At the Center for New Critical Politics and Governance (CPG) we publish a podcast. While podcasting is everywhere, and for good reason, the potentials of the medium are less explored academically. Podcasting is mostly seen as science communication about research results. Yet as researchers we are obligated to explore new avenues for public engagement in order to meet the social contract between academia and society: dismantling the ivory tower and rebuilding trust. To do this, we make the podcast an integrated part of the research process. Podcasting provides an alternative venue of dissemination that allows for aural intimacy, faster publishing and full open access. We see podcasts as data points and part of an ongoing cycle of questions and answers and new questions. Think of it as a lab.

University of California Press’s journal Global Perspectives publishes our podcasts as ‘podcast articles’. They come with a DOI, making them a recognizable (and quotable) scholarly item. They also come with show notes, transcripts, and lists of further readings.

Our podcast is called Planetary Choices. And while CPG explores three main research themes, all three relate to planetary questions. After all, when we think of new futures after the crisis and when we negotiate new practices of global governance, environmental awareness is essential.

We produce thematic seasons on issues we believe to be vital for our time. Foundational seasons on each research theme mark the start and we are happy to see our very first season, Mapping the Planetary, published in ten episodes and beginning its life ‘out there’. Further seasons are planned and we are recording continuously. So come back regularly.