Concurrent Panel Session Three
"Yes Mr. Bond, I do expect you to talk": Subcultural Capital and Hanging Out in the "James Bonding" Podcast
Start Date
6-4-2018 3:00 PM
End Date
6-4-2018 3:50 PM
Abstract
The James Bond franchise has existed for over half a century in various media forms and is a rich area for scholarly research. Past studies include Umberto Eco’s analysis of Ian Fleming’s original Bond novels. Bond exists beyond these novels and the popular Eon film series, with one new media form, the podcast, providing an opportunity to view the franchise through the eyes of certain Bond fans. I apply the concepts of subcultural capital and hanging out to "James Bonding", a podcast where two comedians primarily discuss the Bond films with various guests. The longevity of the Bond franchise as well as its widely known genre conventions contribute to a wide range of displays of subcultural capital among the podcast’s hosts and guests, particularly in relation to gender and age. I use Keith Kahn-Harris’s concepts of mundane and transgressive subcultural capital to categorize the different types of guests featured on the podcast. I also use Esther Clinton and Jeremy Wallach’s phenomenological study of heavy metal scenes to apply the concept of hanging out to "James Bonding". The format of the podcast is an example of hanging out and talking Bond between the hosts and the guests, which continually builds as the podcast progresses. I also argue that the podcast’s listeners have opportunities to exhibit their own subcultural capital in relation to Bond through their interaction with the podcast and experience a virtual form of hanging out while listening. These concepts can be applied in further studies of similarly formatted podcasts.
Keywords
James Bond, podcast, subcultural capital, hanging out, fandom
"Yes Mr. Bond, I do expect you to talk": Subcultural Capital and Hanging Out in the "James Bonding" Podcast
The James Bond franchise has existed for over half a century in various media forms and is a rich area for scholarly research. Past studies include Umberto Eco’s analysis of Ian Fleming’s original Bond novels. Bond exists beyond these novels and the popular Eon film series, with one new media form, the podcast, providing an opportunity to view the franchise through the eyes of certain Bond fans. I apply the concepts of subcultural capital and hanging out to "James Bonding", a podcast where two comedians primarily discuss the Bond films with various guests. The longevity of the Bond franchise as well as its widely known genre conventions contribute to a wide range of displays of subcultural capital among the podcast’s hosts and guests, particularly in relation to gender and age. I use Keith Kahn-Harris’s concepts of mundane and transgressive subcultural capital to categorize the different types of guests featured on the podcast. I also use Esther Clinton and Jeremy Wallach’s phenomenological study of heavy metal scenes to apply the concept of hanging out to "James Bonding". The format of the podcast is an example of hanging out and talking Bond between the hosts and the guests, which continually builds as the podcast progresses. I also argue that the podcast’s listeners have opportunities to exhibit their own subcultural capital in relation to Bond through their interaction with the podcast and experience a virtual form of hanging out while listening. These concepts can be applied in further studies of similarly formatted podcasts.