Higher-education Civic Education can struggle to engage students when it relies on traditional, less interactive teaching methods, making participation a central challenge [1]. Podcasting offers a possible shift: convenient episodic audio can carry stories and ideas while creating space for discussion, reflection, and active contribution. Grounded in andragogy—an approach that treats learners as active participants—podcast-based learning can connect civic concepts with social issues and social responsibility [1]. In this setting, a podcast is not merely something to hear; it can become a format for collaborative learning and critical conversation. Yet wider questions remain: can podcasting broaden whose voices are heard, support democratic action, and cultivate public engagement when participation is not always visibly expressed? These questions move the medium beyond entertainment toward inclusive civic learning.
Podcasting began as portable internet audio: people could create a radio-like programme with a computer and distribute it through the internet to listeners’ portable players. In this model, audiences could also become producers, recovering voices excluded from traditional media [8]. Its development moved audio beyond live radio schedules toward online, user-generated, transnational media, including niche production and independent “long-tail” communities [4][10]. The format’s defining features remain episodic audio that is relatively convenient to produce and experience [2].
These features create several civic and educational affordances. Listeners can timeshift episodes—choosing when to hear them—and may build social connections by discussing shows with other fans [9]. Independent production can support interpersonal, creative, and content-focused motivations [10]. Audio storytelling can convey emotion and encourage empathy, while learner-generated podcasts can make assessment collaborative, authentic, and oriented toward communication, peer feedback, and reflection [4]. In citizen news, humour, parody, satire, and engaging journalism can challenge mainstream authority and encourage political action among people disillusioned with conventional journalism .