I listen to entertainment and self publishing podcast mostly. I like to keep somewhat up-to-date with pop culture, but don’t have the time to do that by watching, or listening, to endless programs. In a way this type of podcasting is edutainment for me. Because I consider this to be entertaining I prefer the multi-speaker format. A single person speaking about what media they enjoy does nothing for me. I prefer the back and forth of two people chatting, or a round table of more than two persons.
Examples of this type of podcast are NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, and The Feminine Critique. Feminine Critique is just two women talking about direct to streaming video, usually horror. The style is informal and sometimes rambling. Happy Hour is much shorter, focused, and slickly produced. The short format is very effective. This is done by talking about one topic only. IE a review of the new version of Dune.
The writing / self publishing podcasts are for me educational. So I prefer a single person speaking or interviewer and guest format. I am willing to put in the time to listen to this type of podcast so duration is not usually an issue. You can always scroll through a podcast if it drags. One good example is The Creative Penn. I watch quite a few YouTube channels on the same topic. There is really no compelling reason to watch the video, so I just listen. They are really just podcasts. One advantage of the YouTube channels is that, like Pop Culture Happy Hour, they are more focused and therefore shorter.
Interestingly, I follow all the hosts of PCHH on Twitter, but don’t listen to the show — I think you may have inspired me. 🙂