I used to listen to more podcasts – gardening, walking/commuting to work, dishes, cooking, but have switched lately to audiobooks. I think I just love listening to stories (when I can’t read stories) and early podcasts that I got hooked on – Radiolab, Serial, and this American Life, various CBC podcasts – were just really good at telling stories (about science, people, history or crime). In Radiolab I loved the audio landscape they created with sound (music or other) and if I had the time would love to be able to explore that further. I am really looking forward to reading all the posts with suggested podcasts – I think I drifted away from podcasts as there is just so much content (and some of it is full of commercials and repeated filler content) that it is almost overwhelming, and I have not had as much luck finding ones I really like. I am making a new list!
I listened to many episodes of “Crackdown” from the suggested list this past week, and so appreciated the authentic voices that were shared – I am now hooked, and so appreciated hearing perspectives on such an important issue. So for me I think podcasts provide a way of capturing voices and stories in a very unique way – whether they are conversational or more of a documentary style. I am still thinking about the characteristics that (for me) make a podcast compelling.
Discoverability is a big piece of podcasts — I know there are wonderful shows out there that will never cross my path, and I am surprised by how much I rely on podcast networks to curate my content for me (especially since I make two self-hosted, non-network shows, you’d think I’d be more open).
Glad you love Crackdown! It’s a day-one listen for me, always.
Yes, most of what I am listening to right now were things I found through suggestions. I attended the Humanities Podcast Network conference last week and got so many wonderful suggestions!