Video

Podcasting is 100 Years Old

Come learn about your audio ancestors, the women and men who invented the radio formats and storytelling tropes we still use today, as well as some we have left behind for good reasons.
Note: This video is available to AIR members and webinar ticket holders only. Log in to watch the video. If you are not a member, join here.
Write your awesome label here.

Key Takeaway

  • You'll gain an understanding of our “audio lineage” in the US and why certain patterns keep repeating themselves.
  • An appreciation for how many popular podcasting formats have antecedents in the earliest days of radio, as well as a better awareness of the disturbing legacy of radio programming’s exclusionary past.
  • A reading list of great scholarship on radio, broadcasting, and podcasting.

Who is this webinar for? 

This webinar could appeal to media studies/communications students as well as seasoned professionals who feel like they don't understand certain aspects of broadcast or podcast conventions and how they might have arisen.
Meet the PRESENTER

Julia Barton

Julia Barton recently completed a Nieman Fellowship (2023-24) at Harvard University, and before that was the founding executive editor at Pushkin Industries, an audio production company based in New York. She has been the lead story editor on several narrative podcasts and audiobooks including “The Last Archive,” hosted by Jill Lepore; “Against the Rules,” hosted by Michael Lewis; “Revisionist History,” hosted by Malcolm Gladwell; “Cautionary Tales,” hosted by Tim Harford. Barton curated the audiobook anthology “The Best Audio Storytelling: 2022.” A longtime editor and reporter, she has produced pieces for PRI’s “Studio 360,” “99% Invisible,” and “Radiolab,” among other programs. Barton previously worked as a senior editor for PRI’s “The World,” and writes about audio craft for Nieman Storyboard.
Write your awesome label here.

About this webinar

  • Thursday, September 12
  • 11am - 12pm PT / 2-3pm ET
  • 60 min
  • Free for AIR members / 
    $25 non-members
  • This webinar is recorded and made available for AIR members and ticket holders after the recording. 
Did you know that audio "tape" was once forbidden on the radio, and documentary producers hired actors to impersonate the voices in the news? What do underwater bells have to do with the invention of radio? As a 2023-24 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, Julia Barton has taken a deep dive into the history of radio and audio production in the US, with an eye towards understanding how old patterns and accidents of technology still affect us today. Come for a lively conversation on her research and learn how a better understanding of radio's past can inform our work and make it better.