I listen to a lot of podcasts. Actually, scratch that, I subscribe to a lot of podcasts. I used to listen to a lot of podcasts but over the past couple years my habits have changed in ways that make listening to hours of audio a day harder. I increasingly find myself looking at a stale playlist and trying to decide which episodes to delete, or worse, convincing myself I will somehow get through them all one day.
Which is really too bad because I love podcasts and audio generally. I grew up in northern rural BC and radio was always more ubiquitous in our house than TV. As a teenager I would fall asleep to CBC’s overnight broadcasts of BBC and other world broadcasters. My restlessness and general ADHD make audio a better companion than TV; a friend I can carry with me as I walk or do dishes.
Some podcasts I currently love:
- Current Events and Analysis: Canadaland Short Cuts and the other Canadaland Network Shows; The Daily; Political Gabfest; On The Media; Vox Conversations; This American Life.
- Loosely Educational: Conversations with Tyler; The Ezra Klein Show; Hidden Brain; 99% Invisible; Stuff the British Stole; You’re Wrong About.
- Personal Growth: Death, Sex, & Money; Ear Hustle; Ten Percent Happier.
- Fun: Criminal, Everything is Alive; Pop Culture Happy Hour; Home Cooking.
Looking at this list I realize that my “fun” category isn’t actually that different from my “Loosely Educational” category and that maybe I need more actually “fun” podcasts. I also recognize that this list probably also trends a little more white and male than I should aspire to making it.
i think my favourite podcasts have 1 of 2 dynamics. The first set is shows with extremely good interviewers: Death, Sex, and Money (Anna Sale is just the best interviewer given the content); Conversations with Tyler (totally different than DSM but I surprisingly fresh and energetic); The Ezra Klein show. The second set is all about (parasocial perhaps) intimacy: Roman Mars’ voice and laugh in 99 Percent Invisible, the dynamic between the hosts on Home Cooking, Political Gabfest, Ear Hustle, and You’re Wrong About. These are friends.
This week I subscribed to Metis in Space and Secret Feminist Agenda. I managed to listen to one episode of each! Hopefully this makes my playlist a little less stale even if it also makes it longer…
I’m also finding it difficult to listen to podcasts the way I used to. Now that I am mostly working from home I don’t have a commute to listen to. I never used to pay much attention to segments in podcasts, bit now value them as natural breaking points, cause I never have a solid hour to just listen!
Something I’ve started doing recently with podcasts (and a couple years ago with books) is accepting when I give up or have enough and can move on without finishing. I used to be weird about feeling guilty if I didn’t finish what I started. Now I am like, nope, 42 minutes of this was *enough*
I have often wonder how many podcast fans grew up in houses where there might as well have been a nail through the radio dial on the local CBC station. (And CBC overnight! Oh man. Probably the thing I miss most about my total move to on-demand audio is the weird happenstance of CBC overnight.)
Walking home from parties or just hanging in my room after midnight; Brave New Waves on CBC saved my life.