In this blog post, I seek to explore the relationship—and potential tensions—between the circulation of collective identities and digital technologies and infrastructures. In other words, this post asks: How do digital technologies and infrastructures impact the circulation of specific publics? To fully explore this question, I first establish my theoretical framework by providing a brief overview of Maurice Charland’s theory of constitutive rhetoric and its application to contemporary podcasting practices. Building on Charland’s work, I then offer one particular case study: The Bitter Southerner Podcast. Through analyzing the podcast, I examine how the algorithms and platforms that shape podcasting practices…
Author: Alexandra Gunnells
Alexandra Gunnells
Alexandra Gunnells (she/her) is a PhD student and assistant instructor in the Department o Rhetoric & Writing at UT-Austin. Her research interests include digital rhetorics, sonic studies, and archival methods.