Trusted voices: podcasts help academics transcend misinformation

Podcasts have clearly reshaped the media landscape in the past decade, growing as a platform for everyone from journalists to scientists, cultural critics to comedians. Here at the University of Chicago, we saw the medium as a way to connect our faculty with new audiences − and have built that opportunity into a highly impactful part of our communications strategy.

As the creator and host of the Big Brains podcast, which launched in April 2018, I believe our relative success speaks to a deeper truth: the value of rigorous scholarship and − in the age of misinformation − the enduring trust that the public still has in academic experts.

According to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer, academic experts rank among the most credible sources of information. Especially amid growing partisanship and the turmoil of the past year, giving our scholars a platform to present their evidence-based research was more critical than ever.

The success of our podcast underscores this reality. Our listenership has grown dramatically each year, making Big Brains one of the country’s most-listened-to university podcasts. Last autumn, it was selected by Adweek as one of its best podcasts of 2020 – tying with BMW in the “best branded podcast” category.

We have sought to engage a broad audience, fostering conversations that feel more like dinner-party conversations than academic lectures. One regular listener reported that he listens to Big Brains with his 10-year-old son, using the episodes as a way to start engaging discussions.

The podcast features the pioneering minds at UChicago and beyond, highlighting groundbreaking research and ideas that shape our world. Our debut episode featured evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin, best known for discovering a 375-million-year-old fossil that could be the missing link between sea and land animals. Since then, we have evolved our format and produced nearly 70 episodes, talking to Nobel laureates, legal experts and social scientists, discussing everything from police reform and presidential impeachment to the mysteries of our universe and the potential of alternate-reality games.

Academic research is, by its nature, often dense and complex. Our challenge was to effectively communicate innovative scholarship in a narrative format that was informative and engaging. That ethos is reflected in the podcast’s name, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the seriousness with which we treat our topics but not ourselves.

The podcast, which is wholly produced in-house at the University of Chicago, has also become a way for us to support our scholars. When we first began pitching the idea around campus, some faculty were reticent to take part. Now we routinely field enquiries from eager faculty members, and we have invited scholars from across the country to be podcast guests. Our faculty have come to value the podcast as a long-form but accessible format that highlights their work and connects them with new audiences.

I think we’ve proved that scholars can generate more interest in and support for their research, as well as engage with issues in the news. As successful as podcasting has been for us, the medium is just one part of a broader university initiative called the Academic Communicators Network, which helps our faculty learn to better explain their ideas − either directly to the public or by navigating traditional media outlets.

If you’re thinking about starting a podcast at a college or university, I hope our journey with Big Brains can offer some lessons:

• First, consider if a podcast is right for your goals − and if you have the resources to do it well. You have to dedicate full-time staffers who produce the show, identify guests, prepare for interviews, and edit and promote the final product.
• Second, consider your audience. Is this something your faculty would find beneficial as a way of reaching new audiences? Who do you want the message to reach? Although Big Brains has been successful with attracting listeners from a variety of backgrounds, other UChicago podcasts focus on specific fields, such as policy, economics and science.
• Finally, be flexible. Consider how Netflix and streaming services have launched content in a variety of formats, from feature films to documentary shorts to limited series. Think about the depth and length that work best for the stories you want to tell.

Of course, we’re still trying new ideas, too. The team behind Big Brains recently developed a series of videos, which featured faculty examining our world after Covid-19 and the impact of the vaccine on our cities. But no matter what we do, we are, essentially, encouraging people to participate in higher education’s core mission: to enrich one’s life through knowledge and to address challenges with the rigour they demand.

Paul M. Rand is vice-president of communications at the University of Chicago and host of the Big Brains podcast.