Podcasting as a hybrid cultural form between old and new media

In this chapter, I propose a way out of this debate, a third way which draws upon the cultural history of broadcasting, the political economy of communication, Social Construction of Technology studies (SCOT), Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Cultural Studies to explore the very nature of podcasting as a medium. Comparing the early years of broadcasting with the early stage of podcasting, I will try to show that podcasting has re-mediated some aspects of radio, but it also represents something completely different. I will account for this ‘hybrid’ nature of podcasting’s cultural form (Williams 1974): podcasting should not be intended solely as a media object (the podcast episode) nor as a distribution technology (the .rss format, the podcast networks or the podcast streaming platforms), but as a new, hybrid, cultural form, that draws not only from radio, but also from theatre, performing arts, design and internet culture.