TLC at APSA: Podcasting Political Science: How to Start a Podcast, and Why You Should

Session Submission Type: TLC Outreach Café

Session Description

Podcasts are the perfect medium for science communication. They are cheap and easy to produce, can be recorded at one’s own convenience, and have the potential to reach a wide global audience. Science-based podcasts can raise the profile of individual researchers and institutions while providing a valuable resource to society. On top of that, they’re fun to record!

This session provides a crash-course into podcasting with a focus on political science communication. Anyone can start a podcast on their own time and budget, and political scientists are no exception. Apart from providing a live demonstration of the podcasting process from start to finish, the session aims to leave participants with the impression that podcasting is: feasible, enjoyable, and beneficial to one’s research and teaching career. Moreover, I will argue in the session that these personal and professional benefits outweigh the time, cost, and effort involved in producing a podcast.

The structure of the Outreach Café is as follows:

20 Minutes: Presentation on podcasting Political Science
40 Minutes: Live demonstration of podcasting from start to finish
15 Minutes: Promoting your podcast
15 Minutes: Q&A

The content of the Outreach Café is based on my experience in producing the Social Media and Politics podcast. The podcast has over 70 episodes, 75,000 downloads, and has been accessed from over 140 countries. Social Media and Politics has been featured in The Financial Times, The Guardian, and Houston Chronicle, and its material has helped inform policy-making at the EU level. You can find out more about the podcast at www.socialmediaandpolitics.org

Sub Unit

• TLC at APSA

Chair

• Michael Bossetta Lund University, Sweden

Presenter

• Michael Bossetta Lund University, Sweden