I might not have gotten involved with podcasts, were it not for two colleagues, an undergraduate student, and Dolly Parton.
For the past two and a half years, I have studied, produced, and taught from podcasts. They have changed my relationship to American music and those who care for its many streams. In this essay, I will share some observations on how podcasts may help us reflect differently on the values that propel our work as scholars and teachers. In my case, a variety of circumstances led me to the format, which in turn facilitated forms of connection and collaboration that I had not originally envisioned. As a disclaimer and invitation, I do not offer these thoughts from a position of podcasterly prestige or authority. There are other music scholars whose work in this medium is more widely known and explicitly anchored to American music studies. But I share my...
