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I'm Against Podcasts

washingtonpost.com

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Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#31

Post by ukyrgf »

prions wrote: post #26

This was the best quote of the article for me: 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 ubiquitous NPR Voice/Sound is really what turns me off…

This sound is from excessive EQ and limiting held over from trying to get the most out of the limited bandwidth of broadcast radio.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#33

Post by bunderbunder »

freddie_mercury wrote: post #13
smacktoward wrote: post #5

> Podcasts are bad because podcasts sound bad — and podcasts sound bad because podcasters aren’t thinking hard enough about what their talk sounds like. But this is exactly why we should cherish podcasts! They're one of the last vestiges of the old, weird, free Internet that we have left. Podcasts (mostly) sound bad because the people making them are (mostly) amateurs, which means they don't know the ins and outs of…

I don't know why you're talking about "the ins and outs of audio recording". The author makes clear that's not what he's talking about. In the very next sentence after your quote he writes: >Forget the lousy microphones and the dinky interstitial stock music — the thing that derails most podcasts is the blab. And later on he explains again . >By “sound good,” I meant that I wanted podcasts to sound considered. Anyway…

I, too, dislike the "eavesdropping on other people's tipsy pub conversation" genre of podcasts. I generally don't love the professionalized "least common denominator of an NPR listening audience's tastes, delivered in carefully rehearsed NPR voice" podcasts, either.

My solution is to not bother with those podcasts. There are so many others that I find to be more worthy of my time. Admittedly, it's probably a small fraction of all podcasts, but it still amounts to more than I could possibly find the time to listen to.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#34

Post by kalleboo »

smacktoward wrote: post #8
asaph wrote: post #3

Podcasts are talk radio on demand. If you're against podcasts, you're against talk radio. Or at the very least, you're against making talk radio more convenient and accessible.

I feel like podcasts are similar to, but not exactly the same as, talk radio. Most talk radio formats are built around listeners calling in, for instance, which can provide a degree of spontaneity that isn't possible in a prerecorded format like a podcast. (Which gives me an excuse to link to the classic Mr. Show sketch, "Pre-Taped Call-In Show": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhVbLJvYP8s ) That being said, I do thi…

Most podcasts I listen to record on a live stream and take corrections and questions from a chat room, which usually keeps me from yelling at the hosts "YOU FORGOT THIS ANGLE TO THE MATTER". Having it be a text chat room going on in parallel also avoids the say-nothing dud call-ins and the hemming and hawing of the general public.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#35

Post by bunderbunder »

ukyrgf wrote: post #31
prions wrote: post #26

This was the best quote of the article for me: 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 ubiquitous NPR Voice/Sound is really what turns me off…

This sound is from excessive EQ and limiting held over from trying to get the most out of the limited bandwidth of broadcast radio.

My understanding is that, more specifically, it's a sound that's very carefully tailored to the acoustic environment in which NPR is typically consumed: a moving car.

I once heard an interview with an NPR audio engineer where he related how he'd epoxy the studio microphones' bass roll-off switches in place because the setting that most people thought made their voices sound better also made them harder to understand over highway noise.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#36

Post by hartator »

> 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?

Maybe some people don’t like music as much.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#38

Post by house9-2 »

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…

> music was beginning to fuel my frustration with other drivers

I find Reggae to be the best music for commuting, some Bob Marley, Peter Tosh or Toots and I am way more chill.

Re: I'm Against Podcasts

#40

Post by pmontra »

Podcasts vs music seems a matter of personal preferences.

I skimmed through this post in a few minutes. It would have been a much longer time if it were a podcast. I don't have that much time to invest on a single subject so I'm not into podcasts. I rarely watch technical videos for the same reason. I definitely prefer text: same content at my own pace.

However I don't commute anymore. When I did I listened to news and random music if driving or I read a book if I was on a subway train (much better than driving.) I could have listened to podcasts or audio books back then.

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