Host Martin Feld discusses the background and purpose of Really Specific Stories, focusing on the tech-podcasting community. He explains the importance of RSS technology in the industry and explores the significance of tech podcasting as a form of creative resistance. The podcast also delves into the publishing process, narrative epiphanies, and presents a case study of Hemispheric Views.
RSS is a crucial open technology in the podcasting industry, serving as a form of creative resistance against big tech and news media.
The podcast adopts a narrative inquiry approach, prioritizing participant-led conversations to uncover personal stories and experiences with tech podcasts.
Deep dives
The Importance of RSS in Podcasting
RSS, which stands for really simple syndication, is an open technology that enables publishers to deliver content and allows users to easily subscribe and receive updates from their favorite websites. It plays a vital role in the podcasting industry, making podcast production and consumption possible. RSS is being challenged by the rise of exclusive audio hosts like Spotify. Tech podcasters often champion and discuss RSS as it offers a form of creative resistance against big tech and news media. The podcast aims to explore why RSS-based podcasting, particularly in the tech genre, is such an engaging activity and why producers and listeners value it.
Narrative Inquiry and Collaborative Podcasting Process
The podcast adopts a narrative inquiry approach, where participants are interviewed using unstructured questioning to uncover their personal stories and experiences with tech podcasts. The conversations are participant-led, with no predetermined list of questions. The episodes are only published once participants have given formal, written consent. The integrity of each conversation is preserved, with minimal editing to ensure clarity. The podcast aims to prioritize the care for each participant and their experiences. The episodes contribute to a broader narrative in the host's PhD thesis, and narrative epiphanies are identified as turning points in participants' narratives to discuss the value of tech podcasting as a creative community.
Equal Representation of Producers and Listeners
The podcast strives for equal representation of podcast producers and listeners. For every podcast host featured, there will be a dedicated conversation with a listener. The audience plays a significant role in determining podcast content, creating fanworks, and participating in online interactions. The aim is to attribute equal value to both production and listening roles in the tech podcasting community. Following the case study of Hemispheric Views, the host plans to include more tech podcast examples and wrap up the series by reflecting on the insights gathered.
Creating Accessible Resources and Encouraging Feedback
The podcast offers detailed links, show notes, transcripts, and chapter markers for every episode, prioritizing accessibility and creating a searchable archive for academic researchers and podcast fans. The host welcomes feedback and provides contact information for listeners to get in touch. The podcast aims to engage the tech podcasting community and foster conversations among its members.
Listen to host Martin Feld explain the background, purpose and approach of Really Specific Stories, as he sets out to interview participants of the RSS-based tech-podcasting community.
Day, L., Cunsolo, A., Castleden, H., Martin, D., Hart, C., Anaviapik-Soucie, T., Russell, G., Paul, C., Dewey, C. and Harper, S.L., 2017, ‘The Expanding Digital Media Landscape of Qualitative and Decolonizing Research: Examining Collaborative Podcasting as a Research Method’, in MediaTropes eJournal, Vol. 7, No. 1., pp. 203–228
The relevant source for Norman Denzin’s narrative epiphanies was: Savin-Baden, M. and Van Niekerk, L., 2007, ‘Narrative Inquiry: Theory and Practice’, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 459-472.
Mastodon: social.lol@martinfeld — with the rebranding of Twitter to X and the deteriorating situation on that site, I made the decision after publication to switch focus to Mastodon instead, which is a more open alternative.