Research led by Associate Professor Lauren Gawne shows that linguistics podcasts are reaching a broad and motivated audience, challenging assumptions about who engages with academic content.
“Podcasting is now an established entertainment medium and a powerful way to access educational content not available in other formats,” she explains. “But until now, we haven’t had a clear picture of what that audience looks like.”
To address this, Associate Professor Gawne analysed data from a 2024 listener survey of the Lingthusiasm podcast, with 963 participants.
The study revealed a diverse, global listenership spanning 58 countries and a wide range of ages, while showing that the distinction between general and academic audiences is far more complex than often assumed.
“This survey shows audiences are highly motivated to engage with linguistics and educational content.”
The study also identifies a significant group of highly engaged, self-directed learners, or auto-didacts, who have been largely overlooked.
“These findings highlight the value of a rich media ecosystem for linguistics,” Associate Professor Gawne says.
“For some, Lingthusiasm is part of a broader mix of content, while for others it’s their entry point into learning more about language.”
