Author voices in the classroom: a podcast-integrated approach to inclusive pedagogy in postgraduate economics education

This paper evaluates a podcast-integrated teaching intervention designed to improve student engagement with empirical research articles in a postgraduate economics course. The intervention paired assigned readings with podcast interviews with the original authors, shaped by student-submitted questions, and online discussions. Using a difference-in-differences design that exploits within-student variation across seminars, the study finds that the intervention significantly improved students’ reading motivation, perceived comprehension, emotional connection to research, and behavioral engagement, including greater participation in seminar discussions. Qualitative evidence further suggests that the intervention reframed econometrics as a human-centered, narrative-rich practice, positioning students as co-inquirers rather than passive recipients. The findings suggest that thoughtfully integrated podcast-based pedagogy can enhance student engagement while creating reusable teaching resources that support more inclusive economics education.