Tuning in to Soundwriting

The Bandwidth of Podcasting

by Eric Detweiler

oscilloscope visualization display sound waves as electrical signals: two jagged green lines on a black background
1. The Giant Pool of Podcasts 2. Medium, Format, and Genre 3. A Taxonomy of Podcast Genres 4. Digital Drivetime 5. Distribution and Circulation 6. Who's There? 7. Seriality, Scale, and Collaboration 8. To Be Continued? 9. Credits and References 10. Appendices: Resources for Teaching Podcasts in Rhetoric and Writing Courses & Podcasts by Rhetoric and Writing Scholars

9. Credits and References

Image Credits

Smith, Bill. (2018, June 22). Frequency (the phenomenon of sound) [Photograph]. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/Liygf9

Textual References

Abel, Jessica. (2015). Out on the wire: The storytelling secrets of the new masters of radio. Broadway Books.

Alexander, Jonathan, & Rhodes, Jacqueline. (2014). On multimodality: New media in composition studies. Conference on College Composition and Communication/National Council of Teachers of English.

Ball, Cheryl E., Bowen, Tia Scoffield, & Fenn, Tyrell Brent. (2013). Genre and transfer in a multimodal composition class. In Tracey Bowen & Carl Whithaus (Eds.), Multimodal literacies and emerging genres (pp. 15–36). University of Pittsburgh Press.

Banks, Adam. (2015). 2015 CCCC Chair's Address: Ain't no walls behind the sky, baby! Funk, flight, freedom. College Composition and Communication, 67(2), 267–279.

Benjamin, Walter. (2014). Lichtenberg: A cross-section. In Lecia Rosenthal (Ed.), Radio Benjamin (Jonathan Lutes, Trans., pp. 336–359). Verso Books.

Bowie, Jennifer L. (2012a). Podcasting in a writing class? Considering the Possibilities. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 16(2). http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/16.2/praxis/bowie/index.html

Bowie, Jennifer L. (2012b). Rhetorical roots and media futures: How podcasting fits into the computers and writing classroom. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 16(2). http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/16.2/topoi/bowie/index.html

Bruffee, Kenneth A. (1984). Collaborative learning and the "conversation of mankind." College English, 46(7), 635–652.

Ceraso, Steph. (2014). (Re)educating the senses: Multimodal listening, bodily learning, and the composition of sonic experiences. College English, 77(2), 102–123.

Ching, Kory Lawson. (2007). Peer response in the composition classroom: An alternative genealogy. Rhetoric Review, 26(3), 303–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350190701419863

Clement, Tanya E. (2018). Word. Spoken. Articulating the voice for high-performance sound technologies for access and scholarship (HiPSTAS). In Mary Caton Lingold, Darren Mueller, & Whitney Trettien (Eds.), Digital sound studies (pp. 155–177). Duke University Press.

Crowley, Sharon. (2003). Composition is not rhetoric. Enculturation: A Journal of Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture, 5(1). http://enculturation.net/5_1/crowley.html

Detweiler, Eric. (2018). A podcast?! Whatever gave you that idea? Some reverberations from Walter Benjamin's radio plays. In Jenny Rice, Chelsea Graham, & Eric Detweiler (Eds.), Rhetorics change / Rhetoric's change. Intermezzo/Parlor Press. http://intermezzo.enculturation.net/07-rsa-2016-proceedings.htm

Devitt, Amy J. (2008). Writing genres. Southern Illinois University Press.

Edwards, Dustin. (2017). On circulatory encounters: The case for tactical rhetorics. Enculturation: A Journal of Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture, 25. http://enculturation.net/circulatory_encounters

Ellis, Erik. (2013). Back to the future? The pedagogical promise of the (multimedia) essay. In Tracey Bowen & Carl Whithaus (Eds.), Multimodal literacies and emerging genres (pp. 37–72). University of Pittsburgh Press.

Farivar, Cyrus. (2014, August 13). 10 years of podcasting: Code, comedy, and patent lawsuits. Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/08/10-years-of-podcasting-code-comedy-and-patent-lawsuits/

Flanagan, Andrew. (2017, May 11). The MP3 is officially dead, according to its creators. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/05/11/527829909/the-mp3-is-officially-dead-according-to-its-creators

Gere, Anne Ruggles. 1987. Writing groups: History, theory, and implications. Southern Illinois University Press.

Goudeau, Jessica. (2017, April 9). Was the art of S-town worth the pain? The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/04/was-the-art-of-s-town-worth-the-pain/522366/

Gries, Laurie E. (2015). Still life with rhetoric: A new materialist approach for visual rhetorics. Utah State University Press.

Hammersley, Ben. (2004, February 11). Audible revolution. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/feb/12/broadcasting.digitalmedia

Hilmes, Michele. (2013). The new materiality of radio: Sound on screens. In Jason Loviglio & Michele Hilmes (Eds.), Radio's new wave: Global sound in the digital era (pp. 43–61). Routledge.

Hocks, Mary E., & Comstock, Michelle. (2017). Composing for sound: Sonic rhetoric as resonance. Computers and Composition, 43, 135–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2016.11.006

Kern, Jonathan. (2008). Sound reporting: The NPR guide to audio journalism and production. University of Chicago Press.

Kerschbaum, Stephanie L. (2014). Toward a new rhetoric of difference. Conference on College Composition and Communication/National Council of Teachers of English.

Khadka, Santosh. (2015). (Teaching) essayist literacy in the multimedia world. Composition Forum, 32. http://compositionforum.com/issue/32/essayist-literacy.php

Kilkenny, Katie. (2017, April 13). Brian Reed on the tough reporting decisions behind "S-town." Pacific Standard. https://psmag.com/social-justice/brian-reed-on-the-tough-reporting-decisions-behind-s-town

Krause, Steven D. (2006). Broadcast composition: Using audio files and podcasts in an online writing course. Computers and Composition Online. http://cconlinejournal.org/krause1/

Kuhn, Virginia, Craig, Alan, Simeone, Michael, Satheesan, Sandeep Puthanveetil, & Marini, Luigi. (2015). The VAT: Enhanced video analysis. In Proceedings of the 2015 XSEDE Conference: Scientific Advancements Enabled by Enhanced Cyberinfrastructure. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2792745.2792756

Kumanyika, Chenjerai. (2015, January 22). Vocal color in public radio. Transom. https://transom.org/2015/chenjerai-kumanyika/

Lambke, Abigail. (2019). Arranging delivery, delivering arrangement: An ecological sonic rhetoric of podcasting. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 23(2). http://technorhetoric.net/23.2/topoi/lambke/index.html

Losh, Elizabeth. (2009). Virtualpolitik: An electronic history of government media-making in a time of war, scandal, disaster, miscommunication, and mistakes. MIT Press.

Lunsford, Andrea, & Ede, Lisa. (1990). Rhetoric in a new key: Women and collaboration. Rhetoric Review, 8(2), 234–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350199009388896

McCoy, Terrence. (2018, February 23). "I don't know how you got this way": A young neo-Nazi reveals himself to his family. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/02/23/feature/i-dont-know-how-you-got-this-way-a-young-neo-nazi-reveals-himself-to-his-family/

Night Vale podcast [@NightValeRadio]. (2017, November 30). This post brought to you by Uber. Burn down all cities. Salt all fields. Uber. The end of all things [Tweet]. https://twitter.com/NightValeRadio/status/936317954156847104

Nowacek, Rebecca S. (2011). Agents of integration: Understanding transfer as a rhetorical act. Southern Illinois University Press.

Pfister, Damien Smith. (2014). Networked media, networked rhetorics: Attention and deliberation in the early blogosphere. Pennsylvania State University Press.

Rice, Jenny Edbauer. (2018). Unframing models of public distribution: From rhetorical situation to rhetorical ecologies. In Joshua Gunn & Diane Davis (Eds.), Fifty years of Rhetoric society quarterly: Selected readings, 1968–2018 (pp. 165–182). Routledge. (Original work published 2005)

Ridolfo, Jim, & DeVoss, Dànielle Nicole. (2009). Composing for recomposition: Rhetorical velocity and delivery. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 13(2). http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/13.2/topoi/ridolfo_devoss/index.html

Rivers, Nathaniel A., & Weber, Ryan P. (2011). Ecological, pedagogical, public rhetoric. College Composition and Communication, 63(2), 187–218.

Robertson, Katie, & Gross, Jenny. (2021, February 25). "Reply All" podcast is paused after accusations of toxic culture. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/25/business/media/reply-all-podcast-on-pause.html

Roose, Kevin. (2019, June 8). The making of a YouTube radical. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/08/technology/youtube-radical.html

Selfe, Cynthia L. (2009). The movement of air, the breath of meaning: Aurality and multimodal composing. College Composition and Communication, 60(4), 616–663.

Shearer, Elisa. (2017, July 9). Audio and podcasting fact sheet. Pew Research Center. http://www.journalism.org/fact-sheet/audio-and-podcasting/

The show. (n.d.). 99% Invisible. Retrieved February 17, 2018, from https://99percentinvisible.org/about/the-show/

Sterne, Jonathan. (2012). MP3: The meaning of a format. Duke University Press.

Sterne, Jonathan, Morris, Jeremy, Baker, Michael Brendan, & Freire, Ariana Moscote. (2008). The politics of podcasting. The Fibreculture Journal, 13. http://thirteen.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-087-the-politics-of-podcasting/

Trimbur, John. (1989). Consensus and difference in collaborative learning. College English, 51(6), 602–616. https://doi.org/10.2307/377955

Trimbur, John. (2000). Composition and the circulation of writing. College Composition and Communication, 52(2), 188–219.

Voegelin, Salomé. (2010). Listening to noise and silence: Towards a philosophy of sound art. Continuum.

Walsh, Colleen. (2011, October 27). The podcast revolution. Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/10/the-podcast-revolution/

Ways of hearing. (2017). Radiotopia. Retrieved December 15, 2017, from https://www.radiotopia.fm/showcase/ways-of-hearing/

Yancey, Kathleen Blake (Ed.). (2006). Delivering college composition: The fifth canon. Boynton/Cook.

Zdenek, Sean. (2009). Accessible podcasting: College students on the margins in the new media classroom. Computers and Composition Online. http://seanzdenek.com/article-accessible-podcasting/

Podcast Episodes & Other Media Referenced

acclivity. (2006). Phoneringing.mp3 [Audio file]. Freesound. https://freesound.org/people/acclivity/sounds/24929/

Baran, Madeleine (Host). (2016, September 7). The crime (Season 1, No. 1) [Audio podcast episode]. In Samara Freemark (Senior producer), In the dark. https://www.apmreports.org/story/2016/09/07/in-the-dark-1

crz1990. (2011). Vintage telephone hanging up [Audio file]. Freesound. https://freesound.org/people/crz1990/sounds/135902/

Demby, Gene, & Meraji, Shereen Marisol. (2018). Talk American [Audio podcast episode]. In Code switch. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2018/08/08/636442508/talk-american

Detweiler, Eric (Host). (2016a, March 3). Byron Hawk on the shape of composition to come [Audio podcast episode]. In Rhetoricity. https://rhetoricity.libsyn.com/byron-hawk-on-the-shape-of-composition-to-come

Detweiler, Eric (Host). (2016b, June 3). Progymnasmata robotica [Audio podcast episode]. In Rhetoricity. https://rhetoricity.libsyn.com/progymnasmata-robotica

Detweiler, Eric (Host). (2016c, April 5). Sensational sounds: Steph Ceraso on sonic composition & pedagogy [Audio podcast episode]. In Rhetoricity. https://rhetoricity.libsyn.com/sensational-sounds-steph-ceraso-on-sonic-composition-pedagogy

Detweiler, Eric (Host). (2017, May 18). Monkeying around with new materialism: An interview with Laurie Gries [Audio podcast episode]. In Rhetoricity. https://rhetoricity.libsyn.com/monkeying-around-with-new-materialism-an-interview-with-laurie-gries

Detweiler, Eric (Host). (2019, June 19). The weird possibilities of academic podcasting [Audio podcast episode]. In Rhetoricity. https://rhetoricity.libsyn.com/the-weird-possibilities-of-academic-podcasting

Glass, Ira (Host). (2017, December 8). Our town (No. 632) [Audio podcast episode]. In This American life. WBEZ Chicago. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/632/our-town-part-one

Gross, Terry (Host). (2009, January 20). Spreading the hope: Street artist Shepard Fairey [Radio broadcast]. In Fresh air. NPR. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99466584

Jelly-Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers. (1926). Doctor jazz [Song]. On Bluebird [Digitized vinyl album]. https://archive.org/details/78_doctor-jazz_jelly-roll-morton-and-his-red-hot-peppers-joe-oliver-jelly-roll-morton_gbia0007952a

Linsenmayer, Mark (Host). (2011). PREVIEW–Episode 33: Montaigne: What is the purpose of philosophy? (No. 33) [Audio podcast episode]. In The partially examined life. https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2011/02/18/episode-33-montaigne-what-is-the-purpose-of-philosophy/

Schur, Michael, Miner, David, Sackett, Morgan, & Goddard, Drew (Executive Producers). (2016–2020). The good place [TV series]. Fremulon; 3 Arts Entertainment; Universal Television.

Smith, Stacey Vanek, & Goldstein, Jacob (Hosts). (2015, November 25). Episode 665: The pickle problem [Radio broadcast]. In Planet money. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/11/25/457408717/episode-665-the-pickle-problem

Thorn, Jesse (Host). (2017, June 21). Ira Glass (No. 1) [Audio podcast episode]. In The turnaround with Jesse Thorn. Maximum Fun. http://maximumfun.org/turnaround/ira-glass

transitking. (2008). Needledrop03.wav [Audio file]. Freesound. https://freesound.org/people/transitking/sounds/59287/

Vogt, PJ, & Goldman, Alex (Hosts). (2015, August 27). Today's the day (No. 36) [Audio podcast episode]. In Reply all. Gimlet Media. https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/rnhokb/36-todays-the-day

Vogt, PJ, & Goldman, Alex (Hosts). (2016a, January 7). The cathedral (No. 50). [Audio podcast episode]. In Reply all. Gimlet Media. https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/6nh34m/50-the-cathedral

Vogt, PJ, & Goldman, Alex (Hosts). (2016b, February 25). Zardulu (No. 56) [Audio podcast episode]. In Reply all. Gimlet Media. https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/o2ho6j/56-zardulu

Vogt, PJ, & Goldman, Alex (Hosts). (2017, February 2). Storming the castle (No. 87) [Audio podcast episode]. In Reply all. Gimlet Media. https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/87-longmont

Full Podcast Series Referenced

In alphabetical order by podcast series title:

Part 8. To Be Continued?

10. Appendices: Resources for Teaching Podcasts in Rhetoric and Writing Courses & Podcasts by Rhetoric and Writing Scholars