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I'm Against Podcasts

washingtonpost.com

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Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#61

Post by Grustaf »

Canadauni wrote: post #4

I was never really into podcasts until I started my current job and commuting regularly. After a while I noticed that listening to music was beginning to fuel my frustration with other drivers and I'd get to work already stressed out. I started listening to talk radio and podcasts and that has really improved my feelings on the road and my state of mind walking into the office. I honestly don't think it has really im…

Also consider listening to audiobooks, or even better, audio lectures from places like ItunesU. Then your commute will actually make you smarter....

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#62

Post by mark_l_watson »

Strange article, at least for me. A little of what the author says resonates with me but most is a hard ‘no’.

Killing music? Well maybe some people listen to too much music. The author likes highly polished written material (so do I; I have written several books and I am a voracious reader - I am just finishing the very good 66 hour audio book Jerusalem) but there is also a nice human connection hearing someone’s voice and spontaneous interactive dialog.

I listen to the podcast Exponential View (and sometime the MIT AGI class interviews by Lex Firdman) while I am at the gym. I am not a huge fan of going to the gym but keeping up with new tech and the social changes caused by tech while I work out makes the experience better.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#64

Post by schwartzworld »

Talk about a stupid argument. Podcasts are too broad a category to hate that way. You can hate certain types of podcast, but claiming to hate them all is more about your preconceived ideas about the format than anything else.

The choice of podcasts vs music is contrived and nonsensical, because there are podcasts that are entirely about music.

What about podcasts featuring staged dramatic content (Welcome to Nightvale), podcasts with curated content from around the internet (Best of the Left), podcasts that are literally just recordings of actual radio shows (all of NPR's content), educational podcasts?

I listen to podcasts about coding in JavaScript, getting to hear library authors explain their own work in real-time. Where else could you get niche content like that?

Sure Pod Saves America is garbage, but come on dude.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#67

Post by kahirsch »

wink wrote: post #46
Spivak wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having listened to both I don't think this characterization is right. The sound of podcasts is heavily heavily inspired by the sound of NPR, but that is very different from what a lot of talk radio sounds like. The new-age analog of talk radio is streaming, it has a similar cadence and improvisation with the back and forth between rambling and participating with the audience.

I'm not sure what you're referring to (maybe the big names of current podcasting?), but I can assure you the rest of the world has podcasts too and may or may not have ever listened to NPR at all. This American Life isn't so old afaik, and I definitely listened to podcasts before that and never to any NPR stuff.

This American Life started in 1995.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#68

Post by jswizzy »

chris_wot wrote: post #18
jetrink wrote: post #10

I think this whole piece is a pretty bizarre exercise. > I consider [podcasts] an enemy of music. [...] With all of the world’s unheard songs beckoning us with their endless mystery, why would anyone choose to waste their precious listening hours on a podcast? This isn't just comparing apples and oranges, it's arguing that apples are the enemy of oranges. "With so many delicious oranges uneaten, why should anyone was…

He's outraged because he can be. Personally, I think it would be better to be against pointless written opinion pieces.

Is he though or is this an attempt to discredit a competitor? This guy is a journalism in a era when newspapers and other forms of tradition media are dying. Journalism is seen as a joke, partisan, propaganda, and even an enemy of the State by large swatches of the public.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#69

Post by Starwatcher2001 »

jcims wrote: post #58

Since we’re on the topic of podcasts and the article at hand has been pilloried to my satisfaction, I have an unrelated question for other podcast listeners. Have you ever listened to the same podcast twice and experienced strong, even intrusive visual recollections of what you were doing the first time you listened to it? I find it particularly true from when I’m walking or driving while listening, but my memory is…

Yes, especially when driving. Sometimes it feels like I should be reaching for gear stick at the same time as I previously did. It does feel bizarre.
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