Understand others may have differing opinions but I for one never understood podcasts. They seem a very inefficient way to consume information, with generally a very low signal to noise ratio. I can see an attraction while driving, but I don't do that so don't have that problem. The only one I can remember listening to and enjoying in the past was related to roguelike development, and was essentially more of a well choreographed and researched interview framed as a discussion.
The reason they're so famous is because it is in the form of a conversation (generally). I like to take in information if it is in the form of a dialogue rather than simple one sided text / monologue.
Podcasts aren't meant for you to get upto speed on some high end technical concept. It's a lay person's perspective in most cases. So I'm fine if Joe Rogan interviews a scientist since unlike a lecture from susskind, I don't need to pay full attention and take notes. Similarly with finance podcasts, where I'm a professional, I don't need to find one which discusses a full economics paper. I prefer one where highly technical people get together and have a high level conversation since I know the basics and I can follow their train of thought.
They seem a very inefficient way to consume information, with generally a very low signal to noise ratio
For a long time, I agreed with this sentiment. But as someone who spends not a small amount of time commuting, jogging, going to the gym and cooking, I've replaced a lot of passive consumption of online resources with podcasts.
I like to stay on top of the open-source and Linux adjacent news, and reading LWN while working out can be tough. I've found a few podcasts from members of those communities and listen to them. I keep short notes on my phone for topics that I want to revisit later, and find the show notes the hosts themselves curate to be treasure troves of content I might otherwise pass by. My signal to noise ratio in passive consumption has definitely gone up.
Podcasts like the Longform podcast and Current Affairs allow me to delve into content I'd otherwise have to read about.
I do not find podcasts to be a good substitute for heavy technical content, in the same way I would find YouTube videos or audiobooks to be frustrating formats to consume O'Reilly books.
If you want to frame it in terms of efficiency, they're actually pretty efficient: A podcast allows you to take in information in situations where you otherwise wouldn't. Digesting something heavy like a textbook while doing household chores requires too much attention, but you can hear about some interesting person's views...
Yeah, exactly. If you cook, do aerobics, walk your dog, commute, do chores, or even run errands, you potentially have time you can enrich with a good podcast.
For example, these days I have trouble reading books because it's so sedentary. I can only do it for 30min before I switch to a podcast or audiobook so I can run or cook or do pushups while I listen.
I listen to podcasts, when my eyes or hands are in use somewhere else.
Walking, cooking, commuting, doing chores are the most common examples. Past that, I also listen to podcasts when I am doing boring work or writing some boiler plate code.
Sure, but so are tabloid newspapers, glossy magazines and junk food.
(Edit: These are other examples of billion dollar industries that equate to low quality experiences you can choose to give yourself, but which will have longer term implications.)
First of all, life isn't something that I must squeeze all "productivity" out of possible, humans need rest and downtime. They also need socialization even though that's not "productive."
Secondly, podcasts help one accomplish productive work as they turn boring mundane (yet productive) tasks like cooking, cleaning, working out, gardening, folding laundry, woodworking, etc. into slight entertainment. For example, I feel much more motivated to clean the house when I have a podcasts I want to listen to vs before I started listening to podcasts (I don't really enjoy listening to music much). Almost nobody sits on the couch idly listening to podcasts.
Not everything is about optimal efficiency. Podcasts are a conversational and passive way to be entertained or learn new things. If all that mattered was efficiency, the most efficient way to get the dopamine that entertainment provides would be to just do drugs.
That's four minutes twenty-five seconds you might find not wasted. And none of the information in it is likely to be useful to you whatsoever.
I listen to podcasts while I'm doing the dishes, cleaning the floor, cooking, tidying the house, sewing patches, reseating the heatsink onto a GPU. No need to be driving.
Pop songs are usually an incredibly inefficient way to consume information too, but I listen to those a lot. I wonder if you do.
When I worked in the service industry, my shift was 90% waiting for customers, 10% responding to them. Podcasts allowed me to keep my eyes up and look available to help, and were something that I could put down without worrying about keeping my place.
The benefit of podcasts is that they work when other forms of media don't work. I agree that they don't make good competitors to books and other more dense mediums.
It's one way to rest your eyes. Being glued all day to blue
light screens wrecks sleep patterns and creates a lot of eye strain that makes your eyesight age faster. It can also
create a feeling of anxiety and lack of focus.
I agree for some, especially the "two guys talking" format. But there's a huge range of different genres, including long-form ones like Hardcore History [1], where they're effectively audiobooks.
I listen mostly for entertainment. I also very rarely just sit an listen to a podcast without doing anything else. I am usually walking/biking/driving/sitting in front of a computer for work or play.
I also don't really have an interest in scripted podcasts. I pretty much exclusively listen to conversation-based podcasts
Generally I agree. That said, some podcasts have grabbed my attention and I catch myself listening to them more and more often. Lex Fridman's podcasts namely, though his podcasts fall gravitate more towards interviews with astonishingly interesting people. I mean two hours worth of François Chollet's tweets is pure gold.
Not everything is about efficiency. A good interview or a more produced podcast is often a more natural way to consume certain types of content than reading. As others have said, it's probably not the best way to adsorb complex/unfamiliar material though. (And, for myself, it is mostly when I'm driving that I listen to podcasts, i.e. what lots of people have historically used radio for.
Comments
Understand others may have differing opinions but I for one never understood podcasts. They seem a very inefficient way to consume information, with generally a very low signal to noise ratio. I can see an attraction while driving, but I don't do that so don't have that problem. The only one I can remember listening to and enjoying in the past was related to roguelike development, and was essentially more of a well choreographed and researched interview framed as a discussion.
The reason they're so famous is because it is in the form of a conversation (generally). I like to take in information if it is in the form of a dialogue rather than simple one sided text / monologue.
Podcasts aren't meant for you to get upto speed on some high end technical concept. It's a lay person's perspective in most cases. So I'm fine if Joe Rogan interviews a scientist since unlike a lecture from susskind, I don't need to pay full attention and take notes. Similarly with finance podcasts, where I'm a professional, I don't need to find one which discusses a full economics paper. I prefer one where highly technical people get together and have a high level conversation since I know the basics and I can follow their train of thought.
Well explained!
For a long time, I agreed with this sentiment. But as someone who spends not a small amount of time commuting, jogging, going to the gym and cooking, I've replaced a lot of passive consumption of online resources with podcasts.
I like to stay on top of the open-source and Linux adjacent news, and reading LWN while working out can be tough. I've found a few podcasts from members of those communities and listen to them. I keep short notes on my phone for topics that I want to revisit later, and find the show notes the hosts themselves curate to be treasure troves of content I might otherwise pass by. My signal to noise ratio in passive consumption has definitely gone up.
Podcasts like the Longform podcast and Current Affairs allow me to delve into content I'd otherwise have to read about.
I do not find podcasts to be a good substitute for heavy technical content, in the same way I would find YouTube videos or audiobooks to be frustrating formats to consume O'Reilly books.
Can you share some podcasts that help you keep up with LWN?
https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/
If you want to frame it in terms of efficiency, they're actually pretty efficient: A podcast allows you to take in information in situations where you otherwise wouldn't. Digesting something heavy like a textbook while doing household chores requires too much attention, but you can hear about some interesting person's views...
Yeah, exactly. If you cook, do aerobics, walk your dog, commute, do chores, or even run errands, you potentially have time you can enrich with a good podcast.
For example, these days I have trouble reading books because it's so sedentary. I can only do it for 30min before I switch to a podcast or audiobook so I can run or cook or do pushups while I listen.
For me the efficiency is its main perk.
I listen to podcasts, when my eyes or hands are in use somewhere else.
Walking, cooking, commuting, doing chores are the most common examples. Past that, I also listen to podcasts when I am doing boring work or writing some boiler plate code.
Well, some people aren't as focused on achieving optimal efficiency in their information consumption.
Good point, but I would jovially rephrase that "some people don't get bored easily enough".
I don't believe min-maxing efficiency/productivity is a healthy habit for a large portion of people to assume.
Others feel differently, as podcasting is a multi billion dollar industry
Sure, but so are tabloid newspapers, glossy magazines and junk food.
(Edit: These are other examples of billion dollar industries that equate to low quality experiences you can choose to give yourself, but which will have longer term implications.)
How about illegal drugs and human trafficking, if you're going down the rabbit hole of false equivalency?
That's such a BS comparison. What's the negative externality of listening to podcasts?
Consuming information distracts you from producing work. Similar to watching television, reading newspapers, and browsing internet.
This is not remotely true.
First of all, life isn't something that I must squeeze all "productivity" out of possible, humans need rest and downtime. They also need socialization even though that's not "productive."
Secondly, podcasts help one accomplish productive work as they turn boring mundane (yet productive) tasks like cooking, cleaning, working out, gardening, folding laundry, woodworking, etc. into slight entertainment. For example, I feel much more motivated to clean the house when I have a podcasts I want to listen to vs before I started listening to podcasts (I don't really enjoy listening to music much). Almost nobody sits on the couch idly listening to podcasts.
Bullshit, I listen to podcast while working all the time and it doesn't affect my productivity
The power of podcasts is their ability to augment another activity. Driving and exercising are my primary means of consuming podcasts.
Literally, multiplies the value of those activities.
I do podcasts when I’m not consuming information in other ways. Mostly while driving, showering or working out.
Not everything is about optimal efficiency. Podcasts are a conversational and passive way to be entertained or learn new things. If all that mattered was efficiency, the most efficient way to get the dopamine that entertainment provides would be to just do drugs.
Voices. Music. Emotions. Whimsy.
Try this episode of "The Memory Palace": http://thememorypalace.us/2012/12/dreamland/
That's four minutes twenty-five seconds you might find not wasted. And none of the information in it is likely to be useful to you whatsoever.
I listen to podcasts while I'm doing the dishes, cleaning the floor, cooking, tidying the house, sewing patches, reseating the heatsink onto a GPU. No need to be driving.
Pop songs are usually an incredibly inefficient way to consume information too, but I listen to those a lot. I wonder if you do.
When I worked in the service industry, my shift was 90% waiting for customers, 10% responding to them. Podcasts allowed me to keep my eyes up and look available to help, and were something that I could put down without worrying about keeping my place.
The benefit of podcasts is that they work when other forms of media don't work. I agree that they don't make good competitors to books and other more dense mediums.
It's one way to rest your eyes. Being glued all day to blue light screens wrecks sleep patterns and creates a lot of eye strain that makes your eyesight age faster. It can also create a feeling of anxiety and lack of focus.
I agree for some, especially the "two guys talking" format. But there's a huge range of different genres, including long-form ones like Hardcore History [1], where they're effectively audiobooks.
[1] https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/
I listen mostly for entertainment. I also very rarely just sit an listen to a podcast without doing anything else. I am usually walking/biking/driving/sitting in front of a computer for work or play. I also don't really have an interest in scripted podcasts. I pretty much exclusively listen to conversation-based podcasts
Generally I agree. That said, some podcasts have grabbed my attention and I catch myself listening to them more and more often. Lex Fridman's podcasts namely, though his podcasts fall gravitate more towards interviews with astonishingly interesting people. I mean two hours worth of François Chollet's tweets is pure gold.
Me too. Then I got a dog. Now I can't believe it took me so long to get on board.
I totally agree, it seems too much inefficient. I only like to listen to podcast while i taking the metro, which is about half an hour long.
Not everything is about efficiency. A good interview or a more produced podcast is often a more natural way to consume certain types of content than reading. As others have said, it's probably not the best way to adsorb complex/unfamiliar material though. (And, for myself, it is mostly when I'm driving that I listen to podcasts, i.e. what lots of people have historically used radio for.