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I've heard that when TV started spreading people thought it would never overtake radio. "Who has time to just sit and watch something?" You can listen to audio while you do other things.
Podcasting is probably my main "media" for the last 5 or so years. I listen to 15-20 hours per week as I commute, exercise, wash dishes…
Right now. As a marginal, unprofitable, poorly understood medium podcasts are amazingly "free." At least some of that stems from podcasting being broken.
Anyway, if anyone is looking for some fertile space to innovate, podcasting is it. Discovery is completely and utterly broken. Even just getting a podcast that you know the name of can be borderline impossible for less savvy users. Podcasting apps kind of suck too. Podcasts struggle to get interaction, which is important for discovery.
>You can listen to audio while you do other things
My biggest problem with podcasts is that I can only listen to audio while I do other things. Running, cleaning the kitchen, driving. If I don't have something to occupy my hands and eyes, then unconsciously I find something, and tune out the podcast.
Any recommendations?
I'm loving Serial, I listened to nearly all of it today. Occasionally I listen to Startups For the Rest of Us (http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/) but it's hit and miss if the content is relevant for me. Hardcore History is excellent.
It'd be nice to discover some more.
I've been using "Pocket Casts" on Android and really like it. It's got a ton of great features, nice design, and OK discovery. It did cost $4, but I use it a lot.
http://www.reddit.com/r/serialpodcast/comments/2mxkje/hae_mi...
I grew up not far from Woodlawn High, attended a neighboring school. After hearing about the trees that were planted in Hae Min's memory, particularly the second tree which was planted behind the school where "Lee liked to flop after an exhausting practice session with the lacrosse or field hockey teams" I recalled doing exactly that every summer after baseball practice (summer league was at woodlawn high) and I was curious to know if the tree giving me shade all those years was the one planted in her memory. So I decided to stop by after work and take some photos with my phone while I was around.
Side note I also went to Sunday School with Adnan's brother - or at least saw him around the campus - did not know any of them personally however. My only memory from the trial days is my parents telling me "See what happens when you have a girlfriend!" (grew up in a similarly conservative household, personally very liberal)
I actively try to avoid 20/20 and Dateline crime mysteries. There are so many of these and they are so engaging, and often without any resolution beyond a "he said, she said". The only conclusion I can draw from them is that crime is often incredibly random and irrational, and everyone has credibility problems, real victims sometimes lie to exaggerate and the justice system is deeply flawed.
But I feel that it's disaster porn; gripping us by appealing to the worst of us.
I was excited for Serial until I realized what it is. I feel for the wrongly convicted, if that's indeed what happened, but I'm not watching/listening to be an activist against injustice. No, I'm just distracting myself without learning anything by absorbing scintillating details and pondering irrelevant mysteries.
To be fair, Serial hasn't really taken a side on the matter, at least not yet. It's really been more about figuring out as much as possible, and doing it in an engaging way. Serial feels very much "about the story" to me.
As for just distracting yourself without learning anything, I feel you there, but at the same time most of us do it in numerous other ways such as reading fiction, or watching movies, so I don't feel for you too much.
Learning is not only about absorbing discrete facts. Serial has taught me that there is often no objective truth that is discoverable in the real world.
I wouldn't describe it as disaster porn. While the stories are certainly compelling as human drama, most of all I find this season of Serial to be a gripping look into a criminal investigation and justice system. It makes me think about the process of historiography, in general.
Serial isn't going to be a crime series. It's just long-form audio journalism/storytelling. The next season will be on a completely different topic.
If this is "disaster porn" then so is all flavors of media.
For some strange reason I thought this was part of Alex Blumberg (also from This American Life)'s Gimlet Media - which he started in August this year, and which he's documenting at http://hearstartup.com.
Anyone know if the timing of Serial's debut was co-incidental, or if there's something happening between the two ex-TIL producers that we don't know about?
I would believe coincidental, as Serial is underwritten by TAL, and to my knowledge Koenig is still considered a producer for TAL.
This seems to be one of a spate of recent articles, e.g. [1]. For a skeptical take, see Marco Arment [2]. Then again, he could just be expressing sour grapes because people with actual skill, money, and time are invading his turf.
FWIW, I have listened to a lot of NPR via podcast for many years, and see a podcast-only version of it as a natural step. At this point, the amateur "three nerds and a microphone" stuff is background noise for when I can't sleep.
[1] http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/whats-behind-th...
[2] http://www.marco.org/2014/11/16/why-podcasts-are-suddenly-ba...
I don't detect any sour grapes. The only part of the narrative he has a problem with is the supposed slump with 2010 being the dark ages of podcasting which somehow needed saving from decline. As slow steady rise isn't dramatic, so a troubled history for podcasting is invented to make it more interesting, which is bull.
It's strange to me that Marco left out Radiotopia's VERY successful latest kickstarter fundraiser, and generally the incredibly high quality content coming out of that program.
And, just weeks before Serial became a breakout hit, the Infinite Guest network launched.
These are both huge leaps forward in providing actual networks for podcasters, publicly funded, and NOT primarily underwritten by a broadcast show.
Current radio has both talk shows (AM talk radio) and produced content (NPR). Both very popular. No reason they can't both exist in the podcast area. And a popular radio talk show isn't really much more professional than "three nerds and a microphone." At least the podcast has an editing pass.
If you listen to hearstartup.com you'll find Marco investing in Gimlet Media which is all about creating a lot more podcasts like Serial so he's very much in favor of the format.
"Then again, he could just be expressing sour grapes because people with actual skill, money, and time are invading his turf."
Uh, what? That's pretty disrespectful. ATP is one of the best produced and most popular tech podcasts out there today.
A quick plug: for those who enjoy Serial, there's an incredible amount of high-quality discussion about it on the serialpodcast subreddit [1].
The very high level of engagement the show has with some listeners is surprising. I don't think it's typical, but many posters talk about dedicating hours to reading case documents, re-listening to episodes, doing independent research, etc.
As a counter argument I'd say don't waste your time. It is this close -> || to becoming a boston bomber situation with people making wild accusations and speculating to their hearts content about all manner of peoples private lives and those are the posts that get voted up.
I love Serial. But I love more the idea that I live in a world where such a show can exist and be successful.
I would be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to plug Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak's "No Agenda Show" podcast.
It's entering the eighth year, reaching its 700th show, and has been entirely funded by producers (active listeners) throughout its history.
No ads. No native advertising.
In the morning!
I loved the original episode this series was born out of: the story of a doctor in North Carolina who takes over the practice of a convicted murderer [http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/492/t...].
I have to say, though, I don't enjoy Serial very much. I'm the only person, it seems. :-) Listening to a reporter (not an investigator) guess and gab about a murder just seems like a waste of time. The constant teasers throughout each episode (maybe he did it? but then, maybe he didn't? and maybe this happened, but then maybe it didn't happen?) are infuriating.
This is to say nothing Sarah Koenig. She's obviously done fine work in her career and is a big part of This American Life, and I'm happy to see any podcast get some attention. I just don't enjoy the show, personally.
I think this is less about one single podcast than it is about the entire medium. Whether you or I enjoy Serial, it's a huge hit and it's turning a lot of people on to the format.
If you're in the mood for a podcast recommendation, check out Welcome to Night Vale http://commonplacebooks.com/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_Night_Vale
It's worth mentioning that This American Life (TAL) went all out promoting 'Serial' with on-air mentions, airing its first episode and using popups on the TAL website e.g.: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives.
I think Patreon would work really well for this. I know they can support both monthly an work-released based donation types (with per-month maximums), and being able to pledge a certain amount per episode would make this easy and me very happy that my money was going towards actually producing content.
I gave them $20. I'm curious how much money in donations Serial can get.
I'm thinking of donating because of how interesting I find it, but for me it will all depend on whether the final resolution is definitive or not. If there's no closure it's going to be the most frustrating experience since Lost for me.
We've had "podcasting" for well over a decade, the iPod is dead, and this is the first "breakout hit"?
I think mainly because the top of the podcast charts is all existing public radio shows, so they don't "count" as podcasts.
I'd love some data behind the claim that this is podcasting's first breakout hit, beyond the comparison to This American Life's slower initial growth in the form. Is this a legitimate claim to fame, or sensationalism from the New York Times from a writer who seems to be largely dismissive of podcasting in general?
Serial has been an immensely satisfying listening experience. I now look forward to Thursday mornings for it to come out.
+1 It's a good format. The honesty and genuine voice from This American Life - and the episodes don't give you much resolution at the end. Just feels real.
A friend and I are exploring some ideas and around next-generation podcasting (and audio entertainment in general). Early prototype stage. There is a lot of room for innovation, and the market is growing--as this article explains. If you're in the SF area and interested in this area, drop me a line.
Unfortunately nowhere near SF (Middle of England, UK!) but am definitely interested in what you're coming up with if you have any further info anywhere?
Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this:
http://www.crowdmurder.com - Gamifying the investigation of the case from the Serial Podcast.
"Use Real Court Evidence to Solve the Murder of Hae Min Lee Access Courtroom Audio, Build Time-lines, Maps & Suspect Bios. Team up with fans of the Serial Podcast from around the world to help solve a murder.
Every Court Document and Recording We're Publishing Every Piece of Publicly-Available Evidence from Adnan's Trial and building powerful annotation tools"
Wanted to add some other ones I did not see suggested:
Freakonomics Radio - by the authors of the book of the same name
Travel with Rick Steves - podcast by famous travel guide Rick Steves
Dinner Part Download - nice way to learn about interesting facts/random trivia/pop-culture regarding all sorts of subjects which can make for interesting conversation at your next social gathering
edit: meant to post this as a response to the question asking about other podcasts
I know this will get me downvoted but I can't understand the fascination with Serial. Overall I found it quite a boring listen. Too many side paths that amount to not much at all, feel like it could have done with a harsh edit.
But it's production qualities are high quality and so anything that leads people to create more content at a similar level the better !
I think it plays into people's belief that they'll be able to figure out something nobody else has. It's what Sarah is trying to do, and the way she presents the story is shaped in a manner to make you lean one way one week, then completely reverse course the following week. It's smartly executed.
>I know this will get me downvoted but I can't understand the fascination with Serial. Overall I found it quite a boring listen. Too many side paths that amount to not much at all, feel like it could have done with a harsh edit.
I find it fascinating that your criticism of Serial is essentially a criticism of reality. Perhaps this indicates there should be a Law and Order: SVU type podcast.
Here in Sweden, the last episode of Filip & Fredriks Podcast[1] was recorded in front of a 16 592 people audience this past June.
To be fair they had quite the career on television before that, but podcasting seems to have become a thing here.
I'm absolutely in love with this podcast. I randomly stumbled upon it look for something else to listen to while waiting on new episodes of "Stuff You Should Know".
The story is so engaging. Congrats to Sarah and the team on their success!
In addition to serial, I began listening to http://www.wnyc.org/shows/deathsexmoney/ which reminds me of a more poignant Terry Gross.
Wasn't the Ricky Gervais Show really podcasting's first breakout hit? It got a Guinness World Record and ended up becoming a TV show in both the UK and US.
If anyone here hasn't listened to The Bugle podcast (I've been a Bugler since the second episode) you are missing out on the world.
This popped up while I am listening to Serial. But I am a bit of a podcasting junkie so not surprising.
First breakout hit not so sure I heard nightvale name checked on the bus 3 months ago.