Believing in Podcasting: Arielle Nissenblatt on a Decade of Building the Medium

The conversation around Audio × Democracy is expanding, and on this episode of Podcasting An Institute, I’m joined by the first guest representing the audio side of this work. Arielle Nissenblatt has spent the past decade helping shape the podcast industry as a strategist, writer, community builder, and advocate. We talk about what she has learned from watching podcasting grow from an emerging medium into a global industry, why creator communities have mattered through both its boom years and downturns, and what it tells us that libraries, universities, and even resorts are now investing in permanent spaces for audio. From there, the conversation turns to how podcasting’s growing influence is beginning to show up in politics and civic life. Arielle talks about being hired to develop a podcast strategy for a political campaign, the growing recognition that candidates need to enter podcast spaces to reach people differently, and how she once mobilized dozens of podcasts to distribute abortion-access resources following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Together, we explore what these developments reveal about podcasting’s evolution beyond content and entertainment, and what it could mean to understand audio as civic infrastructure connecting creators, institutions, politics, and public life.