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We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

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Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#281

Post by Spooky23 »

pmoriarty wrote: post #233
Dirlewanger wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Private equity groups. Several have been brokering their debt restructuring over the years. Here's their most recent complete restructuring from about a year ago ( http://www.insideradio.com/free/restructuring-will-wipe-bill... ) (they're currently in bankruptcy at the moment.)

So what incentive do they have for "rape and pillage" of companies if they ruin them and themselves in the process?

Because the partners collect big fees on the way in and out.

Toys R Us is a great example. The PEG people invested 20%, dumped the debt on the Toys R Us balance sheet, and yielded at least $200M in fees. They are also able to harvest paper losses to offset taxes.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#282

Post by ValleyOfTheMtns »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #24

Personally, I'm not a fan of podcasts at all. I've tried, and listened to some interesting ones, but in the end I'd much rather consume the same content by reading instead of listening. It's faster, it's easier to skim and skip around, you can have hyperlinks to other references, etc. Overall, text just works better for the kinds of content I'm interested in. There's a podcast related to a product I work with that I'…

Yeah, I feel the same about podcasts and audiobooks. Would prefer to have it in a written medium.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#283

Post by avar »

I've been a dedicated podcast listener for years, but have recently started to shift towards a larger portion of books on Audible instead where I'd previously listen only to podcasts.

I wish I'd have done so earlier, at some point you start bottoming out on the depth podcasts on a given topic can give you.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#284

Post by core-questions »

black6 wrote: post #179
WhompingWindows wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I subscribe to the podcasts of: Sam Harris, Conan, The Energy Gang, Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and a couple other NPR shows. None of my podcasts, IMO, are decreasing in quality, nor would I expect any of these groups to sell-out as they are off-shoots of other things. The podcasts I listen to are intentionally hand-selected over time to be 1) informative, 2) have a decent cont…

> In particular, I find independent podcasts like Sam Harris or Dan Carlin to be FANTASTIC, and that content is free for all to download in multiple ways. So, I'm not worried in the slightest. This. Dan Carlin is fantastic and I enjoy supporting him because of the quality. No Agenda and Congressional Dish are two more listener supported/value-for-value podcasts which do an outstanding job. No Agenda, in particular, r…

Glad to see there are people on HN who are going out there and propagating the formula.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#285

Post by core-questions »

doublepg23 wrote: post #243
black6 wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In particular, I find independent podcasts like Sam Harris or Dan Carlin to be FANTASTIC, and that content is free for all to download in multiple ways. So, I'm not worried in the slightest. This. Dan Carlin is fantastic and I enjoy supporting him because of the quality. No Agenda and Congressional Dish are two more listener supported/value-for-value podcasts which do an outstanding job. No Agenda, in particular, r…

I haven't heard of No Agenda in years. I stopped listening to them a while back after they had a hard right turn IIRC. Their business model was excellent though.

It's not really fair to call them "hard right" - overall I find they still exercise a very balanced centrist opinion set. Moreso what happened is that the media became even more focused on a strict left-wing narrative that merits serious deconstruction.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#286

Post by scrollaway »

sh87 wrote: post #234
blang wrote: post #88

I'm actually worried that podcasts are going the way of the web. What, for a while, was a weird world of enthusiasts talking about things that interests them seems to be morphing into a world of a few big corporate entities calling the shots. I have two reasons for these worries. 1) The purchase of Gimlet by Spotify mentioned in the article. 2) The purchase of Stuff Media by iHeart. The purchase of Gimlet is problema…

> I don't want to have different players for different shows This is at the heart of the control problem. If you have one true player, it commands more control than is good for you, me and all consumers. Healthy competition is the only practical way to keep this under check. I make sure to distribute my consumption over at least 2-3 contenders for any content be it search (google, ddg, bing), video (youtube, vimeo, d…

Insanity. There should be competition but compatibility. It shouldn't be about "one true player" as in one proprietary platform everyone uses (youtube vs spotify vs whatever), but rather every player is compatible with all of the formats.

The proprietary-lockin epidemic is a serious issue. I think part of the problem is open standards don't often focus on the payments problem.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#287

Post by brownbat »

blang wrote: post #88

I'm actually worried that podcasts are going the way of the web. What, for a while, was a weird world of enthusiasts talking about things that interests them seems to be morphing into a world of a few big corporate entities calling the shots. I have two reasons for these worries. 1) The purchase of Gimlet by Spotify mentioned in the article. 2) The purchase of Stuff Media by iHeart. The purchase of Gimlet is problema…

Stitcher is building a garden. I think they are trying to combat the unassailable dominance of Apple.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#288

Post by faaarmer »

maxxxxx wrote: post #90
schnevets wrote: post #58

Creators may be entering a golden age, but the delivery methods and infrastructure have been stagnant for years now. We now have ongoing shows, evergreen episodic shows, "two amateurs in a basement" niche shows, 12-episode and it's done audiobooks, and various other designations of podcasts, and yet we still serve everything like it's a blog that needs to release content weekly. I also find it frustrating that we onl…

Apple Podcasts has gotten worse pretty much every year. I have switched to Overcast and I find it excellent. Lean and clean.

I have to use it, as it's the only app on the Apple Watch that allows you to stream over LTE/cellular.

I'd love to be able to use Pocket Casts or Overcast.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#290

Post by pmoriarty »

Spooky23 wrote: post #281
pmoriarty wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what incentive do they have for "rape and pillage" of companies if they ruin them and themselves in the process?

Because the partners collect big fees on the way in and out. Toys R Us is a great example. The PEG people invested 20%, dumped the debt on the Toys R Us balance sheet, and yielded at least $200M in fees. They are also able to harvest paper losses to offset taxes.

Pardon my ignorance, but who's paying their fees, and why would anyone pay fees to people who ruin companies and pocket fees for doing a poor job?
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