Download M5 Bus Enhanced Podcast
(to save to disk: Right click and choose "Save linked file...")

Instructions for Enhanced Podcast

Personal Statement: I’ve lived in New York for 10 years and I’ve either lived in or visited many of the areas that the M5 bus travels through. For me, this journey wasn’t about creating new experiences, but reliving old ones. Each location along the route conjured up old memories inside me. I am also a bit of a New York history buff, and it’s impossible for me to separate the history from the contemporary. In short, my journey on this bus route was viewed through two lenses: the personal and the historical.
Of course, every journey is a story. And nested inside that story are countless other stories. If you've ever let a friend show you around his or her hometown, you know what I mean.
Embedded inside the generic facts and details about buildings and locations are little anecdotes about the guide's life- memories that are triggered by passing, once again, through that area. Although these locations are new to us, our guide has taken this journey many times and brings along his or her own memories and experiences.
This enhanced podcast is designed to be a virtual tour guide along the M5 bus route. It is not designed to duplicate a professional tour guide. It is designed to be your friend. This tour will, at times, be inaccurate, boring, irrelevant, and opinionated, just like a real person.
I decided to create this podcast for two reasons: first, I see it as an experiment in storytelling. Although the podcast has been pre-recorded, the context for each listener will be unique. Every single time it is played on the bus, it will be a location-based performance for an audience of one. Second, I think that there is real potential for using public transportation as a means of sight-seeing. This bus travels through some of the most popular areas in New York, and it only costs $2. If a tourist has an iPod then there is no need to pay $20 to ride one of the double decker tour buses. Also, it is not that hard to make a travel guide podcast. People could make similar podcasts for other bus routes, including ones for areas that are not usually visited by tourists.