Literary analysis for podcasts: my top tips
Recently some of my analysis posts have been getting notes again and it made me think that maybe I can share some advice with those of you who are interested in writing about similar things but feel hesitant to! I’m by no means an expert but I love writing and reading media analysis, and I’m sure some of you do too. This is primarily for social media and blogging, but some of it applies to academia too!
1. Know your media
This one’s pretty obvious, but useful! Definitely write notes of your thoughts the first time you listen to a podcast, but if you’re able to listen multiple times you can gain insight into what piques your interest again, and also what you missed the first time/s that other people might’ve missed too.
2. Know your audience
Engaging with the community of said media can add even more depth and interest to your writing and theories. Look at what people are already putting out there: what are their headcanons? What’s controversial? What is nobody saying? There’s always something new to be found, even if you’re exploring a really popular aspect of the story.
3. Write for yourself
In my experience this is the most important thing. Even if you tailor your writing in a way you think will suit everyone, somebody will still disagree with you, so it’s better to write what you think and feel (in a respectful and conciontious way) than to try and make everyone like it. There’s always hate, but there’s also always appreciators!
4. Don’t undervalue transcripts
For some reason when I first started analyzing podcast content I was really against looking in the transcripts? I’m sure you’re not, but either way make sure to read them if you can, there’s often extra tidbits of information in them, and they can help you understand!
5. Sometimes how it was said can be even more interesting than the sentence itself
It can be so interesting to look into a voice actors choice; podcasts present the unique challenge of an audio only word, so phrasing can really make a difference and be interesting to analyse. It’s also interesting to compare notable lines to the speech pattern an actor or character usually uses.
6. Sounds effects and audio design can be just as interesting as storylines
This is something really specific to audio dramas, as again they rely only on sound. I think it’s easy to underestimate the difference that the sound design can make, but as it’s something everyone interprets differently I find it a really juicy topic for analysis.
7. Have a look at the producer/creator’s other work
This can be another really cool topic for analysis if you’re interested in the maker themself! It can uncover common links in their work, introduce you to new media, and give you new perspectives on the media you started with! Also, as all of you creators will know, there’s a chance they reused cut parts of your favourite podcast in another they made…
8. Be self indulgent…
I kind of already said this but I can’t say it enough… Write about what you love, share your brainrot, share the weird little things you think (as long as they’re appropriate to…). Just share your joy and it’ll probably make other people happy too!
Hopefully some of this will be helpful! It’s not all podcast specific, but it all certainly applies. And remember, if you think this is all really obvious, you may not be the target audience, but you can share it with someone who might be! And also, as always, please feel free to add your own tips in the tags!