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“Transmitters?  We don’t need no stinkin’ transmitters!”

The Wide Open World of Podcasting

By Tom Lyberg

 

“Transmitters?  We don’t need no stinkin’ transmitters!”    If you have heard this tagline by Craig Patchett before, then you have joined the wired and wild world of Podcasting.  Daily Source Code, the Dawn and Drew Show, Evil Genius Chronicles, and the Godcasters are all things you have listened to.  You have joined in debates over the reality of Madge Weinstein, voting on Podcast Alley, and ASCAP podcast licensing.  Ipods, I-Rivers, and other mp3 players are as important as your cell phone.  And if you have no idea about what any of these things are, then its time you learned about a new technology that is changing how we understand entertainment, information, and community.

 

So, what is Podcasting?  Technically, Podcasting is essentially the delivery of custom audio content in the form of an mp3 file to your computer via a custom subscription program.  Only about a year old, former MTV video DJ Adam Curry and programmer Dave Winer developed a program called Ipodder that used RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to develop sound files instead of just text files.  Each mp3 files is then downloaded to your computer where you can listen to it or transfer the file to a portable mp3 player (like the Apple Ipod – hence the name “podcasting”) to listen to at any time.  The end result is that since August, 2004 when the first Ipodder script was released, the number of podcasts has grown from just a handful to over 5,000 as of April, 2005.

 

Podcasting is much more than the technology.  For those who have jumped into the brave new world, the discovery has been that of a community that does not exist in physical space but entirely online.  Podcasts differ from broadcast radio or download on demand.  Growing out of the blogging community, Podcasting reflects an independent spirit to explore and produce commentary and community outside the traditional boundaries of culture and technology.  Each podcast is in essence an exercise in freedom of speech but also the creation of a microcommunity that simply is not possible in popular culture.

 

A visit to Podcast Alley, Ipodder.org, or one of the other podcast directories online will show the wide variety of content that can be found in the Podcasting community.  There are music programs like Coverville, which plays cover songs, to the Vinyl Podcast, which is dedicated to playing out of prints music.  You have tech shows like the Engadget podcast and Esc From the World, a show produced by 15 year old Matthew Bischoff, who puts many adult tech gurus to shame with his knowledge.  Religious podcasts while predominately Christian, like Craig Patchett’s Godcast Network, the Rev Tim Podcast, and The Catholic Insider, you can also find podcasts on the tarot, astrology, and others.  You have podcasts that are more like blogs, stream of conscousness and personal reflections on daily life, like the Evil Genius Chronicles, The Dawn and Drew Show, and the granddaddy of all podcasts, Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code.

 

The technical quality of podcasts varies widely, ranging from near professional level home studios to just a computer and a cheap microphone.  The content quality is just as varied, with podcasts ranging from course juvenile humor that is not safe for work or kids to very narrow technical conversations for a very few to just plain boring talk that only the podcaster will enjoy.  However, the overriding creed of the podcast community is that no matter what you put out on the net, you must keep it real.  While Adam Curry and others talk about the emerging commercial possibilities of Podcasting, many others are following the lead of Dave Winer of keeping Podcasting as a personal art form and forum for the emerging generations under the age of 35.

 

At the moment, the future of Podcasting is in a state of flux, trying to define itself in a culture that is in transition as well.  The desire for individualized content for the masses, personal creativity and expression, and the understanding of technology as a personal extension of yourself rather than an objective tool all are reflected in the corporate wars over copyright infringement and the rise of creativity as a commodity and lifestyle, as seen in HGTV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and the marketing strategy of stores like Target and Old Navy.  Podcasting seems to be one more reflection of this larger cultural change that is occurring throughout North America.

 

What then does Podcasting have to do with the church?  Perhaps a great deal.  As we continue to move into a post-Christian, postmodern world, the very cultural trends that are reflected in Podcasting are surfacing in the church.  Reflected in new terms and perspectives like the emerging church, ancient-future, transformational ministry, post-evangelical, newly planted congregations and some existing congregations are engaging this new culture by becoming immersed and conversant in its language and technology to witness to Jesus in the 21st Century.  Podcasting is rapidly becoming part of that outreach.  Congregational blogs have given birth to congregation specific podcasts.  More traditional approaches have been podcasts of bible studies, sermons, and inspirational messages, aimed largely at a Christian audience.  A number of podcasts have been born out of personal blogs, like A Different Perspective by Alan Hartung and Tim Bednar’s podcast, and have that same conversational informality of a journal.

 

For Christian leaders, podcasts are both a tool to be used and a lens into the postmodern world.  Several podcasts are aimed specifically at leaders, to create a forum to conversation and learning from others in engaged in creative ministry in the emerging church.  Next Wave: Church and Culture is one example of an online magazine aimed at postmodern church leaders that has now moved into developing leadership content via their new podcast Conversatio Fide.  Other podcasts, like the Wired Jesus Podcast, the Rev Tim Podcast, and Lifespring! attempt to engage postmoderns in spiritual conversation outside the organized church.

 

As a lens into the postmodern heart and world, it doesn’t get more direct than on the podcasts. Dave Slusher’s 40 minute Evil Genius Chronicles podcast on how he went from being an Evangelical Christian to an atheist is an indictment of modern understandings of discipleship and a challenge for church leaders to learn to speak the Gospel to a postmodern generation.  The “Why I Don’t Believe In God” podcast, in which he openly describes his father’s suicide and the response offered to him by other Christians remained one of the most discussed podcasts in the community and a must listen to for any postmodern Christian leader.  One group of podcasters put together a podcast card for a fellow podcaster battling cancer, another aspect of how this digital community is taking shape in the “real” world.  Just as the advice in the 1990s to youth pastors was to spend time daily watching MTV and reading Rolling Stone to understand youth culture, listening to podcasts will bring you into contact with the intensely personal yet communal heart of postmoderns and their spiritual yearning.

 

While most of these podcasts are not specific to congregations, there is tremendous potential for individual congregations to develop their own set of podcasts specific to their needs and ministries as the technology continues to be refined and made simpler to use.  Delivery of sermons, Bible studies, and audio newsletters is just an adaptation from an old technology to new.  Potential new and more creative uses could be daily devotional by pastors and staff for small groups, leadership, or the entire congregation.  Book reviews, local praise band concerts, and guided spiritual disciplines can all be delivered for people to listen to while jogging, in their car, or to email to friends and family.  Add to that the growing penetration of mp3 players and Podcasting into the generations 35 and under, their increasing disconnection with organized religion and their search for community online, Christian Podcasting could become a major evangelism tool in coming years.

 

Is Podcasting a fad or does it have the potential to become a communications technology that will someday be as dominant as radio and television are today?  Only time will tell but in the meantime, Podcasting is on the rise, capturing headlines in print and on television.  In a world where mega-corporations like the television networks and broadcast giants like Clear Channel dominate communication, people and the church will have the change to ride the wave and join in a communications community by individuals and for individuals – the world of Podcasting.

 

 

Sidebar 1 – Podcast Subscription Programs

While producing your own podcast requires some significant technical knowledge and some equipment investment, subscribing to podcasts is very easy.  All you need to do is download and install a podcast aggregator like Ipodder (http://ipodder.sourceforge.net/index.php)  or Doppler (www.dopplerradio.net/)  for Microsoft Windows machines or IpodderX (http://ipodderx.com/)  for the Apple Macintosh.  Once you have installed your aggregator, access either the aggregator’s internal podcast directory or a dedicated directory site like Podcast Alley(www.podcastalley.com)  or Podcast Central (www.podcastcentral.com) , choose the podcast feeds you which to subscribe to, and then start listening.

 

Sidebar 2 – Favorite Podcasts

Most podcasts are a matter of personal taste but here is a listing of some of my personal, safer favorites.  Keep in mind that there are no restrictions on Podcasting content whatsoever, so many will not be appropriate for work or for children.   Like the web itself, use your own discretion and be prepared for occasional unexpected surprises.

Daily Source Code with Adam Curry (http://dailysourcecode.com)

Coverville (www.coverville.com)

Area 51 Comedy (www.area51show.com)

Evil Genius Chronicles (www.evilgeniuschronicles.org)

Esc From the World (http://matthewbischoff.com/blog/)

 

Sidebar 3

Christian Podcasting comes in a variety of forms.  Here is a mix of some of the more popular church and independent podcasts.

The Godcast Network (www.godcast.org)

Rev Tim Podcast (www.revtim.com)

Catholic Insider (http://www.rorate.com/catholicinsider/)

LifeSpring! (http://www.godcast.org/categories/lifespring/)

A Different Perspective (http://www.alanhartung.com/blog/)

Wired Jesus Podcast (www.wiredjesus.com)

Conversatio Fide (http://podcast.next-wave.org/gems/conversatio/)

 

About the Author:  Tom Lyberg is a Lutheran pastor in Northwestern Ohio and creator of The Wired Jesus Podcast: The Wired Wanderings of a Postmodern Pilgrim, a podcast that explores online spirituality in the postmodern world.  He can be reached at his website, www.wiredjesus.com or by email at .

   

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