Introduction
Ever since Covid began, I felt myself drawn towards podcasts much more than I had been before it. I mean, I used to slip in and out of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast from time to time but I was never hooked into it.
Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, we have seen a huge surge of new and fresh podcast content on the internet, because everyone, was indoors and there was an overwhelming sense of craving for human connection.
It was apparent that the mode of communication was digital, and the only way to truly connect in a more humane way was the long-form content on podcasting.
Podcasts can be considered the modern equivalent of radio but on-demand. The whole idea of podcasts emerged when former MTV video jockey Adam Curry and software developer Dave Winer coined the term “iPodder” back in 2004. It is important to understand that the primary purpose of a podcast is to either entertain or educate its listeners.
Generally, podcasts are categorized into 4 types: Conversational, Narrative nonfiction, Scripted fiction, and Repurposed content. Let’s try to understand them in brief.
a) Conversational podcasts are informal in nature and are usually the most popular type because it is unscripted, spontaneous, and fun. The host and their guests share valuable life lessons, experiences, and anecdotes on the subject matter in which they are an expert. Popular podcasts in this category include The Joe Rogan Experience, Stuff You Should Know, Call Her Daddy, The NPR Politics, and Guy Raz’s How I Built This.
b) Narrative nonfiction podcasts are structured long-form content that dives deep into a specific real-life event or a true story. Popular ones in this category are S-Town, The American Life, Wind of Change, and Simon Whistler’s The Casual Criminalist.
c) Scripted fiction is a fairly new type of podcast where intriguing fiction topics like Alien, Sci-fi dystopia, and historical fiction are explored with the purpose of entertaining the listeners. The most popular ones are Edith and Girl in Space.
d) Repurposed content are podcasts that highlight or summarize key events of let’s say, a TV show or an analysis of a movie by the producers or actors. It talks about already packaged content to a niche interested audience.
The top 10 most popular podcasts according to Edison Research’s 2022 third-quarter report are as follows:
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- Crime Junkie
- The Daily
- This American Life
- The Ben Shapiro Show
- Stuff You Should Know
- My Favorite Murder
- Morbid: A True Crime Podcast
- Dateline NBC
- Office Ladies
Although Youtube is the preferred source for binging on podcasts, there are other platforms where you can listen to podcasts. These are:
- Apple Podcast
- Spotify
- Google Podcast
- Overcast
- Podcast Addict
Recently, the appeal of binging on video content gave rise to Vodcasts (Video plus podcasts) as more and more people prefer watching and listening to the content instead of just listening to the audio format.
Recently, the appeal of binging on video content gave rise to Vodcasts (Video plus podcasts) as more and more people prefer watching and listening to the content instead of just listening to the audio format.
Immersive Storytelling
Podcasts have the ability to transport the listener to different worlds, historical periods, and perspectives. One only has to listen to Dan Carlin’s The Hardcore History’ to understand what I mean by immersive storytelling.
The long format allows the host/guests to take the listener on a journey from start to finish making sure to lay out the entire story without missing any details.
Informative and Educational Content
Apart from the aspect of fiction or non-fiction storytelling, podcasts also serve to quench the thirst of knowledge seekers with up-to-date information from industry experts. It is the perfect medium to learn about a particular topic in-depth. Nowadays, there are many niche podcasts dedicated to exploring key and current trends in the field of science, history, philosophy, geography, etc. For instance, in the scientific space, Andrew Huberman’s podcast fits perfectly as both informative and educational. He covers extensively in-depth on the topic of mental health and makes videos on optimal performance and health, sometimes crossing the 4-hours mark.
Multi-tasking and Convenience
Personally, this one is big for me. I dislike staring at a screen for a long period of time. It makes me feel guilty and uneasy for wasting away my precious time when I could be doing something productive instead. However, I do not feel that way when I tune in to podcasts. Mainly because I am able to do other things besides listening to podcasting such as working out, doing my usual chores, or doing other creative work. I am sure this point resonates with many other people who love listening to podcasts.
Now you might ask, why listen to podcasts when there is music as an alternative? Well, music can be really distracting and over time becomes repetitive and monotonous without adding that extra layer of knowledge to the listener. Furthermore, if you can pair the habit of listening to podcasts with doing your chores or tasks, you will begin to start looking forward to doing that task next time! Ain’t that an amazing psychological tip?
Authenticity and Intimacy
Perhaps one of the foremost reasons why people are flocking away from the scripted agenda-fueled mainstream media to podcasts is because the unscripted and raw conversations in podcasts make the audience feel they are not being manipulated and coerced into accepting any beliefs or opinions. It eases the audience and makes them feel like they are in the company of genuine people. Gradually, the audience starts feeling a sense of belonging to that community created by the podcaster. Many people reported feeling as though they were sitting beside the podcaster and the guest. Furthermore, I personally feel as though there has been a shift in my personality ever since I started listening to podcasts. I have noticed that I have become way more open-minded and empathetic as a person after listening to countless hours of real-life tragic stories from guests and their moving and inspiring stories.
Niche and Specialised Communities
The amount of new podcasts released every day means the niche communities are getting larger and larger. This allows people to learn in-depth about a specific topic, let’s say cancer, in-depth. Honestly, without the medium of podcasts, it would be near impossible for an ordinary person to receive such insider industry information from the experts, that too in detail.
I sincerely believe these niche podcasts also allow marginalized communities of other faith or ideologies to likely be more accepted and embraced by others. The long form opens the audience to gain a holistic viewpoint and perspectives coming from that specific community. As a result, this makes people more tolerant and inclusive. In this societally-fragmented digital age, it is ever important for people to become a part of a larger community.
Diverse and Inclusive Voices
Expanding on the previous point, podcasts provide marginalized communities with a voice to express themselves better. It gives them a chance to express their way of life, ideologies, beliefs, and opinions. It makes them feel heard.
It is not just about communities though, many sub-culture topics considered taboo before, such as the use of psychedelics or MDMA to cure anxiety or depression emerged from podcasts. Early proponents like Joe Rogan and Aubrey Marcus spoke about these topics at a time when they were not considered mainstream but part of a sub-culture. People became more warm and receptive to these ideas as time went by through listening to their podcasts.
Interactivity and Listener Engagement
Because of the niche communities, the audience is encouraged to participate freely by commenting, suggesting, or recommending as subscribers. Podcast creators value the input of their loyal subscribers and often pave a two-way interaction between the creator and subscribers.
There are also specific episodes dedicated to the audience. For instance, Andrew Huberman started an ‘Ask Me Anything’ series for paid subscribers where he answers the questions posed by the subscribers. So, podcasts inspire the audience, and the audience in turn keeps the creator going.
Varied Formats and Genres
As mentioned earlier, there are so many types of genres and formats to choose from that it can cater to different segments of the population. There are serious academic podcasts only discussing science, literature, history, geography, business, arts, etc.
On the other hand, there is also the funny, humorous, and sarcastic type of podcasts where hosts seem to have a good time nonchalantly discussing random topics in a casual manner in order to entertain the audience, such as Logan Paul’s ‘The Impaulsive Podcast’. It depends on the person’s mood. Sometimes, we feel like listening to something serious and educational, and at other times, we want to listen to something that makes us laugh and where we can unwind and relax.
Conclusion
Now, we can clearly see why there has been an explosion of podcasts recently and their rising popularity over the past decade. I highly encourage my dear readers and listeners to explore different types of podcast genres and find the right one for you. Who knows, you might become a podcaster yourself over time!
To conclude, I believe the natural tendency for humans to interact and connect in meaningful ways, will only make podcasts more popular in the future. This will only further push the demand to churn out more juicy podcasts in the future and I cannot wait to hear them all!
