This critical commentary reflects on a rapidly mobilised international podcast project, in which 25 urban scholars from around the world provided audio recordings about their cities during COVID‐19. New digital tools are increasing the speeds, formats and breadth of the research and communication mediums available to researchers. Voice recorders on mobile phones and digital audio editing on laptops allows researchers to collaborate in new ways, and this podcast project pushed at the boundaries of what a research method and community might be. Many of those who provided short audio 'reports from the field' recorded on their mobile phones were struggling to make sense of their experience in their city during COVID‐19. The substantive sections of this commentary discuss the digital methodology opportunities that podcasting affords geographical scholarship. In this case the methodology includes the curated production of the podcast and critical reflection on the podcast process through collaborative writing. Then putting this methodology into action some limited reflections on cities under COVID‐19 lockdown and social distancing initiatives around the world are provided to demonstrate the utility and limitations of this method.
Since the early 1900s the city of Geelong has been synonymous with Australian manufacturing. However, the protracted demise of heavy manufacturing, including the city’s renowned automotive industry after the year 2000, highlights the challenges that post-industrial modernity, characterized by economic rationalism, cultural homogenization and globalization, has posed to the city. The year 2014 marked a turning point in the city’s history with major car maker Ford announcing the closure of its Geelong plant in 2017. Yet paradoxically, the city’s mall-and-sprawl pattern of development marches on as though cars will continue to roll off the production line. A few months after Ford’s announcement, a promotional video of Geelong was released depicting the city as a zombie-ridden dystopia, salvaged by magical powers summoned forth by the city’s Mayor. The video’s portrayal of residents as the ‘living dead’ drew sharp criticism and raised questions about what this imagery was really saying about the city and its people. Over the second half of the twentieth century, zombies have become symbols of mindless consumption, alienation and fear. So while Geelong is a city seeking reinvigoration and renewal, the Geelong Reinvented video presents the obverse of its promise. This article explores the identity of the real zombies of Geelong and how they might be brought to heel in order to spearhead a true rejuvenation of the city.
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