Podcasts are all the rage. I hate podcasts. They remind me of sitting in fourth grade class when the teacher says, “You read silently while I read aloud.” I was done with the chapter and bored long before the teacher finished.
Worse, the skills needed to be a good writer are not identical to those of a good speaker. Podcasters may have good things to say, but it’s torture to listen to them say them.
Our Gracious Host, of course, has training and experience in both sides – print and radio – so this is not a dig at him. But I miss reading guys like Scott Adams and Mark Steyn.
Joe Doakes
No dig taken, JD. And I’m with you – I don’t much care for podcasts, and I’m slow in warming to audio books, for that matter. Part of it is that so many of them have such lousy production values – and yes, that may sound shallow, but poor audio quality, bad mic technique and a lousy speaking voice are very analogous to terrible grammar and lousy style. They’re integral parts of the medium.
It even happens with “polished, professional” podcasts. “The Daily”, the New York Times’ daily podcast, is hosted by Michael Barbaro. Leaving aside Barbaro’s history of hackery, he has the most annoying “radio voice” anywhere.
I still much prefer reading.
When choosing to listen to a podcast, you should think “talk show” not “audio essay.”
Ricochet has a few good podcasts.
Triggernometry is usually entertaining.
“John Anderson’s Conversations” is good and not as Aussie-centered as you might think.
You can’t read while you walk, or drive, or ride a bicycle.
You can skim an article or a blog post. You can’t skim a podcast. I don’t have a half hour to listen to someone with 7-10 minutes of content.
Its not just podcasts. Unfortunately, the MNGOC in search of “interaction metrics” on Facebook has moved to virtually nothing but video messages during the session. I do not watch any of them – Give me the necessary details in a 5-10 paragraph post, I’m not interested in watching anyone live stream from their car seat for 20 minutes to get the same level information. I’d be forgiving if perhaps both options were presented, but the written updates have been summarily dispatched to the grave in favor of the video messages.
When I used to work and had a hour to hour and a half long drive, one way, every day, audio books (non-fiction please) were great. That said, I don’t really do audio products either. Same as Brad said.
But young people, even young people I know who like books and read, they like those audio things. Even productions that last three or more hours. Where do they find the time?
I have really enjoyed some audiobooks, but everything does need to be “right”.
I need the time, the story needs to be engaging, the reader needs to be good (voice, clarity, and tempo), and approach it like an audio play (not a bedtime story).
A couple series by Will Wight (narrated by Travis Baldree) have been excellent.
I used to have a job where I covered six states, so I had a lot of windshield time, when audiobooks were very handy. I mean, the drives to Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Des Moines and any where beyond Omaha in the state of Nebraska, are tailor made for them.
I’m too impatient for podcasts and such, since I’m always wanting to skim ahead for key points – especially if the presentation is lagging (or lacking). I will make an exception from time for the “Criminal” podcast by Phoebe Judge. She looks at mysteries and cold-cases and features interviews with people involved in the cases. The show does a good job of keeping you engaged in the story, stringing clues and details together. She also has a soft but distinctive speaking style that doesn’t grate. Good for road trips.
One of the best things I learned in freshman (high school) English class was speedreading, which makes long lectures very, very difficult for me when I know I could get the same information in a fifth the time.
bike,
That’s the problem. We never learned “speed listening”. 😂
I can only listen to podcasts while I am driving. If I am at work, I’m almost always too busy and too engaged with my work to let my attention drift to a podcast (or talk radio). If I am at home, there are too many interruptions and competing interests. I listen to podcasts at 1.3X speed so I can cram a little more material in during a given time period, but it’s not so fast that it takes extra listening effort or that I miss stuff. When I drove into work every day, I used to be able to pretty much keep up with Jack and Ben – then Leanne and Ben – then just Ben – on Up And At ‘Em. That was about the only one with which I could keep current. Now that I WFH every day, I hardly listen to any podcasts anymore.
I have discovered the “Sticky Notes” podcast where an orchestra conductor gives a section-by-section analysis of various famous and not-so-famous large pieces of classical music, intertwined with tidbits of information about the composer and the life of that composer while composing that work. That keeps me involved on my almost monthly road trips to Brookings SD for college student retrieval/delivery.
BH429, imagine if John Moschitta did a podcast? Listening to him at 1X speed would sound like you were listening to anyone else at 1.5-2X speed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Moschitta_Jr.