University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 8-1-2013 Sound Reason: Radiolab and the Micropolitics of Podcasting Justin M. Eckstein University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Eckstein, Justin M., "Sound Reason: Radiolab and the Micropolitics of Podcasting" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 176. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/176 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. SOUND REASON: RADIOLAB AND THE MICROPOLITICS OF PODCASTING __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Justin M. Eckstein August 2013 Advisor: Darrin K. Hicks, PhD ©Copyright by Justin M. Eckstein 2013 All Rights Reserved Author: Justin M. Eckstein Title: SOUND REASON: RADIOLAB AND THE MICROPOLITICS OF PODCASTING Advisor: Darrin K. Hicks, PhD Degree Date: August 2013 ABSTRACT Over the past 10 years, the practice of podcasting has migrated from the margins of technological conferences to a central role in popular culture. Podcasting is an Internet-based broadcast medium that relies on Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds—a peer subscription service—to automatically retrieve and upload content to a portable MP3 player. In light of its growth and popularity, I ask, ―what is the podcast‘s political potential?‖ In this project, I argue that the podcast has the potential to serve as an instrument of liberal and neurological reasoning. My project will pursue this line of inquiry by asking three research questions: first, what is the cultural history of the podcast? Second, what are podcasts‘ political potential? And finally, what are the ethics of critical podcast argumentation? To answer these questions, I will attend to the popular and critically acclaimed podcast, Radiolab. In contrast to technological histories that revolve around the figure of the inventor, I will write a history of the ―podcast present.‖ This method requires attention to the localized moments that become inscribed into podcasting and dictate its use. First, I explore the Duke iPod experiment, which is largely viewed as a watershed moment for podcast pedagogy, enabling podcasting to become educational. Second, I locate the podcast within a historical conjuncture. Additionally, this section theorizes Radiolab acts as a ―listening technology‖ that entrains neurological and liberal sensibilities. Finally, I ii attend to Radiolab’s ―yellow rain‖ controversy, which problematizes neurological and liberal dispositions by demonstrating how they can court epistemological injustice. On the theoretical level, this project registers the recursive relationship between new media and argumentation to clear a space for new tactics to engage this shifting political terrain. I extend argumentation scholarship by updating traditional argumentative concepts and by inventing new heuristics to accommodate emerging digital practices. This dissertation also intervenes in digital media studies by exploring how political projects and programs recruit new media. On a practical level, this project advocates that podcasts are beneficial instruments that provide citizens with new procedures to adjust their habits and dispositions. iii ACKNOWELDGEMENTS I owe a debt of gratitude to the Communication Studies and Emergent Digital Practices faculty. Both departments provided me with the support and theoretical tools to write my dissertation. I would like to thank my advisor and mentor Darrin Hicks for his patience, guidance, and insight. Darrin took me under his wing and taught me how to effectively argue. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee: Christina Foust encouraged me to pursue a career in communication and taught me the importance of rhetorical theory; Josh Hanan provided valuable feedback on the dissertation and he gave me sound advice for dealing with its many stresses; Trace Reddell taught me about the world of sound and provided the impetus for the project. Many thanks go out to my partner Lisa Korby. Lisa was instrumental throughout the dissertation process. She read drafts, talked about ideas, and provided emotional support. Without Lisa, this project would not have been possible. I would also like to acknowledge my colleagues and friends who helped me with the project. Thank you Aaron Donaldson, Michael Lechuga, Betsy Bruner, Mick Souders, Gordana Laznic, Kathryn Hobson, Ian Dawe, Dan Strasser, Brian Ott, Donavan Conley, Robert Margesson and many others. Each of you entertained my ramblings, edited a draft, gave me an idea, or provided much needed emotional support. My scholarship is only as good as my intellectual environment and I am eternally grateful for everyone‘s help. I would like to give a special thanks to Lauren Kersey, who was influential in helping me clarify and organize my ideas. Lauren is a syntactical wizard and I appreciated all her help. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Chapter Two: Podcast Present .......................................................................................... 13 Radio Broadcasts and Podcasts: Differences of Kind or Degree? ........................ 14 Linking Together Practices, Relations, and Instruments: Podcasts are an Assemblage ............................................................................................... 22 The Phenomenology of Vocal Effectivity: Podcasts, Technological Determinism and Orality ............................................................................................................ 25 Techniques of Interpretation: Podcasts and Listening .............................. 36 Podagogy: Podcasts as Educational Instruments .................................................. 40 Writing a History of the Podcast Present .............................................................. 49 Chapter Three: Duking the IPOD ..................................................................................... 53 The Duke iPod Experiment ................................................................................... 57 Attention Blindness and Collaboration ................................................................. 70 Shallow Thinking .................................................................................................. 75 Neurogovernmental Strategies .............................................................................. 79 Chapter Four: EMERGENCE: RADIOLAB AS A LISTENING TECHNOLOGY ......... 84 The Legal Terrain ................................................................................................. 87 National Public Radio ........................................................................................... 94 Introducing Radiolab .......................................................................................... 101 Radiolab: Sound Reason ..................................................................................... 107 Problematizing Conventional Reasoning ................................................ 109 Exemplary Inquiry and Musical Stings................................................... 112 Exemplary Interpreters............................................................................ 117 Exemplary Arguers ................................................................................. 120 Chapter Five: YELLOW RAIN: Radiolab and the acoustics of strategic maneuvering 124 Yellow Rain ........................................................................................................ 131 The Fact of the Matter......................................................................................... 136 Objectivity and Transparency ............................................................................. 144 Objectivity............................................................................................... 145 Transparency ........................................................................................... 149 The Acoustics of Strategic Maneuvering ............................................................ 152 The Podcast-Subject Revisited ........................................................................... 160 Chapter SIX: CODA: SOUND REASON AND NEUROGOVERNANCE .................. 164 A Cultural History of the Podcast ....................................................................... 164 Podcasts Political Potential: Towards a Liberal Neurogovernmentality ............ 167 Neurologically Informed Policy ............................................................. 168 Listening Technologies ........................................................................... 170 Sound Reason: Podcast Argumentation .............................................................. 172 v Technique of Relation ............................................................................. 173 Argumentation Pedagogy........................................................................ 174 Podcasts as a site of controversy ............................................................