We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts • Hacker News Board

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#11

Post by spuz » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:37 PM UTC

protomyth wrote: post #6

So, how is this different from the previous attempts to turn unpaid podcasts into paid podcasts? Given the amount of content in the podcast space, people seem to find other shows. Plus, the whole idea really suffers when you talk about people like Joe Rogan or any other big name. They can get money from advertisers themselves. We see some of this with YouTube and how "networks" are working or not working. An honest b…

> Plus, the whole idea

What idea are you referring to? The article I read talks about why podcasts are becoming more popular but doesn't present any new idea around advertising (unless I missed it).

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#12

Post by dzohrob » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:39 PM UTC

Cofounder of Chartable here, happy to answer any questions.

And, if you're looking for podcast recommendations, I recently analyzed 522 recommendations from 25 different critics' best-of lists to find the best of the best podcasts of 2018, also on the blog: https://chartable.com/blog/the-best-podcasts-of-2018

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#13

Post by lawlessone » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:39 PM UTC

dontbenebby wrote: post #2

If anything there's too many good podcasts - I usually set my device to keep the five most recent, and there are good shows I simply don't get to. (I never could "zone out" and program while a podcast is on like some people, I need ambient/classical/electronic music to do that)

What music do you listen to?

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#14

Post by DamnInteresting » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:39 PM UTC

As a long-time podcast listener, I have been steadily reducing my intake of podcasts in recent months. For me, this is largely due to a few annoying trends, such as Podcast A airing an episode of Podcast B, a new offering from the same organization. These crossovers are becoming common, and they are basically very long ads. I am seldom interested, but it's difficult to get them out of the play queue, especially while driving.

As a long-time independent podcast creator, it feels as though the field is becoming saturated, making it nearly impossible for a podcast to stand out without the backing of a major podcast network. It is reminiscent of the tipping point of blogs, where the quirky ecosystem of offerings mostly congealed. That change was good for advertisers and a few big content companies, but detrimental to the diversity of content.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#15

Post by o_____________o » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:40 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #10

dontbenebby wrote: post #2

If anything there's too many good podcasts - I usually set my device to keep the five most recent, and there are good shows I simply don't get to. (I never could "zone out" and program while a podcast is on like some people, I need ambient/classical/electronic music to do that)

Where do you find them? I keep trying to get into podcasts (tech, computer science, military, history...) but I really struggle. A sea of ancient abandoned shows when I search on my iPhone, seems nothing still running? Where should I be looking?

I found a few gems on tastedive.com, soundcloud.com, and iTunes.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#16

Post by goldemerald » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:40 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #4

dontbenebby wrote: post #2

If anything there's too many good podcasts - I usually set my device to keep the five most recent, and there are good shows I simply don't get to. (I never could "zone out" and program while a podcast is on like some people, I need ambient/classical/electronic music to do that)

Upping the listening speed is the only cure I know of. Quite a few podcasters can be listened to exclusively at up to 2x the normal speed without significant impairment to their content. Of course, some others talk so quickly that 1x is the best you can do.

I am one of those people who listens/watches all media at 2x speed. It takes some time to get used to and is nearly impossible without headphones. Some people do talk quickly enough that I can't listen to them while doing any complex activity (e.g. Mike Duncan's revolutions podcast). But most other podcasts aren't scripted, so 2x is easy enough for speakers like Joe Rogan and Dan Carlin.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#17

Post by spuz » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:41 PM UTC

I am surprised that higher capacity storage on phones was not mentioned as a driver of podcast listenership. For me, when I upgraded to a phone that had 32GB of storage around 2014 I was finally able to store mp3s that would download automatically ready for me to listen to along with all the music and photos that we would otherwise fill up our phone storage with. Before this, it was actually pretty hard to be an avid listener of lots of podcasts without having to deal with the hassle of managing your data storage.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#18

Post by michaelt » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:41 PM UTC

scottlocklin wrote: post #3

dontbenebby wrote: post #2

If anything there's too many good podcasts - I usually set my device to keep the five most recent, and there are good shows I simply don't get to. (I never could "zone out" and program while a podcast is on like some people, I need ambient/classical/electronic music to do that)

I almost never listen to podcasts for this reason, and because it is vastly more efficient to read than it is to listen to a couple of people talking who may or may not be sticking to the topic. It's funny the market effect, if you're, say, John Dolan, it's vastly more time efficient to spend an hour and a half talking to your buddy and get paid for it than it is to spend many hours researching and writing a 1000 or…

Most of the podcasts I listen to are while doing things like exercise and housework that aren't compatible with reading.

The podcasts I listen to are all from the BBC, so they're scripted and produced for radio, rather than just being people chatting. Listen to e.g. [1] or [2] and it's all on topic (and being the BBC, ad-free).

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p066rd9t/episodes/downloads [2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r4vz/episodes/downloads

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#19

Post by Marsymars » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:42 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #10

dontbenebby wrote: post #2

If anything there's too many good podcasts - I usually set my device to keep the five most recent, and there are good shows I simply don't get to. (I never could "zone out" and program while a podcast is on like some people, I need ambient/classical/electronic music to do that)

Where do you find them? I keep trying to get into podcasts (tech, computer science, military, history...) but I really struggle. A sea of ancient abandoned shows when I search on my iPhone, seems nothing still running? Where should I be looking?

Why is abandoned a problem? If you're looking for books to read or TV shows to watch, do you avoid "abandoned" series?

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#20

Post by dgritsko » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:42 PM UTC

spuz wrote: post #17

I am surprised that higher capacity storage on phones was not mentioned as a driver of podcast listenership. For me, when I upgraded to a phone that had 32GB of storage around 2014 I was finally able to store mp3s that would download automatically ready for me to listen to along with all the music and photos that we would otherwise fill up our phone storage with. Before this, it was actually pretty hard to be an avid…

This is a good point. Desktop/web clients have existed for a while, but I find that I listen to probably 90% of my podcasts on my smartphone. Prior to owning a phone with a large amount of storage, I just didn't really listen to podcasts (at least nowhere near the amount that I am now).