Why Podcast Research Matters More Than You Think

When podcasters are short on time, they may let details slide. One area of podcasting where cutting corners doesn’t help, though, is research.

Maybe you produce a True Crime show or a fitness podcast, and fact-check your episode using the first page your search engine displays. Or maybe you’ve embraced the research capabilities of AI without taking on board the “can make mistakes” disclaimers.

Hitting a regular podcast schedule can feel frantic and busy. But publishing consistently shouldn’t cost accuracy. Though podcasters appear spontaneous, there’s more work happening behind the scenes. When you show your audience how facts back up your ideas, you show you’re responsible and confident.

Researching your podcast is an opportunity to reduce complacency, gain perspective, and hone podcasting skills. Let me show you how.

How Research Can Reduce Complacency

Sure, researching your podcast’s material feels like homework. Nobody likes homework, and podcasting should be fun, right? Fair enough. Let’s set that aside for a moment.

Take what you think you know, and ask yourself how you know it. Then, research the topic and analyze the results. How are you gathering this information? Would you use those resources again? Not only does researching familiar topics help you learn more about them, but the practice also enhances your critical thinking skills. 

For example, let’s say I’m making a podcast about William Shakespeare. If you ask a hundred randomly selected theatre fans what Shakespeare’s father did for a living, most of them will say, “he was a glover.” The ideal audience for a Shakespeare podcast would scroll past that episode.

But, how do we know Shakespeare’s father made gloves? And why does it matter?  

Fortunately, historians have researched Shakespeare’s domestic and business life qualitatively. There’s plenty of evidence to support a clearer view of John Shakespeare’s occupation and business affairs. The article I’ve linked is part of the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust website, and cites a peer-reviewed article in Shakespeare Quarterly, published by Oxford University Press. 

Based on this information, I know that John Shakespeare made gloves, served in local government, lent money, and ran into legal and financial trouble. These activities may have influenced Shakespeare’s plays.

Now, “Shakespeare’s Dad” has details and subverted expectations that help us understand Shakespeare’s work. These details help make a unique podcast episode topic. Researching Shakespeare’s father opens up new areas for this podcast to explore. I can also add two more trustworthy resources to my investigation toolkit. In the future, I can rely on those resources. And, I’ve found new insight. 

Gain Perspective Through Research

Podcasts can be conversational, and conversations blur the line between facts and anecdotes. For a conversation between friends, that may not matter. However, studies show that many people consider podcasts a trusted news source and that they can help listeners feel less lonely. Fact-checking and using reliable research sources help you earn and keep your audience’s trust.

But what about opinions? It’s certainly easier to make a podcast based on feelings and intuition. When you say things your audience wants to hear, you reward the audience’s cognitive biases. This can make your listeners feel smart. 

What if you researched the ideas that you think “everyone says” or “everyone knows” anyway? And, what if you researched an opposing view? You don’t have to agree with the opposition. But you can learn why the opinion exists.

Let’s return to our Shakespeare podcast example, with an opinion that’s hard to prove or disprove: “Shakespeare’s family was happy.” You can ask a search engine, “Was Shakespeare’s family happy?” and hope for relevant results.

You can also gather facts about Shakespeare’s family and domestic life in England’s early modern period. Then, read through this information and put together a theory about the emotional state of the household. Evidence makes your opinion more convincing.

The result won’t be as simple as the opinion you started with. However, the facts your research provides make a more inspiring and rewarding podcast episode for you and your audience. 

Why Bother to Research the Foundations of an Opposing View?

You might think, “Come on, Lindsay, why should I bother learning why people think I’m wrong? That sounds like work, and besides, everyone says I’m right.” Okay. Let me simplify this for you.

The facts supporting an opposing viewpoint can:

• Help you manage counter-arguments before they start, 
• Motivates you to examine ideas you take for granted,
• Add to your go-to resources for research. 

Examining opposing viewpoints and learning why they exist can intrigue your audience in a more exciting way than simply rewarding cognitive biases.

If I say, “Shakespeare ‘s family was happy,” it may make the audience think, “Ha, I know as much about Shakespeare as this podcaster, I’m smart.” Maybe. On the other hand, “Shakespeare’s family life had good and bad times; let’s explore what historians have found” sets up your audience for a complex, rewarding experience.

Sharpen Underrated Podcasting Skills

Talk about podcast skills tends to focus on recording, editing, publishing, and everything that requires electricity. What about scripting, fact-checking, and contextualizing? Oh, my, that’s the boring stuff. Nobody wants to talk about that! (Clutches pearls, breathes deeply)

Research skills, like juggling, improve with practice. For example, keeping a list of resources becomes second nature, rather than a chore, when researching your podcast. Crafting citations can be as simple as making a cup of coffee just the way you like it. Practice makes researching your podcast feel less like homework and more like solving a mystery.

Where Can Podcasters Go for Reliable Research?

Research is a sticky wicket in the 21st century. Search engines aren’t always your friend. Unfortunately, search engine optimization helps some websites jump the queue and push peer-reviewed, unbiased research to the back. Fortunately, libraries, archives, and research databases can help you dissect a boring topic.

What about Wikipedia? 

Let’s get this out of the way first. Anyone can edit Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt. 

When Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI, someone edited the papal Wikipedia page to include a photo of Emperor Palpatine in The Phantom Menace. If you don’t believe me, here’s a screenshot.

And that, Gentle Reader, is how Ian McDiarmid became the first Scottish Pope.

Just kidding.

But, Wikipedia can be a good place to find resources, provided you scroll down to the citations and use the cited resources.  

This explanation could seem excessively detailed and long-winded. However, the size of the population that doesn’t understand research may surprise you.

Research Resources for Podcasters

Now that we’ve gotten that over with, here are options for research.

Start with your local library. Check their website to find out what research databases are available. Do you have a library card? If not, sign up for one.

Many libraries in the US have access to Gale, and Gale Academic OneFile. Gale includes nonfiction ebooks and digitized periodicals. Gale Academic OneFile “provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources.” You can also peruse any of them with a library card.

The Library of Congress has research resources and images that are free to use and reuse.

JSTOR is a database that makes academic journals, articles, and primary sources available to libraries and universities. Anyone can register for a free read-only JSTOR account.

The Pew Research Center is “a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis, and other data-driven social science research.” This is a great resource of opinion data.

The National Archives are the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, England, and Wales. This archive has much more than historic documents: their research collections shed light on nearly all aspects of UK culture.

The PubMed database contains over 38 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature. Though the full research papers aren’t included, the abstracts and citations often include enough information for the general public’s benefit. This is a good place to get started before wading into the sea of medical literature.

Citation Tools for Podcasters 

Information wants to be free; we also want to know where it came from. When you cite the source of the ideas you share, you’re part of the larger exchange of ideas. And, if the information you share is disproven, you can follow the trail of ideas back to the source to understand why.

Grammarly’s Free Citation Generator can help you generate citations for almost any source of information, from books to generative AI. Fill out the form with what you found and how you found it. Then, choose whether you want that citation generated in APA, MLA, or Chicago style. Grammarly generates a preview you can copy and paste into your show notes or your podcast’s blog post.

University writing centers often have citation resources online, such as Purdue Online Writing Lab’s Research and Citation Guide. University writing labs’ advantage is that they teach you why and how a citation or format choice works, so you won’t always need an online citation generator.

Which Citation Style, APA, MLA, or Chicago?

The citation style doesn’t matter, as long as you remain consistent. Pick one, and stick with it.

Put the citation in the episode’s show notes, or link to a blog post with citations if you have a lot of them. This way, you’re accountable without distracting or slowing down your episode. 

Researching Your Podcast Makes Your Show Dependable. 

My dad warned me about college. He said the “cool kids” would never let themselves be caught studying. They made academic success seem as easy as catching a Frisbee. In reality, my dad claimed, they would “sneak study.” Maybe they’d hide in remote corners of the library to write papers or memorize flashcards. But, they would never let anyone know they cracked a book. It wasn’t cool. 

Similarly, many podcast hosts seem “cool.” Sometimes, podcast hosts appear to spout wisdom from their years of experience extemporaneously. Or, they play the “regular guy” role, a blank slate on whom the audience can project themselves. The host’s notes are hidden to the side to maintain the “cool” image. 

Good podcasters make their discussion appear effortless. But, there’s no shame in work. Verifiability can be part of your podcast’s USP. Consider that in nearly every online interaction, AI interrupts to offer “help.” But, according to a recent article in the Columbia Journalism Review, “Chatbots’ responses to our queries were often confidently wrong.” When you present ideas that your audience can corroborate, you can present your ideas with confidence to help your audience and podcasting in general. That’s cool.

When you plan your podcast episodes, don’t skimp on research. The time you spend making sure your ideas are true will pay you back in integrity and trust.