Goode, LManickam, Jovita2020-06-102020https://hdl.handle.net/2292/51424Full Text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only.Cultural intermediation is an essential, but under-studied phenomenon which was first examined and outlined by French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu. Bourdieu (1984) argued that cultural intermediation involved the “gentle manipulation” (p. 365) of consumers’ tastes for the purpose of reproducing social stratification. In recent years, however, scholars have posited that cultural intermediation varies according to medium and context, and that there is a greater need to examine the practice in different media (Maguire Smith and Matthews 2010, p. 415). As the podcast is a medium about which there have been similar calls for further study (Berry 2015; Spinelli & Dann 2019), this research sought to understand the nature of cultural intermediation as it is carried out in pop culture podcasts. On the basis of the literature, two research questions were asked. Firstly, what is the nature of cultural intermediation in podcasting? Secondly, how is cultural value constructed by cultural intermediaries in podcasting? The study then employed textual analysis to examine select episodes of three podcasts: Pop Culture Happy Hour (NPR), Still Processing (New York Times) and Culture Gabfest (Slate). Through a careful examination of the latent themes and messages in these episodes, the research found that cultural intermediation is marked by a blurring of hosts’ professional and personal lives and a devotion to high, low and middle-brow culture. The findings here make a contribution to the academic literature on both podcasting and cultural intermediation, shedding light on how both practices are carried out in our current cultural moment.Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.Restricted Item. Full Text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only.https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htmhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/ThesisCopyright: The authorQ112952941