From Fieldnotes to Soundwaves: How We Turned Our Research into a Podcast
- EHTZ
- Oct 16
- 3 min read
From the very beginning of Everyday Humanitarianism in Tanzania (EHTZ)—a joint research project between Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), led by Professor Lisa Ann Richey—we envisioned creating a podcast series as part of our broader dissemination strategy. Alongside academic publications, the idea was to share our findings in a format that could connect with new audiences and make research more accessible. So, we as EHTZ brought on a student assistant with communications experience and an enthusiastic spirit, rolled up our sleeves, and hit record.
Why a Podcast?
EHTZ explores how ordinary people in Tanzania respond to humanitarian needs in their everyday lives—long before international aid arrives, and long after it moves on. From religious leaders to small business owners, from refugees to elites, our research captures the many forms of giving, solidarity, and improvisation that shape crisis response outside formal institutions.
It felt only natural for our dissemination approach to mirror this spirit of informality and collaboration. Podcasting allowed us to meet audiences where they already are, in a medium that feels personal and conversational. Nuance and emotion often come through more vividly in spoken storytelling than in print, and we hoped to reach students, practitioners, and curious listeners across geographies.
From Workshop to Studio
Once fieldwork wrapped up and we moved into writing and analysis, we began mapping out the podcast. We wanted each episode not only to present research findings, but also to give listeners a behind-the-scenes look at how a large-scale project comes together—from the first design sketches, to months of fieldwork, to the process of sharing results. This vision eventually took shape as a 14-episode series.
Before each recording, we prepared a script with guiding questions and shared it with guests so they could reflect beforehand. Most episodes paired a Tanzanian researcher with a colleague from a Northern institution, highlighting the project’s collaborative spirit. We also invited a handful of external experts to bring fresh perspectives.
Most of the recordings took place during our team writing workshop at the Training Centre for Development Cooperation (TCDC) in Usa River, Tanzania, where we were lucky to have a fully equipped podcast studio ready for use. In addition to the sessions recorded there, we produced one episode remotely and hosted a live recording during our research public engagement event in Dar es Salaam.
For editing and publication, we combined CBS-provided tools such as Adobe Podcast and Podcastfeed with open-source platforms like Audacity and Pixabay. Each episode was crafted to run 20–30 minutes, long enough to capture substance, yet concise enough to keep listeners engaged.
Lessons in Sound
The process brought more than a few surprises. One valuable discovery was how podcasting doubled as a reflective tool for researchers. Speaking through findings in plain, conversational language helped team members sharpen their arguments, and sometimes even solve analytical puzzles that had lingered in their writing. More than once, after the podcast recording was completed, someone said, ‘I have to go and write that down!’
But there were challenges, too. Spoken content is less forgiving than text: while you can trim audio, rewriting or adding lines after the fact is time-consuming and difficult. This was especially true in episodes on politically sensitive topics, such as humanitarianism among refugees, where precision in wording was crucial. Unlike specialized academic publications, podcast episodes would (hopefully) end up being heard by listeners in Denmark, Tanzania and anywhere else in the world. Remembering that different issues are sensitive across contexts was a productive challenge.
Perhaps our biggest lesson, though, was the importance of audience strategy. While we set out to reach a broad public, the series so far has resonated most with European, often academic listeners. It leaves us wondering: is producing a standalone podcast series the most effective way to share research? Clearly the answer is yes if you want to share findings with other researchers and perhaps humanitarian practitioners. And also, for teaching purposes, the format is excellent, and students report that they enjoy listening. But for wider public engagement, reaching audiences of people, including Tanzanians who might be generally interested in the topic, it may simply take more time for podcasting to catch on. For building an even bigger audience among podcasting fans in the future, collaborating with established podcast platforms might reach more ears than starting from scratch.
Listen In
The EHTZ Podcast is being released biweekly until November 2025. If you haven’t tuned in yet, we recommend starting with Episode 1, which introduces the project, our team, and the core question: what does humanitarianism look like when it’s led by everyday people?
Post written by Alexander Maxelon & Lisa Ann Richey
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