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Comment by iLoveOncall | Hacker News Reader

Do people really actually like podcasts?

To be clear, I'm sure there are plenty of people that do, but I still think it's a minority, and I also think it's an illusion of liking them.

I've tried many times, but I just don't get the value proposition: If I'm doing something else at the same time, I would rather listen to music because anyway I won't be focused enough to not lose track of the podcast every 30 sec. If I'm fully dedicated to the podcast, well I'd rather watch it as a video or read a book.

I just feel like it tries to fit in a niche that simply doesn't exist.

To me people that like podcasts are the same that like self-improvement books. It makes you feel like you did something productive, when you actually barely listened, achieved nothing, and just had less of a good time than if I did something else.

But maybe I'm missing something.

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>Do people really actually like podcasts?

I do, I listen to >50 hours a month.

>I've tried many times, but I just don't get the value proposition: If I'm doing something else at the same time, I would rather listen to music because anyway I won't be focused enough to not lose track of the podcast every 30 sec. If I'm fully dedicated to the podcast, well I'd rather watch it as a video or read a book. > >I just feel like it tries to fit in a niche that simply doesn't exist.

The primary times when I listen to podcasts is:

- While biking - While doing manual work involving low mental stimulation (washing dishes, laundry, other cleaning, etc.) - While taking a walk

If I have my eyes available, I watch video content. If my brain is occupied, I listen to music at most.

> If I'm doing something else at the same time, I would rather listen to music because anyway I won't be focused enough to not lose track of the podcast every 30 sec.

I tend to listen to then when doing something relatively mindless (walking, cleaning, on the bus, etc etc). I don't find concentration to be an issue there; your mileage may vary. I found I listened to them a lot more during the pandemic, when I really wanted to avoid silence.

> It makes you feel like you did something productive, when you actually barely listened, achieved nothing

This... feels like a weird way of looking at it? I'm not looking to _achieve_ something; I generally listen to podcasts because they are _entertaining_. I'd put them in the same general bucket as audiobooks.

I think people, particularly people who don't listen to podcasts, tend to assume that they're all interview-format. None of the podcasts I listen to are; the closest would be "Behind the Bastards", which does generally have a guest; however the role of the guest is effectively for the host to have someone to tell a story to.

As someone who has entirely replaced listening to music with listening to podcasts and audiobooks your post confuses me. I experience no more cognitive load than I would if I was having a conversation on the subject. If I have the mental bandwidth to listen to music while I’m working on a task then I have the bandwidth to listen to a podcast too.

Your last paragraph also seems to be painting people who listen to podcasts into a very narrow corner. You can find podcasts on everything from history and science to comedy and games. Personally one of my favorite podcasts right now is a comedy focused dnd campaign that I throw on when I drive to work.

> Do people really actually like podcasts?

I don’t know whether other people do but I certainly do. I listen to Rich Roll or Peter Attia while running and find the interviews they do informative or inspiring or both. I could listen to music instead but despite the options I still find myself choosing to listen to podcasts. Same thing happens on the rare occasion when I have to drive a distance longer than 30 min - I nearly always find myself choosing a podcast and excited to get into something interesting!

You are right though - try cooking dinner while listen to a podcast and I’ll screw it up. Too much competition for cognitive load between these activities.

I concur. I've tried listening to podcasts in the background while doing anything on PC and it always results in me losing track of what has been said. So work, games and any video with graphical content (i.e. not just faces of people talking) all hinder listening to podcasts which cuts out about a half of the awake time. And in the rest - I would either listen to a music or to silence. The only viable place for podcasts I've found was driving, and not any driving (because same issue occurs - losing track of the topic when actively driving), but specifically standing in the traffic jam for an hour. There yeah, it fits.

And another problem is that after listening to chunk of a podcast and having to stop in the mid stream I almost never return to continue it. It just stops being interesting and I lose context. With some exceptions of course.

I like to listen to podcasts in bed with my eyes closed instead of staring at a screen for yet more hours of the day for entertainment

Podcasts are very popular.

https://explodingtopics.com/blog/podcast-listeners

The sheer diversity of content, and low barriers to entry ensures that almost anyone could find something that suits their interests, no matter how niche.

Many people such as myself don't have trouble focusing on a podcasts while doing mundane tasks (cleaning, gardening, driving, going to the gym etc) and happily fill that time by listening to something interesting/entertaining. I don't really understand your point about being "productive", as being productive is not my objective when listening to a podcast.

Maybe podcasts are not for you. That's fine. There's lots of entertainment forms that are not for me.

I like radio shows. I listen to some BBC radio 4 comedy shows that are available as "podcasts". Only in the car though, that seems to be the only situation where my attention level is just right.

Other than that I'm with you though. It works for comedy. For anything else I'd rather an engaging video or text.

As an aside, I wish more people listened to comedy, especially satire and absurd. Most podcasts seem to be lengthy talk about something you could read about in 1/10th of the time.

The only one I listen to is 538, today it is relevant to my job but I was a fan before I was working on a web site about public opinion.

For the most part I prefer reading but I do follow quite a few YouTubers who I often listen to in the background. It seems to me this is the best way to follow the Ukraine war and it was Techmoan that rekindled my interest in A/V gear.

Subscription funded podcasts are now my primary source of news for my specific interests.

Ad supported infotainment is nauseating. Roughly the same low signal to noise across mediums (print, cable, radio, TV, podcasts).

I still sometimes scan corporate media headlines for general purpose news. And, obviously, use HN, lobste.rs, and others for geek news.

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