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I'm Against Podcasts

washingtonpost.com

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Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#191

Post by LandR »

ghaff wrote: post #121
michaelbuckbee wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did a bit of a study of this as I was involved with a podcasting related startup at one point. It's really varied: - Most podcast consumption is via smartphone - A big chunk of that is on iOS (because default Podcast app placement is inconsistent across Android flavors) - Heaviest consumption during commutes - Significant consumption during the workday: white collar people listening in the background - often from t…

I guess I've never really understood the background sound thing. It's not like I need silence; I have no trouble working in a coffeeshop for example. But I mostly don't even turn on music as background much less something like a podcast. And, when traveling with people, one thing that always drove me crazy was the person whose initial reflex on walking into a room was to turn on the TV as background.

I can't stand silence, I need the distraction from my own thoughts.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#192

Post by leftyted »

nickelcitymario wrote: post #182
leftyted wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, The Velvet Underground's influence on pop music exceeded their popularity, but they were relatively successful, just not compared to The Beatles or to Dylan (who influenced Lou Reed and The Beatles). But who is The Velvet Underground of podcasts? Who is the punk of podcasts? It's not Ira Glass. I'm not saying you're wrong to celebrate the "democratization of long form audio" but the popular stuff seems milqueto…

> the popular stuff seems milquetoast Isn't that true of any medium? I don't know who the Velvet Underground of podcasts would be. I wouldn't have recognized VU when they were getting started either. I suspect this is the sort of thing that's easier to recognize when looking back. I certainly didn't understand punk the way I do now back when I was a punk rocker. All I knew was I could play a little bass (badly) with…

You've convinced me that "I'm Against Podcasts" is a stupid statement.

I think you're absolutely on-point for saying that, 10-20 years from now, we'll look back on podcasts that are widely acknowledged as classic.

At the same time, I think criticisms by this author are mostly valid and probably helpful (inasmuch as they push people to innovate and take risks with the medium). The criticisms are just overly broad and they ought to be aimed more clearly at specific trends within in the medium rather than the medium itself.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#193

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#194

Post by neurobashing »

nickelcitymario wrote: post #96

This article is fantastic, because it lays out exactly why I love podcasts. Podcasts are to audio what punk rock was to music: freedom to be an amateur. Was punk for everyone? Nope. Were punks particularly talented? Some were, but mostly nope. Yet punk became one of the most influential genres of music of all time because it gave you permission to suck. It's like what's been said about the Velvet Underground: They ne…

punk also gave you a way to connect with the artist. you saw DK at a shitty club in the bad part of town, and Jello was 3 feet from you, and he'd talk to you after the show. (Instead of going to see Zeppelin at a giant stadium)

With podcasts, a lot of them are Extremely Online and so interacting with the host is easy. They'll talk with you on Twitter or Reddit or here.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#195

Post by DamnInteresting »

Kye wrote: post #80

The author needs to find better podcasts. He acknowledges this, but still remains dismissive of podcasts. The Knowledge Project and Exponent replaced every self-help babbler and tech blogger for me. My Brother, My Brother and Me and The Dollop are better entertainment than most of the best TV shows and movies. It's interesting that this is the opposite of one of the more convincing podcast takes I've seen. I forget w…

Just a heads up that The Dollop unapologetically built their huge, lucrative following via naked plagiarism.

I have my own history podcast (with a much smaller audience than The Dollop), and a few years back I discovered that they were re-reading lengthy segments of my original podcast scripts word-for-word on their podcast without permission or attribution. When I called them out they claimed this is "Fair Use", and that non-fiction cannot be copyrighted. It really knocked the wind out of my sails, and it bothers me to this day, so I can't see them recommended like this without adding this important asterisk.

My open letter to them from 2015, with audio evidence: https://www.damninteresting.com/a-special-note-to-the-writer...

Sorry for the bummer. MBMBaM is great though.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#196

Post by Kevin_S »

coldtea wrote: post #164
mcintyre1994 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, I'm not going to listen to music I want to listen to for the first time on a crowded noisy tube thanks.

As if where you listen to some music the "first time" matters? (Like the first time one has sex, which has rom-coms and romantic fiction instill on us that it has to be "special"?) I've discovered and first heard all kinds of great music on the tube and other casual places, and didn't hurt my later re-listening and appreciation of them...

I dunno, I have an intense fandom for certain artists and when they release new music I like to listen with my higher quality headphones, at home in peace and quiet to really take it in as fully as possible.

Though this is only for maybe 3 projects a year so it isn't how I listen to all new music.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#197

Post by DamnInteresting »

I used to be quite fond of many podcasts, but my love has been recently waning, mostly owing to two obnoxious trends: 1) Re-runs, which make no sense in the podcast realm; and 2) podcasts airing episodes from other shows on the same podcast network. Both practices are increasingly common, and they rapidly fill my feed with content I don't care to listen to. It's hard to housekeep since I mostly listen while driving.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#198

Post by save_ferris »

leftyted wrote: post #138
nickelcitymario wrote: post #96

This article is fantastic, because it lays out exactly why I love podcasts. Podcasts are to audio what punk rock was to music: freedom to be an amateur. Was punk for everyone? Nope. Were punks particularly talented? Some were, but mostly nope. Yet punk became one of the most influential genres of music of all time because it gave you permission to suck. It's like what's been said about the Velvet Underground: They ne…

Lou Reed made it pretty big though. I agree with the article. Especially this part: > Forget the lousy microphones and the dinky interstitial stock music — the thing that derails most podcasts is the blab. There are two kinds, more or less. The first is that soft, inquisitive staccato popularized by Ira Glass on “This American Life,” the source from which so much pod-voice appears to have sprung. The second mode is p…

I agree that a lot of the major podcasts don't focus enough on clarity. That said, I've found more high quality content than I'll be able to listen to by digging a little deeper.

I've gotten into music composition recently, and I've been completely blown away by the number and high quality of music writing podcasts like SongExploder. I'm constantly and pleasantly surprised by what I find.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#199

Post by overthemoon »

I'm not so knee-jerk negative about the take industrial complex but boy, this seems like they needed some filler. I dislike the civilizing influence of the "well-produced" podcasts like stuff from NPR. It's not that they're bad (necessarily, but some of them are polished bullshit) it's that they're NOT weird and kind of bad.

EDIT: Ironically, the ones he holds up as standards (S-Town, Pod Save America) are the ones I generally detest.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#200

Post by [deleted] »

metamet wrote: post #188
coldtea wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I couldn't be happier to see the elites complaining about podcasts. Especially when the elite's journalistic production (e.g. WP articles) are not really higher quality: just follow some long established conventions, are self-congratulatory, follow the norms of polite talk, try to not ask the "wrong" (elite-wise) questions, put into use all the BS they've learned on "essay/creative writing" class, etc, which is why…

I think you're oversimplifying the trade of journalism and massively underselling the value and importance of it. WP isn't "the elites". They're journalists. They have a trade, which is on a completely different plane and set of standards than a random blog.

[deleted]
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