Mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
I listen to far too many podcasts in my spare time, on all manner of topics – sport, philosophy, current affairs, history, the list goes on. Most of what I listen to is educational, such as the History Extra Podcast and the New Books Network, both of which bring research to life through interviews with academics, covering an eclectic mix of topics – everything from ancient history to contemporary politics. Dare I say it, they make learning fun.
This year during my fellowship with WISERD, I wanted to make the most of the facilities available here at sbarc|spark and have a go at recording my own podcast. The result is Academic Perspectives on Conspiracism – a series of interviews with researchers studying the place of conspiracy theories in politics, culture, and society.
This is a topic I studied in my PhD thesis, and one that has become more concerning in recent years with the emergence of QAnon in the United States, Covid-19 conspiracy theories, and the use of conspiracist rhetoric by leading British politicians. We are right to worry about conspiracy theories and their impact on politics, but sometimes the concern has become something like a moral panic. So, I wanted the podcast to give a critical but nuanced view of the place of conspiracy theories in society, while also putting the spotlight on some of the most exciting research that is being produced on the topic. Most importantly, the series is a chance to share fascinating research with a wider audience, beyond the reach of niche academic journals and books.
One of the most appealing things about research in this area is how interdisciplinary it is. Almost every discipline in the social sciences, arts and humanities has something to say on the topic, and I wanted the podcast to reflect this variety. Over the course of the series, I spoke with researchers working in politics, anthropology, literature studies, and digital media studies. I learnt about how conspiracy narratives are exploited by different sides in conflicts; how platforms like 4chan influence the structure of conspiracy theories; and how contested the concept of ‘conspiracy theory’ actually is. Perhaps the most important lesson to come out of these conversations was that conspiracy theories do not exist in a vacuum – each one is deeply influenced by the society in which it develops. To understand why these often-outlandish beliefs can nevertheless be so popular and powerful, we need to look at the influence of politics, history, and technology. Most importantly, we need to look for ways of solving the social problems that conspiracy theories often exploit, such as inequality and polarisation.
On the technical side of things, I surprised myself by quickly getting the hang of recording and editing episodes, with vital help from some of my colleagues in WISERD. I was pleased to discover that, as long as you have a decent microphone and a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed, recording a podcast is surprisingly easy. Zoom’s inbuilt feature for recording a call’s audio means that it only takes a couple of clicks to get going. I was expecting to face some technical difficulties sooner or later, but to my surprise everything went smoothly and I was able to focus wholly on the conversations with my guests. The only real difficulty came during editing, with having to listen to the sound of my own voice for hours on end – which is where having colleagues to help me came in handy!
My advice to any researcher thinking of making a podcast is simple: give it a go. Podcasting can be a great way of helping your research to reach a larger audience beyond academic circles. Don’t let the technology put you off – I was surprised at how simple it is to record and edit an interview, and apart from the price of a decent microphone a podcast can cost very little to make.
Academic Perspectives on Conspiracism is available now to listen to at PodBean, Spotify, and YouTube.