A Picture's Worth - Re-focusing Community and Media Narratives: How Podcasts Create Fertile Ground for Dialogue and Deeper Connections

Workshop Presentation
Kezia Carpenter,  Elissa Yancey  

Paeans to the power of stories in public life have long been a mainstay of the Western humanities. This project is informed by recent work on the importance of narrative for the cultivation of good citizens (Nussbaum 2010; 1995) and on the ethical impact of stories on our sense of who we are (Gregory 2009). A Picture’s Worth (APW), a nonprofit founded in 2017, is a story-driven non-profit that leverages the power of individual photographs and photo-elicitation to spark rich conversations focused on connecting individuals and communities. APW uses the digital humanities to disrupt traditional media narratives and offer a new way to understand our human experience. Each podcast season (e.g., Strong Women; Ohio Values; Our Stories, Our Word) is focused on community-driven and strengths-based stories. They result in multi-voiced narratives that provide context and challenge traditional stories and stereotypes, laying the groundwork for dialogue, bridge-building, and community transformation. This showcase provides an overview of APW’s methodology and a pop-up exhibition highlighting APW’s podcast seasons and research findings.