The once useless-seeming medium that became essential.
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When you first heard about podcasts, do you remember how excited you werent?
To which you might have replied, Talking about … what?
To which they might have replied, About … anything!
Im going to guess youve listened to a podcast since then, maybe even a few.
And Im going to guess that youve even become obsessed with one or two.
In any case: Theyre here.
There are no editors to convince, no producers to pitch, no green lights to be green-lit.
(Voice acting is hard, kids.)
And, of course,there are true-crime podcasts so many true-crime podcasts.
So, so many true-crime podcasts.
(No talking, just walking.
Whatever your personal preference, its become clear that podcasts are particularly well suited to cater to personal preferences.
And podcasts increasingly are learning to do things no medium has done before.
Theres an episodeof the podcastWithout FailthatstitledThe Man Who Launched a Thousand Podcasts.
The two of them personify two distinct eras in podcast evolution.
(TALhas been available in podcast form since 2006.)
Its a style that prizes authenticity over authority, a purposeful antidote to the traditional newscasters drone.
It suggests a wide-open eye avidly searching the world for wonder under an ever-so-slightly arched eyebrow.
Its the sound weve come to think of when we think of how a podcast sounds.
Its not surprising that a decade spent crafting audio stories for radio should pay off in this new medium.
But this tone, as it exists now in podcasts, did not arrive instantaneously or fully formed.
It was super-personal and partially about me and why I couldnt let it go, says Taberski.
I wasnt necessarily happy about inserting myself into it.
And I was like, Goddamit.
At one point, Updike asked, Wheres the hunt?
That was the aha moment, says Snyder.
No ones doing anything in this story except for Sarah.
Sarah is the protagonist.
But the heart of the story, it turned out, was McLemore himself.
Julie was saying it would be nice if we could let things breathe a little bit, Reed recalls.
One critic applied the label aural literature.
When it arrived,S-Townsounded like no podcast that had come before.
It was also downloaded more than 40 million times that year.
But Blumberg does ask Glass if he ever steps back and considers what, two decades later,TALbegot.
So you say, You know what would be really great?
If you take the bow across the thing.
And finger it here its amazing!
Why dont people do this?
Its an apt analogy and, in the era of podcasts, one you could take even further.
With podcasts, that music has found its perfect instrument.
Take a look at your Twitter feed.
The Nobel Prizewinning biologist tweets next to the random anti-vaxxer who tweets next to a Russian bot spreading disinformation.
Then there are podcasts: cheap, niche, idiosyncratic, weird, and highly personal.
Shed become addicted to podcasts.
She loved them precisely because they could so comfortably colonize her mind.
Podcasts were constant company, audio portals into unexpected worlds.
Shed realized that the experience of podcasts is fundamentally different from being Extremely Online.
Its also pleasurable, podcasts reminded us, to listen to experts talk.
Also panels of pop-cultural mandarins.
The one constant, though, through all the standout podcasts is that notion of obsession and connection.
Its a refreshingly democratic medium that, not incidentally, is driven by distinct personalities.
It really is you.
Theres no way around it.
Podcasts appeal to the twin modern manias for constant enrichment and constant escape.
Despite their low-tech origins, we should never have been surprised at podcasts modern allure.
Theyre instant company with interesting people.
What could be more exciting than that?
Gimlet poached the founders ofReply AllfromWNYCin 2014.
Adam Davidson
OfPlanet Money;now making a show forLuminary.
Ira Glass
Started proto-podcastThis American Lifein 1995.
Sarah Koenig
FormerThis American Lifeproducer behindSerial.
Nishat Kurwa
Currently overseesVox Medias growing podcast empire, now over 75 shows strong.
Max Linsky
Longformco-founder co-foundedPineapple Street Mediain 2016.
Hernan Lopez
A former longtime Fox executive, Lopez foundedWonderyin 2016 with funding from his old employer.
Has since launched IP-friendly hits likeDirty JohnandDr.
Marc Maron
MakesWTF,whose archives live onStitcherPremium.
Leslie Merklinger
A veteran of the Canadian television industry.
Joined theCBCto launch its podcast division in 2015.
Built a successful podcast portfolio that mixes true crime, heartwarming shows, and grand experiments.
Sim Sarna
Former independent film producer turned podcast co-host withAnna Faris.
Recently foundedUnqualified Mediaoff the strength of that podcast.
Julie Shapiro
Manages the creative vision ofRadiotopiaas executive producer, bringing in shows likeEverything Is AliveandEar Hustle.
Bill Simmons
Created theRingerin 2016.
Simmons signed up to make a show forLuminary.
Moses Soyoola
Former executive at Panoply.
Julie Snyder
FormerThis American Lifeproducer behindSerialandS-Town.
Jesse Thorn
RunsMaximum Fun,which makesBullseyeforWNYC; helpedMarc MaronstartWTFin 2009.
Lisa Tobin
Public radiostaffer turned news podcast doyenne.
Joined the New YorkTimesto form its audio department in 2016, giving usThe Dailybarely a year later.
Jacob Weisberg
LeftSlate Groupto co-foundPushkinwithMalcolm Gladwellin 2018.
Weisberg and Gladwell have reportedly signed upMichael Lewisto launch a new podcast,Against the Rules.
Jenna Weiss-Berman
OfThe MothandWNYCsDeath, Sex & Money;co-foundedPineapple Street Mediain 2016.
The Um-Busters
Anonymous podcast producers share their tricks.
1.Vocal filler um and ah sounds makes a recording sound natural.
You have to cut some ums, though, to help things flow.
Doing it too much can make a speaker sound clipped or robotic, so I cut maybe 65 percent.
2.A lot oftechnical problemscan get in the way when youre recording: bad mics or loud air conditioners.
Sometimes youre working that out in front of a VIP who doesnt have much time to give you.
I once held a mic up to Trevor Noah for an hour and a half.
3.With media-trained interviewees who talk in complete, polished sentences, I rarely cut actual words.
But with off-the-street interviews,I sometimes cut whole tangents.
4.A recording has a lot of pauses or hesitation.
Nicholas Quah
FullDisclosure
New Yorkhas also joined the world of podcasting.
