As a content-obsessed millennial, podcasts have long been ingrained in my daily routine. I listen while commuting, cooking, running errands, putting away laundry, washing dishes or during any relatively mindless activity that can be done while wearing wireless headphones.
My bond with podcasts is so cemented that it comes as a shock when someone I meet at a party — or someone in my family, or a friend I thought I knew — tells me that they, in the year 2019, do not listen to podcasts. And never have. And don’t really get what it’s all about. And, worse, don’t quite know how to start.
Their reasons range from “I don’t have time” to “It’s passed me by” to “What should I even listen to?” Luckily, those concerns are easily answered and dispatched. For anyone who wants to become a full-fledged podcast listener, here’s what you need to know to get into it, from experts who know best.
Find the right app
To keep and organize your podcasts, you’ll need a podcast app that allows you to subscribe to new shows and listen. If you’re brand-new to podcasts, the stock podcast app already installed on your smartphone is the easiest point of entry; for iPhone, you have the Apple Podcasts app, and for Android users, the easiest option is to play podcasts through the Play Music app.
Beyond that, there is a huge range of third-party apps to choose from, but the app I use regularly and like best — and the favorite among the podcast experts interviewed for this article — is Pocket Casts, which costs a one-time payment of $3.99 on both Android and iOS.
Nicholas Quah, who writes the podcast industry newsletter Hot Pod and is a podcast critic for Vulture, uses six different podcast apps, but prefers Pocket Casts. Dana Gerber-Margie, co-founder of the Bello Collective, a volunteer-run podcast review website and newsletter, has used many apps, most recently Stitcher, and made the switch to Pocket Casts because others “couldn’t handle the amount of subscriptions that I was maintaining.” (Currently, she subscribes to 1,427 podcasts in all and regularly listens to between 40 and 50.) (...)
Find the things you really want to hear
Now that you have your app and gadgets, you’re ready for the fun part: finding podcasts you’re going to love.
If it feels overwhelming, it’s not just you: Though podcasts have been around for at least a decade, there’s still no central database or clearinghouse for the thousands of podcasts out there, Ms. Gerber-Margie said.
“A lot of discovery happens via the way you choose to listen. There’s no ‘New York Times best-seller list,’” she said.
However, big podcasting powerhouses are a great first place to look. National Public Radio produces many worthwhile podcasts, including “Invisibilia,” “Planet Money” and the daily news show “Up First.” Likewise, public radio stations across the country produce a ton of great shows, like “Last Seen” by Boston’s WBUR and “Making Obama” by Chicago’s WBEZ, and large podcasting studios — Radiotopia, Gimlet Media, Maximum Fun — will give a range of solid choices with excellent production value. (We list some of our favorite shows below.)
by Rachel Holliday Smith, NY Times | Read more:
Image: via
My bond with podcasts is so cemented that it comes as a shock when someone I meet at a party — or someone in my family, or a friend I thought I knew — tells me that they, in the year 2019, do not listen to podcasts. And never have. And don’t really get what it’s all about. And, worse, don’t quite know how to start.Their reasons range from “I don’t have time” to “It’s passed me by” to “What should I even listen to?” Luckily, those concerns are easily answered and dispatched. For anyone who wants to become a full-fledged podcast listener, here’s what you need to know to get into it, from experts who know best.
Find the right app
To keep and organize your podcasts, you’ll need a podcast app that allows you to subscribe to new shows and listen. If you’re brand-new to podcasts, the stock podcast app already installed on your smartphone is the easiest point of entry; for iPhone, you have the Apple Podcasts app, and for Android users, the easiest option is to play podcasts through the Play Music app.
Beyond that, there is a huge range of third-party apps to choose from, but the app I use regularly and like best — and the favorite among the podcast experts interviewed for this article — is Pocket Casts, which costs a one-time payment of $3.99 on both Android and iOS.
Nicholas Quah, who writes the podcast industry newsletter Hot Pod and is a podcast critic for Vulture, uses six different podcast apps, but prefers Pocket Casts. Dana Gerber-Margie, co-founder of the Bello Collective, a volunteer-run podcast review website and newsletter, has used many apps, most recently Stitcher, and made the switch to Pocket Casts because others “couldn’t handle the amount of subscriptions that I was maintaining.” (Currently, she subscribes to 1,427 podcasts in all and regularly listens to between 40 and 50.) (...)
Find the things you really want to hear
Now that you have your app and gadgets, you’re ready for the fun part: finding podcasts you’re going to love.
If it feels overwhelming, it’s not just you: Though podcasts have been around for at least a decade, there’s still no central database or clearinghouse for the thousands of podcasts out there, Ms. Gerber-Margie said.
“A lot of discovery happens via the way you choose to listen. There’s no ‘New York Times best-seller list,’” she said.
However, big podcasting powerhouses are a great first place to look. National Public Radio produces many worthwhile podcasts, including “Invisibilia,” “Planet Money” and the daily news show “Up First.” Likewise, public radio stations across the country produce a ton of great shows, like “Last Seen” by Boston’s WBUR and “Making Obama” by Chicago’s WBEZ, and large podcasting studios — Radiotopia, Gimlet Media, Maximum Fun — will give a range of solid choices with excellent production value. (We list some of our favorite shows below.)
by Rachel Holliday Smith, NY Times | Read more:
Image: via
