Podcasting Pearls Before Swine

Not dead but certainly attracting some flies

Them: What do you think of X?

Me: Love them! Interviewed them for the podcast.

Them: You had a podcast?

Me: I’m an opinionated middle-aged man. Of course I had a podcast.

Have we reached peak podcast? Probably.

Lets start with the data to give this rant some juice.

The most comprehensive survey of listening habits is the Share of Ear report undertaken by Edison Research on the US market. Podcasting checks in at a healthy 11% - way ahead of audiobooks (3%) but way behind AM/FM radio (36%). Podcasting share of ear seems to holding fairly steady. Edison’s research specifically on podcasts indicates that after undergoing significant growth in the 2010s, podcast consumption has flattened. People have their fill of podcasts thank you very much. As Edison is very keen to point out, these people tend to skew both younger and richer than the general population. But the gender balance seems to be evening out with more women going from 39% to 46% of podcast listeners over the last 10 years.

So podcasting is not dead but it has entered a comfortable middle age. As have some of its biggest names. The podcast charts seem to be full of dudes with muscles. Joe Rogan has obviously been the breakout star of this medium with his trademark rambling conversations with comedians, wrestlers, and even the occasional woman. Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist who talks about health optimization. And has lots of muscles. Chris Williamson has… muscles and guests. I mean he seems like a Joe Rogan scoured of all the interesting bits and then doused in baby oil. Theo Von is a comedian with muscles. Alex Cooper stands out for not being a dude and probably not talking about how much she can bench press.

Apart from dudes with muscles explaining the meaning of life (I think it involves reaching your true potential through arm curls), the other prime podcasting genres is true crime. The serial, er, Serial was a breakout hit back in 2014 and Crime Junkie, Morbid, SERIALously, My Favorite Murder seems to be keeping the spirit alive of rubbnecking at other people’s trauma. This format has become so common that it is parodied (along with a million other showbiz tropes) by Only Murders In The Building.

Presumably the ultimate podcast would be some guy nearly bursting out of his shirt while solving a cold case in rural Idaho. There would be a cast of kooky characters and plot twists. There will be much lecturing on the correct form of the sumo deadlift. Hang on, muscles, crime, terrible dialogue, why doesn’t Batman have a podcast? I thought he was the world’s greatest detective?

Look, I don’t listen to any of this stuff. I like history podcasts and maybe a few on tech. I’ll even forgive Dominic Sandbrook his atrocious Daily Mail columns for the quality of the banter he has with Tom Holland (not that one). I might listen to Ezra Klein agonize over the state of the world. Or Kate Lister talk about absolute filth in a reassuringly homely manner.

Recently James Smith (who has visible muscles) and Michael Spicer (who seems like a regular guy muscle-wise) have both been critical of the modern podcasting machine. And both score some absolute hits on their targets. However on reflection, my ruminations on podcasting yield three specific conclusions.

Firstly, the podcast charts raise up a mirror to our desires. Radio programmers seek to provide content that will appeal to their target audiences but their choices are obviously affected by their own tastes. We now know that what people most want to hear about is self-help and others-death.

Secondly, once you get outside the top charts, there is a myriad of conversation and storytelling out there. And I love it. If Joe Rogan is the price to pay for Kate Lister then I will render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.

Thirdly, you can make something yourself. All you need is a mike, some editing software and a podcasting platform account. Will you be the next Joe Rogan? Well, the odds of that are vanishing small. What you make might either be absolute tosh or appeal to no one. But you can do it. And it might touch someone somewhere.

Unless you’re an opinionated, middle-aged man. Stick to the homebrewing, buddy. Friends don’t let friends make podcasts.