In the era of podcasting, the barriers to entry in audio production are lower than ever before, providing an excellent opportunity for scholars in the humanities to reach a broader public audience. Still, the task of producing your own podcast might sound daunting, especially if you don’t see yourself as tech-savvy. Below are some examples of podcasts produced by local humanities scholars, as well as resources to help you get started working on your own.
University Recording Facilities:
UNC Undergraduate Library Media Resources Center – The Media Lab at the UNC Undergraduate Library contains a dedicated Podcasting Studio, which can be reserved by any UNC students, faculty, and staff who want to record their own podcast. Recording equipment, editing tools, and software can all be borrowed from the library. Audio production tutorials are also available on the Media Resources Center website.
Duke Multimedia Project Studio – The Multimedia Project Studio at the Bostock Library at Duke University contains an audio production booth, available to Duke students, faculty and staff, which can be used to record podcasts.
Triangle Area Digital Humanities Labs:
UNC Digital History Lab – The Digital History Lab at UNC offers workshops and tutorials in digital history techniques, including “podcasting for historians.” Digital History Lab directors Garrett Write and Gabe Moss also host a podcast called The Lens, in which they chat with fellow historians about representations of the past in popular media.
The John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute – The Duke Story Lab at the FHI offers fellowships to produce various projects in the humanities, including podcasts. Professor Barry Lam’s philosophy podcast Hi-Phi Nation, which has since been picked up by the Slate Podcast Network, began as a Duke Story Lab project.
Triangle Area Humanities Podcasts:
UNC Center for European Studies – The Jean Monnet Center of Excellence podcast series EU Today features interviews with scholars whose research sheds light on the state of politics and society in the European Union.
UNC Center for the Study of the American South – The Southern Oral History Program at the UNC Center for the Study of the American South produces a podcast called Press Record in which local scholars discuss their work in southern oral history, and interview participants in recent historical events.
UNC Institute for the Arts and Humanities – The IAH Podcast Series interviews IAH-affiliated scholars in various fields about their research and public humanities projects.
The Nasher Museum of Art – The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University produces the Nasher Museum Podcast, which interviews artists and scholars in art, art history, curation, and preservation, with a particular focus on African American and Native American art.
The Language and Life Project – The Language and Life Project at North Carolina State University documents and studies the diverse languages and dialects of the United States. They produce the graduate student LingLab Podcast, which explores the nature of language and the relationship between language and human society.
Reading for Extra Credit:
“Make Radio” by Ira Glass – In this article, Ira Glass of This American Life provides an extensive list of resources and tutorials for anyone hoping to master both the creative and technical aspects of radio and podcast production.
