Tasting Together – Podcasts and Meaningful Community Engagement

Published paper: Tasting together: Podcasts and meaningful community engagement

Throughout 2017, the Jewish Museum and Archives of BC presented The Kitchen Stories podcast series and The Chosen Food Supper Club. These programs invited community members and the general public to share family and community history within the unifying theme of food. The Kitchen Stories and The Chosen Food incorporated thinking from diverse fields including oral history, food studies, the participatory museum, and the sensory turn. However, the experience for participants was nothing so high minded. Instead, these programs were an opportunity for people to come together and share their stories. This paper offers reflections on the development and reception of these programs, demonstrating that podcasts are a viable and promising medium for small community-based museums to tackle complex topics, but are at their best when supported by in-person public programming.

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