Which is quite frustrating, as there are various technical blogs I've followed over the years, and when some of them transition to a podcast, or a video equivalent, I just stop following.
There's probably some useful/interesting information in there, I'm just not interested in suffering through the 40-50% waffle, or worse - meaningless video of a talking head.
For terrestrial radio, the peak marked the decline… with demographics shrinking the audience and content zeroing on angry white guy or NPR. Commercial radio sponsorships are about prostrate pills and gold coins. To me, podcasts are liberating because they are cheap to produce, so you don’t have the fixed costs of broadcast and need for mass market. Plus… more people can speak intelligently than can write or produce good video content. It’s a moderate information medium where I can multitask and enjoy. It’s not a medium for everyone, to the chagrin of the VC and others investing in it.
With all that said, I still listen to non-technical podcasts when I just want to get my mind occupied with random ramblings.
Alternatively, a podcast where a fraction of its N listeners could do one thing each to contribute to how the thing is consumed for others scales even better (given a high enough threshold value for N).
We've seen how beneficial rules of thumb like Wadsworth's constant can be, or how valuable it is to come across a comment that gives a timestamped table of contents/index for YouTube videos when the creator hasn't provided one themselves. A successful business built on taking that kind of intent and applying the wiki approach to it is probably inevitable.
I mainly listen to podcasts when cleaning, washing the dishes, doing the laundry or driving long distances.
Compared to the vapid nonsense coming from radio DJs, many podcasters are verifiable geniuses.
I also mostly don't listen to podcasts for technical content. I get plenty of that during the day.
- Accidental Tech Podcast: Apple-related stuff. https://atp.fm
- The Sajin: photography in Korea. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1324087
- Skeptics Guide to the Universe: scientific skepticism and related topics. https://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcasts
Podcasts that I would listen to more if they weren't filled with ads and "waffle":
- Tim Ferris show: like a more intellectual Joe Rogan. https://tim.blog/podcast/
- Huberman Lab: (he gets a pass since the advertising is all front-loaded, and no "waffle") https://hubermanlab.com/welcome-to-the-huberman-lab-podcast/
Specifically, this definition
>to talk foolishly or without purpose; idle away time talking
It says it's a British usage, but I hear it in the US too
Back when I had a commute, I found it a million times more relaxing to listen to anything OTHER than the technical stuff I was doing at work during my commute. Technical podcasts seemed to fit in pretty well at the gym or doing menial labor (yard work, etc)
Audiobooks about contemporary issues that should have been a podcast don't work well; same with podcasts about issues that should have been a permanent audiobook.
I find the rise of video and podcasts quite tragic actually. Destroying our collective attention spans year on year.
I understand the idea, listening to something while driving, walking, etc.
It just doesn't work for me at all. I zone out during boring bits, zone out during interesting bits following my thoughts, and generally lose interest if the narrator/dialogue is too slow (they usually are).
It's crazy how quickly society has shifted. We used to chide people who had their nose buried in a book as socially awkward. Now, everyone has their nose buried in a phone.
You used to have social interactions when waiting anywhere. That doesn't really happen anymore. Seems like everyone would rather be distracted by something on their phone.
The ability to be bored has become a rare and valuable skill.
London perfected ignoring everybody long before even the rise of mass circulation newspapers according to diaries of family who knew the place a hundred years ago. The Tube of the eighties celebrated the apotheosis of ignoring one another and the British seem to make a art form out of studious but "polite" asociability* in every queue.
Actually reading this discussion I've realized that I have seen almost nobody using headphones in London in recent years, eliminating possibly the highest barrier to interaction. Curiouser I have most recently only noticed people glued to their phones whilst walking not standing at the bus stop.
*as opposed to anti social manners for clarity
Everywhere else in the US, it used to be the case that you would make small talk with people while waiting at the doctor's office, in barbershops, in the line at the grocery store, wherever.
If I want to listen something, I allways prefer a good music.