I've been saying for ages that podcasts are the last mainstream bastion of what the Internet is supposed to be. Imagine if it was the same for film and tv?
this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2024
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It seems they are about to have their bubble burst. It's probably the next wave of enshittification.
Somehow I think Podcasts will survive enshittification. The basis is just RSS and file hosting, so at its core, it's possible to create and distribute podcasts without huge capital investment. There's always gonna be some people trying to get their voices out and Podcasts still seems to be the easiest way to do that so until some better method comes out, podcasts will live on.
If you're talking about Podcast networks, streaming services, ad networks, then yeah, those might face some kind of enshittification and destruction, but no matter what, I'm pretty confident some good podcasts, and some good ways to listen to them, will stick around.
Despite Spotify’s best efforts 🥲
Thankfully Spotify's podcast platform still supplies RSS for most podcasts. The only exclusive podcast I listen to got so much backlash they had to make it non exclusive again
Which was that? Afaik heaveyweight still has one season exclusive to the platform
It's a podcast called Parenting Hell
So good. I love British panel shows and I'm a parent of young kids. It's one of my most-listened-to podcasts in the last 4 years.
Didn't realize it ever went Spotify exclusive. That must have been between my binge sessions; I've only listened (on Podcast Addict) to a small fraction of what my wife listens to (on Spotify).
Truth. I was genuinely angry seeing how Spotify kept trying to buy up everything podcast related. Felt like I was screaming into the void about how platform exclusive podcasts are antithetical to the free and open nature of podcasts. I hope their billions of dollars invested into podcasts continue to bite them in the butts.
Spotify is actively and aggressively trying to be the ones to break podcasts by having their spotify exclusives.
Even things like Patreon bonus episodes aren't a problem -- they still are sent out via RSS. Still use the interoperable standard. You can even share the URL with people you know, if you feel like it.
The bad actors creating true app-exclusive content need to be called out, shamed, and stopped. Even if it is NPR.
I'm more just talking about how the COOOL NEW THING attracts a lot of attention. Then an ungodly amount of investor money. And then dies. I don't like podcasts and I don't know a whole lot about their distribution, but the fact that they get funded like super bowl ads definitely means another shoe is about to drop.
Are you me? <3
You took the words right out of my mouth.
I just launched a podcast a couple days ago. On a website, on a tiny server that lives on my dresser. Then I added it to Apple and Spotify and all the usual suspects. Such a wonderful system. Feels like I'm living in the past, in a good way.
@helenslunch which podcast is it, if you don't mind? 😁
I don't get podcasts. Like, I've tried, several times over the years, but I'd really rather read something in five minutes than hear it dragged out for an hour.
So "where" I get my podcasts is already question-begging. I was pointed to one last week where the intro was all about things "everyone" experiences ... getting the kids to school, what fast-food place to go to, arguing with the spouse about decor, usw. None of these applies to me, so I saw no reason to listen to the meat of the thing.
Don't assume your audience is like you. Sure, some people may get warm fuzzies that others have experienced the hell of deciding to pop out a kid, but distilling the human experience to having kids and all that comes with that is going to turn off a lot of people. We know it's hell. That's why some of us noped the fuck out.
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
Podcasts are a background activity. You don't just sit down and listen to them. You listen when driving, cooking, cleaning, exercising, etc.
I find the opposite to be true for me, but I'm the type that will sit down and read a textbook for entertainment as well. Purely informative podcasts, not entertainment etc. I've learned a lot of philosophy and ancient history via Spotify actually, it's a very useful medium for information access, for those so inclined.
That is the correct answer. You don't read a book while doing the chores. I also don't whip out a Terry Pratchett novel while commuting when I know I have to change trains in 10 minutes. A podcast will do and you can keep listening while waiting on the platform. In the car I often listen to music instead, but sometimes I get bored and I'm more in the mood for an interesting podcast. Especially if I'm stuck in the car for a bit longer.
When deliberately doing one thing only, I like to read. I can read the paragraphs as fast or as slow as I like or just skim them.
The "secret" is: You have to find the podcasts you like. Some are just chat and drivel, some are more condensed. You might also like Audiobooks with stories instead of factual information. I don't think you can make an absolute statement. Well, unless your brain isn't wired for audio content. I'd get that nothing appeases you if that were the case.
Nowadays everyone and their grandma has a podcast. Quality varies greatly and most of them are more talk and not anything of substance. it's not easy to find the good ones in all of the noise. But they exist.
So, podcasts are not ADHD-friendly, it seems. Because for me it’s either full focus or none at all.
I have ADHD and almost always have an audiobook (TTS, technically) or podcast on while driving or doing chores.
What I like about TTS is that I can speed it up enough (~6× speed) that my mind doesn't wander, to match my adHd. Podcasts I usually max out at 2.0× speed because human voices are harder to understand at higher speeds. Any slower and they can't keep my attention. 1.0× speed is painful, and I don't take anything in.
Maybe I’ll try that. I listened to audiobooks/podcasts at 1.4x, because otherwise, seems similar to you, it’s painfully slow to be able to focus. But doing something during listening is still either focusing on the podcast and doing the task wrong, or doing the task right but missing half of the contents, sometimes even forgetting that someone is speaking in my ears right now. Maybe speeding up is an option, thanks for suggestion!
The worst thing I really want to be able to listen, and feel like I’m missing out on a great experience otherwise, and this annoys me. :(
It comes and goes
So all Podcasts are bad because this one particular example was stupid? Why did you feel the need to bring that up? What you described you can find plenty in books, magazines or everywhere else.
There are all kinds of podcasts for all kinds of interests. And the best thing is that people like you and me can make and publish them. I dislike many podcasts because they are superficial, loud, hectic or whatever but there are many others that just work for me.
I usually listen to them while on a run, in the car or to fall asleep to.
Unfortunately I don’t have recommendations for you because most of my subscribed podcasts are German* and the others are in the „fall asleep to“ category of men talking about tech. But if you’re interested in the latter, start at atp.fm or something on the relay.fm network.
*if you are German speaking, I’ll gladly give recommendations
I think they just gave an example for how podcasts often feel to them. And I can relate, most podcasts feel like the podcaster assumes a certain norm and presenting topics as absolute truths. Someone here mentioned darknet diaries for example and I tried listening to this podcast but was deterred by his assumptions of how everyone wants to accumulate money and how he is obviously very oblivious of his political bias (i.e. trying to be apolitical but thus supporting a government's military and political decisions). I guess this problem of thinking one is apolitical while actually talking about highly political stuff is more prevalent in cis male dominated spaces like tech (imo because of the combination of less empathy, a more self-centered viewpoint and a confidence in one's own correctness). But as given per example by the other commenter, societal norms at large give people the feeling that they are correct in their views and that things just are a certain way (e.g. sex differences, certain experiences etc). Well, just wanted to give my mustard to it ;)
My problem is I don’t see how that relates to podcasts. It’s just a medium. Everything you describe can happen everywhere else.
Edit: Maybe what you’re missing are journalistic standards. Most podcasts are for entertainment and you might need to dig a little deeper to find professional journalism.
oddly specific objection aside, where podcasting really shines is fiction. it's the modern version of the radio drama. fiction podcasts like Welcome to Night Vale and Find Us Alive have narratives that are tailor-made for episodic audio and would not work in any other medium. a good fiction podcast is truly wonderful to listen to
Not exactly what you're talking about, but LeVar Burton Reads is amazing, too. It's like Reading Rainbow for grownups.
I’d toss The Magnus Archives on that list too, especially since it had a full 5 season arc with satisfying conclusion.
A “sequel” series just started, too! It was good from what I listened to
And I'll just add the Lovecraft Investigations to the list. Absolutely brilliant series.
Just going to quickly shill for The Amelia Project as well. Really fantastic little show.
and here I am listening to hardcore history at slow speed for what was uploaded as an 4 hour episode but then again I do the same thing for audio books
@Powderhorn I didn't get podcasts either at first. But they're basically just an equivalent to radio shows, only that you're listening to them recorded already and you can pick which one(s) to hear and in what order.
Have you tried S-Town? Sure, you could probably read the transcript, but it’d be a lesser experience
I only really listen to them while driving 3+ hours.
My mind needs some engagement or I'll fall asleep.
I listen to Dark Net Diaries because I'm interested in Cyber security, this American life because of the varied stories, wait wait don't tell me because it's light hearted, and car talk because of the nostalgia. I'm planning on grabbing a prairie home companion because my father listened to it, makes me think of him.
That being said. Dark Net is becoming a little more dramatic than I'd like, but it's still good content.
I'm with you ... I've struggled to find one that's really interesting to me. I think some people build a relationship of sorts with the people hosting the podcast... And I've never been able to feel that way about a one-way dialogue.
The closest I ever came was https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/ haven't listened to them in a long time though now (long before podcasts were the big resurgent craze they have been the past few years).
Linux TechTips WAN show ... I can sometimes enjoy but it is a very long format thing which also turns me away.
RIP Aaron Swartz
My favorite thing about podcasts is how, at least in the ones I listen to, the ads are generally relevant because they’re added when you download each episode. I HATE the modern YouTube thing of “this video was sponsored by” segments. “The first 100 people to…” on a video from even just 1 or 2 years ago is completely useless, and I hate that they’re forever burned into the videos :(
This is arse-over-tits
Imagine I said "get it wherever you get your images" or "wherever you get your blogs"
It's oligopolistic
Are you sure? This sounds like the exact opposite
The blog assumes that people need megaplatforms to use the web, and celebrates that it's an oligopoly not a monopoly
I read it as a celebration that anyone can distribute podcasts. Distribution is via RSS so as long as you have the feed URL you can use whatever podcast player you want to subscribe to whatever podcasts you want.
Not just that but the feeds are indexed in many directories (if the hosts decide to, but most do) so you can just find it in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or „wherever you get your podcasts from“ and instantly start listening. If you would need to go to a website, copy the feed URL and paste it into your client, that would already be fine for nerds but not very convenient. Which is why regular website RSS feeds are not as popular (and also because they are often shitty, on purpose).
You have fundamentally misunderstood the interoperability that is being discussed re: podcasts and drawn a totally spurious conclusion.
You can connect to nearly any podcast using as little as an RSS reader. You can build your own podcast app TOMORROW and that app will be able to access pretty much any podcast from any network (with very narrow exceptions for the worst actors, e.g. Spotify exclusives, NPR One, etc).
The only purpose of the various platforms is boosting discovery. There's nothing oligarchic happening there; for pretty much all of them listing your podcast is free. There's also absolutely no necessity to use any particular platform's discovery tools or to list your podcast on any platform. It's totally fine to distribute it yourself, via a link, using whatever means pleases you. Your "podcast discovery platform" could well be your local bookclub's email list -- and while the quality of that discovery may be worse, it in no way inherently limits what you can access. Even if you use that platform's app, it should still generally be possible to add any podcast via RSS URL (if any major apps don't support this, they're behaving in a deviant way).
There is absolutely nothing oligarchic in general. At least for now, so long as the fucking fuck fucks at Spotify don't get their way.
You can listen to most podcasts through any platform you choose, I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion