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The Pit and Pod is the weekly blog of the Archaeology Podcast Network full of updates, news and opinion. Written by co-founder Tristan Boyle and special guest writers.
I often find myself at a loss about how to communicate what I think I know. It seems odd for someone who spends their time actively communicating to face such an issue but the truth is I don't think there's anything particularly special about my presenting beyond my own choice to continue to do so.
My childhood was sheltered and my creative outlets were aplenty; looking back it was clear that podcasting was for me. I was a loud, outspoken boy with a need to perform, a need for approval, and a little attention doesn’t hurt either. And that little boy is still there, he’s just gotten older but yet the hunger to perform remains.
This feeling can be draining, surrounded by amazing content creators, knowing that one’s own output is so very standard and basic. I think I used to consider my own work higher and it's been humbling watching others take the format of podcasting and achieve more than me.
This feeling isn't unique. All creators, especially on a smaller professional and independent level see what others are doing and think it’s better. Part of that is the “grass is always greener” phenomenon, but the other part is the “sausage” phenomenon, because those creators we see put out great work, the only difference between what they do and what I do or what you do, is that we don’t see the work they put into it.
Watching someone launch a podcast that sounds equal to our own, if not better, we didn’t see the months of prep or the hours of technical setup. The early mornings of editing, and the late nights of marketing. We only see the polished product, and we look at it like the tip of an iceberg, ignoring the underlying base it sits upon because we weren’t there for it, meanwhile with our own work, we usually only focus on what is below the surface.
Over the last number of years, writing about podcasting and archaeology has opened my eyes beyond my own work and to the larger project of podcasting as a means of education and outreach. Often these terms are corporate buzzwords that spend more time on funding applications than in practice (no matter the size or intent of the projects), but in my opinion they represent the future of archaeology.
When I wrote about the "Death of the Archaeologist", I was trying to touch upon the grandiose self vision and societal relationship to the class, the idea of "the Archaeologist". In that piece I talked about discarding archeologist as a professional signifier, as the power and revenance afforded to it is hijacked by pseudo-archaeologists and grifters; the only way to disempower them would be to let go of the term. I still believe at the very least, a clear reflection is needed, a repositioning of what archaeology is to a general public.
Archaeology lives in hubris, the museums of the world still exert power over the artefacts which they admit were stolen. We are still living in a society which cannot reckon with its own history, picking and choosing its own version to suit the instantaneous moment.
To create media without the traditional institutions, off your own back (with help from friends), being in a privileged enough place to afford equipment, time needed, that is the revolution, that's the future. The more voices we enable through these platforms and channels, the more open history can become but we need to all the while mindful of how the institutions of which we criticise don't become the blueprint for what we create. Looking inwards doesn’t have to be a huge overarching narrative, it can start with the small steps we take in our own lives to put ourselves in context. I want podcasting about archaeology to grow and grow and provide a necessary answer to the call of better public outreach.
Tristan Boyle
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Please contact tristan@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com for more information