Can podcasts survive the billion dollar hype?

The growing popularity of podcasts has attracted massive hype and even bigger corporate investment. Lou explains the scientific and cultural reasons behind the “podcast revolution,” and why great expectations might damage the medium.

SOURCES & FURTHER READING

Edison Research’s “The Infinite Dial 2019”

Nature Journal article on how podcasts impacts the brain

Webster: Where Does Podcasting Go Next?

New York Magazine on The Golden Age of Podcasts

The New Yorker on How Podcasts Became a Seductive—and Sometimes Slippery—Mode of Storytelling

LA Times opinion piece on Why the Podcasting Revolution is Here to Stay

CREDITS
Writer: Louis Foglia
Researcher: Page Ellerson
Supervising Producer: Allison Brown

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[africanotomotiv]

Go live your life Lou.
You earned it...
Well done.

[willowdesk]

I’m low key glad Casey left this company. This dude seems way more interested in it

[LouisFoglia]

I listen to podcasts while driving and while doing chores. Favorites - WTF with Marc Maron, Freakonomics, Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell, The Daily, Making Sense with Sam Harris, Crimetown, Serial, and In the Dark. S-Town is the GOAT.

[LiamJoyce]

Discovering this guy is one of my happiest YouTube accidents. He has a way of skimming and summarising a subject yet it's not superfluous at all. Brilliant, please keep it coming!

[EVOXSNES]

Hey it's Lou and some wild shit is going down with podcasts...

[johnpossum]

This video in a nutshell: Podcasts are the new AM talk radio.

[JJs_playground]

Every medium will eventually move behind a paywall. Because, money is still the most important thing.

[adeleetherton]

I was born in the 50's and was very sickly... I caught everything except a baseball... The only real way to keep me quiet and in bed was to listen to soap opera's ... now, I hated them when I grew up, but listening to storytelling on the radio was awesome. I love podcasts too :)

[wclark]

Dude, I want that "Wild Shit by Lou" podcast. Seriously. I already searched for it and have come away heartbroken.

[qwerqwerqwerasdf]

apple has had podcast for their taking for a decade, and completely ignored it

[musicalcharge]

Any time anyone ever says "creative people do creative things because they love it, so don't worry about paying them, " I say:


F***ING PAY THE DAMN CREATIVE PEOPLE, THEY NEED TO EAT AND PAY RENT

[TMWriting]

The podcast that moves behind a paywall is the podcast that dies.

[willowdesk]

Joe Rogan will be known as the father of the modern podcasting imo

[CybershamanX]

I noticed some time ago that it seemed like we were going back in time with many videos on YouTube having their hosts do ads just like on old time radio and TV. It's just interesting to see how old things occasionally become new again.

[JesseDavis]

Podcasts have been big in the RPG and Gaming spaces for over a decade+ (with some going back even further) - it's just that now Podcasts are getting mainstreamed - glad to see it - it's a great format with a lot of potential

[MrStunGum]

You are doing an amazing job guys! I enjoy every video and learn something new every time! Your view count doesn't reflect the quality :)

[inquisitive]

About a decade ago, Google released an app that was a "podcast catcher." Any audio that was publicly posted on a website became a podcast by default. I remember listening to random academic panels. Google killed off the app because podcasts was yet a boom as they are now.

[wanderingpanchhi]

What lav mic are you using Lou?
The tone is damn nice and crisp. Great video too btw!

[epion]

"85% of NPRs listeners has a bachelor's. ARE ALL PODCASTS ELITISTS??" -_-