019). She is honorary associate professor in media and communications at the University of Sydney and honorary associate professor in journalism at the University of Wollongong.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Seductive Power of Sound
1. Podcasting: Why, Who, What
2. Appreciating Audio Storytelling: The Backstory
3. Radio, Podcasting and Intimacy
4. The Aerobic Art of Interviewing
5. Milestones in the Podsphere: From Serial to The Daily
6. Podcasting as Literary Journalism: S-Town
7. Creating a Hit Narrative Podcast, Part 1: Finding the Story
8. Creating a Hit Narrative Podcast, Part 2: Under the Hood of The Last Voyage of the Pong Su
9. Inclusion, Diversity and Equality: Pushing the Boundaries of Podcasting
10. Podcasting: What Next?
Appendix: Podcast Recommendations and Reviews
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index Show More