Off The Wall? Il podcast come strumento di connessione dei patrimoni culturali, tra narrazione e partecipazione. Un confronto tra due casi studio

The aim of this contribution is to understand, thanks to the analysis of two case studies, through which media forms and practices the digital medium podcast expands the interpretative and narrative boundaries of a heritage or a collection, activating new connections with other cultural objects and knowledge. Starting from the definition of ‘podcast’, and moving on to the focus of what the Media Studies literature has identified as specific characteristics of the medium, we will briefly try to identify the times and methods with which this form of communication has spread, with specific reference to the Italian context, in the context of the digital valorization of cultural heritage, and then address in detail the two case studies of our interest. The first concerns the series Gli spaesati, a podcast created by the Civic Museums of Pistoia, in collaboration with Radio Papesse, which, through the first-person narration of the curator Lorenzo Cipriani, traces a historical-critical and emotional path along the route of the dispersion of the artistic heritage of Pistoia over the centuries, finds today conversed in some of the most renowned museums in the world. The second case focuses on the series entitled AscoltaMi created by Aedo: Sperimentare con le culture for the circuit of the House Museums of Milan and which features the experience of a visit by two girls who, through an informal and accessible dialogue (i.e. designed to encourage learning Italian for foreigners), restore knowledge of the Milanese heritage from different cultural perspectives. We will therefore try to analyze the strengths and criticisms of the two case studies by comparing the different communication and public participation strategies, with the aim of outlining possible future developments of the podcast both as a form of storytelling and as a tool for accessing cultural heritage.