Nostalgia Podcasts: A New Historical Source

Abstract: Nostalgia podcasts are an emerging medium and a growing resource for historical research. Contemporary Greece provides a productive terrain on which to examine their potential. To fully harness nostalgia podcasts as historical sources, it is essential to investigate their features and audiences, to assess their possible uses by researchers, and to reflect on the methodological implications of these uses. Since nostalgia podcasts share certain similarities with qualitative interviews, oral history offers researchers useful tools for engaging with them. At the same time, it is crucial to recognize the particularities of storytelling within a commercial media context shaped by "quantified nostalgia," and to remain aware of the limits of these similarities. Only then can researchers approach this novel source with the necessary sensitivity.