Podcasting as an Intimate Medium

Reviews / Votes

"You think you know podcasts? Think again. Alyn Euritt's Podcasting as an Intimate Medium lets us see podcasts-or should I say, hear them?-as if for the first time. Where other books approach podcasts through their thematic preoccupations, this one provides a unified theory of podcast mediality, grounded in a fascinating exploration of the unique affordances of the digital voice-and other computerized sounds. Inspired by actor-network-theory and seriality studies, Euritt makes a compelling case for intimacy as the medium's characteristic product and pleasure. Four chapters trace the paradox of mediated intimacy from its smallest to its largest aspects: at the level of physical embodiment, in parasocial interactions, as an element of quotidian worldbuilding, and in the American national imaginary. Sophisticated and entertaining, this book is an indispensable read for media scholars, Americanists, practitioners of the Digital Humanities, and, not least, podcasting fans."

Frank Kelleter,

Professor at John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Freie Universitaet Berlin

"In the expanding sphere of research into podcasting, Alyn Euritt provides a vital intervention with erudite critiques of a widely held assertion: that this still relatively new medium is inherently and uniquely intimate. Euritt's critical voice deconstructs podcasting's potential intimacy in terms of the haptic and immersive properties of sound, the para-social interconnections of the producer/consumer dialectic, the social functions of digital mediality, and through discourses of national identity. In the scope of a discrete "podcast studies", Euritt expertly schematises the first comprehensive conceptual framework of podcasting as an intimate medium."

Dario Llinares, academic and host of The Cinematologists and Podcast Studies Podcast

"Podcasting as an Intimate Medium

begins with a key question: what if, instead of being inherent or "natural", intimacy is the site of how podcasting is negotiating its own mediation? From there, Alyn Euritt launches into a rigorous and multifaceted theorization of how intimacy is constructed. Through careful readings of a range of podcasts -- including chatcasts, improvised comedy shows, audio fiction, and politics roundtables -- alongside their paratexts and protocols, Euritt provides a critical language for understanding the production of intimacy while convincingly arguing that, if we take intimacy for granted, we will lose sight of one of the primary ways that podcasts are negotiating their own meaning. Podcasting as an Intimate Medium is required reading for anyone seeking to better understand how this emergent medium is reshaping our publics."

Hannah McGregor, Associate Professor of Publishing at Simon Fraser University and co-director of the Amplify Podcast Network

"An original and fascinating exploration of podcasting's relationship to intimacy across several popular genres and practices. A welcome addition to the growing shelf of scholarly work on this still-new medium."

Jason Loviglio, author of Radio's Intimate Public: Broadcasting and the Mass-Mediate Public Sphere and editor of The Routledge Companion to Radio and Podcast Studies.