John L Sullivan
Education
- B.A., Pomona College, Media Studies & German
- M.A., University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School for Communication
- Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School for Communication
Teaching Interests
I teach courses all about media institutions, media theory, history of media, audiences, and podcasting. My courses generally focus on how media production and distribution processes are often connected with systems of social and economic power. I teach a number of the required courses for the Media & Communication major as well such as Media & Society, Media Theory & Methods, and the Honors Seminar.
Research and Scholarship
My current research explores the emergence of creator cultures online, particularly in the realm of audio podcasting. I published a book in 2024 entitled Podcasting in a Platform Age, that looked at how the rush to professionalize and monetize podcasting in the past 7 years has radically alerted its grassroots, DIY culture. I am also the author of Media Audiences (2nd ed), a book that introduces advanced undergraduate students and graduate students to some of the key theories and research in the field of audience studies. I am a tech enthusiast and tinkerer, and I love exploring new free, open source software and operating systems (such as Linux).
- Communication Internship: Madden Media
- Communication Internship: Muhlenberg College
- Communication Internship: USA Lacrosse
- Communication Internship: WJLA
- Introduction to Podcasting
- Media & Society
- Media Industries
- Media Theory & Methods
- Four-week Summer Teaching Grant, 2024
- Eight-week Summer Research Grant, 2021
- LVAIC Teaching Innovation Grant, News Literacy Course Development, 2018
- Eight-week Summer Research & Direct Expense Grant, 2018, 2019
- “A Different Way of “Listening In”: Speech-to-Text as Method in Podcast Analysis” at the conference of the Radio and Sound Section (RSS) of the European Communication and Research Association (ECREA) in Sheffield, UK, September 8-9, 2025.
- Invited Keynote Presentation: “Is Podcasting a Platform Medium Now?” at the conference of the Radio and Sound Section (RSS) of the European Communication and Research Association (ECREA) in Sheffield, UK, September 8-9, 2025.
- "AI, Programmatic Advertising, and the Datafication of Podcast Audiences". Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) conference in Chicago, April 3-6, 2025.
- "The Platforms of Podcasting: Past and Present". Social Media + Society, 5(4)., 2019.
Media & Communication
Pre-Law Advising
Contact: johnsullivan@muhlenberg.edu