Podcasts that many people have playing constantly. In the car or on the train. In the elevator. At work. In the bathroom. At the store. At home. For many people, it's mindless banter they put on in the background while doing other tasks. Youtube, but you can use your eyes.
But when do you get a free thought that's entirely your own? Just a moment when someone or something isn't barking at you to listen to this or buy that. I at least can't think clearly about something else if someone is reciting a story to me. Scary when most podcasts also have advertising, so you are getting a subconscious dose of that during all your waking hours.
For me podcasts fill a similar niche to TV: something I can passively enjoy without having to focus much while doing unrelated things. The two major differences are that I no longer watch TV and I can listen to podcasts wherever I am.
My biggest problems are that there's too many of them and it's easy to miss the one or two really interesting episodes in a sea of monthly/weekly content. Even more so if you listen to them at 2x speed and rarely have the time to stop and actively pay attention.
It's more of a form of pleasant background noise with the occasional glimpse of really interesting information. Like overhearing a conversation between colleagues.
Podcasts are radio on demand. They offer all the variety that radio does, or did, and more. They can offer the quality of a good commercial radio show, or the quality of a rotting potato, or anything in between. It’s up to you to find something you like. There’s so much out there that there is probably something you’ll like.
So many of these comments talk as though “podcast” implies news or commentary and that’s it. Did I stumble into an alternate universe? I know those exist (news and commentary podcasts exist, that is), but there’s so much more. The closest I get are news-related comedy shows like Wait Wait or the BBC’s Now Show. I’m always on the lookout for the next episode of Welcome to Night Vale, and on the rare occasions that there’s a new Hardcore History, it’s a real treat. If I run out of something new, I love to listen to an episode or two of the old Dragnet radio series and get immersed in 1950’s Los Angeles.
Podcasts are inferior to text or video? That’s like saying that cheese is inferior to the Central Limit Theorem. The comparison doesn’t even make sense.
I basically can’t listen to podcasts without something physical to do. If I’m idle and trying to listen, I’ll start reading something at the same time and miss half the show. But while I’m out for a walk or doing yard work or cooking or on a long drive? They’re the best! Text or video aren’t sensible there. The only competition would be radio (or, ugh, my own thoughts), where the comparison is just like the comparison between live TV and video on demand.
I really hate podcasts. I can't stand listening to unfunny people with bad microphones taking 15x as long to get information across because they insist on starting every episode with a bunch of discussion about their boring lives, followed by various tweets people have sent them.
Then they get distracted constantly throughout the podcast. It's just infuriating.
What podcasts do people recommend? Because I'm surely not listening to the best ones.
I love reading, but podcasts let me consume knowledge or entertainment during activities where reading isn't possible.
That being said, for me, the biggest downside of podcasts is that although I'm willing to pay, there's no easy method of discoverability of high-quality, ad-free podcasts.
edit: However, I jump around in media fairly often - I often go months without listening to podcasts, so I have no interest in paying a subscription fee. I just want to pay a per-episode rate and get DRM-free audio files that I can use as I wish.
I disagree with the first commenter. A lot of people like podcasts to stay up to date with niche topics while being able to consume in an audio format. I listen to up to 4 hours of podcasts a day because I can listen while I do other things. I think this is great.
There are many types of podcasts. Don't get discouraged. Podcasts are like pizza. Everyone likes a different kind and everyone thinks the ones they like are the best.
I don't really like the time I spend listening to podcasts. My dad, though, had talk radio playing constantly. Part of me thinks I have a genetic proclivity for listening to inane chatter. It is comforting.
As someone who has entirely replaced listening to music with listening to podcasts and audiobooks your post confuses me. I experience no more cognitive load than I would if I was having a conversation on the subject. If I have the mental bandwidth to listen to music while I’m working on a task then I have the bandwidth to listen to a podcast too.
Your last paragraph also seems to be painting people who listen to podcasts into a very narrow corner. You can find podcasts on everything from history and science to comedy and games. Personally one of my favorite podcasts right now is a comedy focused dnd campaign that I throw on when I drive to work.
Podcasts have always felt a bit alien to me. I know they exist, and people apparently listen to them, yet I haven't done so nor do I know anyone who has. They only seem to come up occasionally as advertisements.
They also feel like they occupy a weird middle space. They aren't as low-attention as something like television - without the visual component you need to pay attention more to 'get it' and follow along.
But it doesn't feel right to sit there and solely listen to it while doing nothing else. But I'm not sure what else you can do that doesn't eat up enough concentration to follow along. Cooking or cleaning maybe? Things that you can do from muscle memory.
I used to feel the same way until I realised listening to podcasts was more a passive activity. Reading is active - as in you have to take time away from other things to do it - listening to podcasts is more akin to listening to music.
It's possible to do actively of course, I know there are people out there that listen to music without any interruptions. The primary market for podcasts however are likely to be people who are doing something else and passively listening to them. They may focus in on a subject as it's talked about but a lot of the podcast will only be taken in as a distraction from background noise or silence.
Of course this is all guesswork based on my own opinion and use case, a little of how other podcast listeners I know ingest podcasts too
I don't like aimless blab, I don't like the NPR style, but I've still got a huge list of podcasts that I regularly listen to. A podcast is just an RSS feed of audio files. There might be fads and fashions like any other medium, but there is also limitless possibility to do mad and brilliant things. The accessibility of a decentralised online medium combined with the intimacy of radio has IMO sparked a creative renaissance.
You Look Nice Today, This American Life, Back to Work, Savage Lovecast. I tend to listen to podcasts on my meal breaks at work and at home for background noise. I can't stand listening to them while I'm actually trying to do work, because I have a hard time paying attention to two things at once.
I gave up listening to podcasts for education. I found after a certain point - it gave little reward. There’s only so many topics you can know about that people want to discuss.
For now - I listen to podcasts that are more humorous than anything because I feel like I always need to keep my edge with humor and I like funny stuff. So I am a premium member of TMG Studios. I also listen to Forehead Fables and their new dungeons and dragons podcast (die of laughter).
I’m kinda done with the whole “I must always be learning every waking moment” thing. Sometimes being in a better mood from laughing is far more productive than any bullshit you’ll pick up from a podcast.
I used to listen to podcasts all the time but since around 2018 I've switched mainly to audiobooks and personally I get way more out of that than podcasts.
Listening to podcasts takes too long. I can speed read articles and skip the boring bits. Podcasts are too linear. I have even tried playing back at 150% speed, but even that takes too long. Another problem with podcasts is that they are produced by people who can't say things succinctly and in a very interesting way. They seem to mostly like to hear their own voices. What we need is really clever comedians write and produce the stuff. Then it might be entertaining and informative enough to make me tune away from the radio jocks.
Indeed. 100% of the times I listen podcasts, it's when doing tasks that I can't read during. Podcasts has brought pleasures to doing daily chores, driving, going grocery shopping, walking the dog, and so on.
Maybe too much so, I am finding that I maybe listen to too much podcast, to the point where I spend very little time in my own head, day dreaming and having my own thoughts. But that's an entirely separate issue.
But when do you get a free thought that's entirely your own? Just a moment when someone or something isn't barking at you to listen to this or buy that. I at least can't think clearly about something else if someone is reciting a story to me. Scary when most podcasts also have advertising, so you are getting a subconscious dose of that during all your waking hours.
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