MRU Library Website: Journalism: JOUR 3727

Podcast Analysis

This guide will help you with your research for the podcast analysis assignment.

Article Databases

Start your search for academic articles in these databases:

NOTE: Not all databases will provide the full text of the articles they list. Look for a link or blue button that says "Find Full Text" to link to another source for the article.

Communication & Mass Media Complete
Index & abstracts, and selected coverage, for journals in areas related to communication and mass media.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar provides searching of scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources. This MRU specific link connects users to items available full text via MRU.
Academic Search Complete
A comprehensive database providing full-text access to over 3,000 journals and magazines across a broad range of subject areas.

Access to this resource is funded by Alberta Advanced Education through the Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library.

Use LibrarySearch to find more articles, as well as books and videos. Select the "peer reviewed" filter on the right to limit your search to articles only.

Sign in to LibrarySearch to get better results.

Database Searching

Remember to consider your keywords carefully!

Search key terms only (no sentences or extraneous words in the search box!)

Use a keyword for each concept in your topic.

Example Searches:

feminis* AND storytell* AND (digital OR media OR audio) AND podcast*

queer AND theor* AND (digital OR media) AND podcast*

structur* AND story* AND (critical OR critique) AND podcast* AND serial

Search Tips:

The asterisk ( * ) tells the database to search the root of the word and all variant endings. For example, podcast* will find podcasting, podcasts, and podcasters. Storytell* will find storytelling and storytellers.

Brackets group synonyms and similar terms so your search retrieves any of them. This is handy when you are not sure which term to use, or when both terms are relevant. Be sure to add OR between your terms.

Not all databases require the AND in between search terms. Try your search with and without AND to make sure you're getting good results.

Books (online and print)

These are some titles to get you started. Use LibrarySearch to find more books on your topic.

Out on the Wire by Jessica Abel
Call Number: PN1991.75 A24 2015 (Reserves, 2 hour loan)
Publication Date: 2015
Go behind the scenes of our most ambitious radio programs and witness an intensely creative moment in a medium that's changing the way we tell stories. Every week, millions of devoted fans download or tune in to This American Life, The Moth, Radiolab, Planet Money, Snap Judgment,Radio Diaries, 99%Invisible, and other nonfiction narrative radio shows. The compelling stories they produce are almost cinematic in scope and approach-intricately weaving sound into robust and engaging storytelling. Out on the Wire, a documentary comic, literally illustrates those secrets
Podcasting: New Aural Cultures and Digital Media by Llinares & Fox, Eds.
Publication Date: 2018
Podcasting: New Aural Cultures and Digital Media is the first comprehensive interdisciplinary collection of academic research exploring the definition, status, practices and implications of podcasting through a Media and Cultural Studies lens. The analyses in this collection offer a range of interpretations which begin to open avenues for further research into a distinct Podcast Studies.
Podcasting: the audio media revolution by Lance Dann; Martin Spinelli
Publication Date: 2019
Born out of interviews with the producers of some of the most popular and culturally significant podcasts to date (Welcome to Night Vale, Radiolab, Serial, The Black Tapes, Lore, Love + Radio, and others) as well as interviews with executives at some of the most important podcasting institutions and entities, Podcasting documents a moment of revolutionary change in audio media. Using case studies, close analytical listening, quantitative and qualitative analysis, production analysis, as well as audience research, it suggests what podcasting has to contribute to a host of larger media-and-society debates.
The Serial Podcast and Storytelling in the Digital Age by Ellen McCracken
Publication Date: 2017
This volume analyzes the Serial podcast, situating it in the trajectory of other popular crime narratives and contemporary cultural theory. Contributors focus on topics such as the ethics of the use of fiction techniques in investigative journalism, the epistemological overlay of postmodern indeterminacy, and the audience's prolific activity in social media, examining the competing narrative strategies of the narrators, characters, and the audience.
Sound Reporting by Jonathan Kern
Call Number: PN4784.R2 K47 2008 (Reserves, 1 day loan)
ISBN: 0226431789
Publication Date: 2008
Jonathan Kern, who has trained NPR's on-air staff for years, is a gifted guide, able to narrate a day in the life of a host and lay out the nuts and bolts of production with equal wit and warmth. Along the way, he explains the importance of writing the way you speak, reveals how NPR books guests ranging from world leaders to neighborhood newsmakers, and gives sage advice on everything from proposing stories to editors to maintaining balance and objectivity.