Podcast

A Healthy Alternative to Netflix

People have cravings for content in the same way they do for food. There’s a deep, rumbling urge to consume that which entertains, and when it arises it’s hard to ignore. Such is cheese. For when cheese springs to any mind, there’s little that can be done to assuage its stake there, other than perhaps a Cheez-It. So when we entertainment-starved Americans have nothing to consume, we’ll readily read the back of cereal box at breakfast to get our kicks.

A favorite flavor of late for media-hungry Americans has been the delectable, yet easily digestible podcast. Light in essence, crispy in content, the podcast is available for you to snack on anytime, anyplace, on almost any device.

Essentially, yet unjustly, tucked into the category of “talk radio,” podcasts have the potential to be so much more with significant breadth in listenership that reaches millions more listeners countrywide.[1] Another edge would be its ability to “timeshift.” Now, I know I’m coming off sounding like a trekkie dressed as Harry Potter here when I sling jargon like this, but I’m actually a Tolkien fan at heart, so bear with me. Podcasts fall into the category (this time justly so) of time shifting media, meaning the broadcast is recorded, programmed and stored into a format made available for the convenience of the consumer. The time shifting revolution gives us, as listeners, the power of choice. What do I want to watch, where and when do I want to watch it? Now that I’m no longer bound by time or place, how do I want to get my entertainment fix? [2]

Podcasts also have the functionality of rewinding and fast-forwarding content. This, above all else, breaks podcasting away from its “talk radio” mold. When you listen to the radio, what comes out of the broadcast and onto your plate is what you get, no substitutions. Being able to fast forward through content, or rewind because you missed something makes the enjoyment of listening to a podcast customizable, like a Chipotle burrito.[3]

Podcasts are such a flexible medium. Like gum they can be consumed on the go, chewed on for however long, then spat out to make room for another piece. Also like gum, podcasts serve up a variety of content for a country with many taste buds. America’s taste in long form content range from everything to anything else, as our country is a melting pot of interests. Some would say it’s impossible to search for certain subject manner and not find a podcast that correlates. There might be others, I’m sure, who will tell you the opposite, but they just like playing devil’s advocate, and don’t know they’re being annoying.

So to put these killjoys in their place, I searched the internet with the (seemingly) nonsensical lead, “podcasts on banana fighting,” and surely enough the Internet in all its wonder brought me to the website, TodayIFoundOut.com. Surely enough the site had a podcast titled, “The Coming Banana Apocalypse.” If you’d like to equip yourself with the knowledge and knowhow of this impending ‘nanner doom, click here![4]

Perhaps the true appeal of podcasts to America’s pallet is not the variety of content, but the listening experience itself. There’s an intimacy and easiness about listening to a podcast. It’s more engaging than music, yet not heavy in content accustomed to say, an audiobook. You can be flighty while you podcast, as its entertainment can be extracted without your full commitment. A podcast can be the perfect distraction from your morning commute. It can keep your brain moving along with your legs as you climb that last treacherous hill of your nightly jog. It can be the solace found during a long, road trip in a car with no radio (a covered wagon then?)[5]

Someone asked me once why I listened to podcasts, and I told them: “Well, it’s a healthy alternative to Netflix.” Initially, I hadn’t meant much by the response. At the time it had gotten me a laugh, and that seemed to suffice. But then I started thinking on it, and it became clear to me that there was more truth than humor laden in my statement. Of all the media we use to slake our appetite for content, some entertainment outlets are healthier than others.

For example, when I’m watching Netflix, I’m chronically couched, wearing loose fitting sweatpants, and binge-watching the fourth season of Mad Men… again. Granted, while I’m watching I feel utterly satisfied, but later that fulfillment does not come without also a twinge of guilt. A twinge similar to the one felt after eating that second slice of cake before bed (or even perhaps eating the whole thing).

When I listen to podcasts, however, I feel like I’m consuming the healthier choice in content. Listeners of podcasts aren’t cooped up and committed to their immobile medium; they’re often en route and need of something to keep them moving. They’re filing papers at work, or waiting for a bus. They’re “actively” listening, and consuming their content in a way that both feeds their hunger for entertainment, and fuels their brain with informative, enjoyable media.

The podcast’s influence in new media has given Americans a convenient way to get their daily dose of entertainment. The technology that makes it unique, allows listeners to healthily have their content and eat it too.