The Podcast “Chitlin' Circuit”: Black Podcasters, Alternative Media, and Audio Enclaves

Abstract

This article explores how an informal network of Black podcasters, some of whom refer to themselves as the “Chitlin' Circuit” or “urban podcasters,” functions as a contemporary digital iteration of enclaved Black social spaces. The conversational nature of these podcasts and their use of Black American cultural commonplaces, combined with the intimate qualities of radio-style audio, reproduce a sense of being in Black social spaces such as the barber/beauty shop or church. Mobile technologies not only allow listeners to listen anywhere, but listening via headphones also potentially adds an element of immersion through the practice of sensory gating.

Notes

Notes

¹ I do not use the term “network” in the broadcasting sense, but to refer to the complex web of people and digital technologies that constitute the “Chitlin' Circuit.”

² Rod & Karen do not use their last names in association with their podcast.

³ Nic & Reg do not use their last names in association with their podcast.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Florini

Sarah Florini (Ph.D., Indiana University, 2012) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Theatre Arts and the Institute of Humanities at Old Dominion University. Her research focuses on the intersection of emerging media, Black American cultural production, and racial politics in the post-Civil Rights Movement landscape.