Self-isolation is in full swing, and while I have a ton of remote work to do for school and my internship, I’ve still been having to find alternative ways to kill time in the evenings (and let’s be honest, while I procrastinate for most of the day). So what have I been doing besides staring blankly at the wall and mindlessly eating? Listening to podcasts.
I have to admit, I was a late-comer to the podcast scene. I started to dip my toe in last summer, after a friend introduced me to the “Everything is Alive” podcast, which is a comedic podcast that interviews inanimate objects. Then, in early January I attended a journalism conference in Vancouver and wound up in a talk about audio journalism, thinking it would improve my interviewing skills. It turns out this talk wasn’t about interviewing — it was about podcasts, and it forever changed my view on audio journalism and sparked an absolute love for the medium. Audio journalism, podcasting in particular, is quite different from traditional, written journalism.
This conference sparked my curiosity; I began wondering how podcasts became so popular, and why people love them so much.
Radio was really the first form of audio journalism and experienced peak popularity in the 1930s, which is considered to be the “golden age” of radio. Picture the all-American family, gathered around the family radio in the living room to listen to news, soap operas, and popular children’s radio shows such as “Little Orphan Annie.” By the late 1940s, the cable television became a household staple, capturing people’s visual and auditory senses. Besides radio talk shows, audio journalism and entertainment was left on the backburner.
TV has dominated since then, but we’re currently experiencing another rise of audio entertainment. Podcasting first emerged in 2003 with the show “Open Source,” hosted by Christopher Lydon, a former journalist, who posted the episodes on his self-titled website. It wasn’t actually called podcasting then — it was referred to as “webcasting,” and podcasts were called “audio blog posts.” Lydon’s show focused on technology and how it was changing the world, though interestingly, he helped pioneer one of the most culturally influential pieces of technology — the modern-day podcast.
Lyndon explained in an article from the magazine Wired that podcasts were an inherently democratic medium that appealed to the average, everyday listener:
“Podcasting was where people could use four-letter words and speak a kind of raw, angry opinion that a great mass of the population believes and wants to hear. To be yourself, to be political, to talk the way that we talked at home, in the kitchen, even in a bar: It was a huge gift from the internet. We knew we were at a turning point. I would get into my car and listen to public radio, and I thought: God, this is like dark ages. The world is never going back.”
Podcasting took a while to popularize, but it’s grown exponentially in recent years as music streaming platforms such as AppleMusic and Spotify become staples on people’s smartphones.
The first podcast to go viral was in 2014 with the release of “Serial,” a true crime podcast hosted by investigative journalist Sarah Koenig. Another Wired article states: “The series was the fastest podcast to reach 5 million downloads and streams in Apple’s history, and people talked about it the way they talk about HBO blockbusters or Beyoncé drops.” Podcasts only grew from there, raking in an estimated $257.4 million in advertising revenue in the U.S. by the end of 2017, a 117 per cent increase from 2016.
So, why this sudden rise in podcast popularity? What makes podcasts so attractive to listeners? Well, for one, podcasts are accessible. Most of us have music streaming platforms on our phones. They are incredibly diverse, featuring everything from news, to self-help, to true crime, to absurdist comedy. They can be listened to on the go, on the commute to work, in the shower, or while you’re making dinner.
Aside from these practical perks that podcasts offer, there’s something deeper going on. Audio journalism and entertainment is an art form, like other types of media, and it holds a unique space in listeners’ minds. Sound is invisible to the eye, we can’t see what’s being said; podcasts leave it to the listener to imagine the story. Audio tends to slow things down, giving the audience time to paint the picture in their mind and create a little world. Like other storytelling techniques, it finds ways to pull people into the narrative, urging listeners to figure out who they are in the story.
Unlike television, where visual aspects dominate, it allows the audience to really hear what is being said, which is especially powerful when it’s listened to through headphones because they tend to cut off other audio inputs, and the listener’s mind becomes fixed on the story. You can hear the speakers breathe, the subtleties in their voice, the pauses, and every inch of emotion. Often, music is layered and added into the gaps of speech, adding to the emotional weight that podcasts can carry. Kristi Lee, host and producer of the podcast “Canadian True Crime” spoke to me via email about her podcast.
“When it comes to my show, I have become fairly fastidious about editing — I like it to be tight, and the music I choose is intentional. My narration is designed to be soothing and slightly monotoned, but it’s the music underneath that sets the scene and conveys the emotion. Levels are also important to me. There has to be a good balance between the narration and the music: if the music is too loud, it takes away from the narration, and if it’s too soft, it won’t have the intended effect of setting the scene. Same with increases and decreases in volume levels: it has to be gentle, graduate, and not jarring to the listener. I’ve worked really hard to improve my sound design and knowledge over the last three years, and I still have a lot of learning to do!”
In such a busy, fast-paced world podcasts are a way to slow down, and can carry with them a sense of calm — it’s much like being read to as a child and can leave listeners feeling relaxed and peaceful.
Lee explained, “A podcast lets me turn the boring weeknight task of cooking dinner into ‘me time.’ I can hear a story or learn something new, and for busy people — especially people like me who work and have kids — this is invaluable.”
On a cultural level, podcasts are also accessible to creators. You really only need a recording device and editing software to make them. In this way, podcasts are a people’s movement. Recently, I’ve been binging Lee’s podcast “Canadian True Crime.” At the beginning of the seventh episode in her series, Lee thanks her listeners and describes how the podcast started out:
“At the beginning of this year, I felt like I was in a bit of a rut, so I decided to make a change. True crime has always been a passion of mine, and I was listening to countless true crime podcasts. So I decided to try and start one — a passion project, just for me…. Just about every night after the kids went to bed I worked on writing a script. Really, I was into the process and didn’t really think about where I would end up. I then narrated and recorded it in my closet, learning how to use editing software and released it into the podcasting world. Four months and only six episodes later, I suddenly found myself at number two on the podcast charts in Canada. I have no idea how it happened, and quite frankly, I was shocked…. This is a journey for me where I learn something new each episode.”
Podcasts can also be a great platform for journalism. “Ear Hustle” is a podcast based out of San Francisco that’s won multiple podcasting awards, including the 2019 iHeartRadio Podcast Award for Best Social Impact. It’s co-hosted by Nigel Poor, a visual artist, and Earlonne Woods, a former inmate at San Quentin State Prison.
The hosts interview current and former inmates about their time in prison and reintegration after release, covering topics such as cellmates, prison nicknames, death row, and LGBTQ+ life on the inside. It gives listeners access to a place that is normally shielded from public view, and rather than inmates remaining stigmatized, it helps to humanize individuals who often have their humanity stripped from them.
In terms of journalism, podcasts can be a great way to allow interview subjects to keep their voice rather than having a writer pick certain quotes to stick into their own writing. People can tell their own story, in their own words. This can be especially powerful in a society that places so much value on appearance. In the age of the Kardashians, we are brought back into people’s hearts, rather than their outward appearance. Through this medium, creators, listeners, and participants are given total autonomy.
There is no doubt that podcasting has become a sort of revolution in that it sees people taking back power over the media. We are currently seeing and feeling the negative effects of a white male-dominated, visual media culture. Podcasts give people the space to reclaim their voice and the narrative that’s being told rather than be ordered around by someone with a bunch of money and a Hollywood last name.
There is concern that something that started as a people’s movement, and a democratic form of free communication, is at risk of becoming overly commercialized. One Wired article states that “Apple is planning to introduce analytical tools to measure both the size of an episode’s audience and whether people actually listen to it.”
If the popular platforms of dissemination become discriminatory based on listener base, well-established broadcasts could overshadow the little guys, weeding out new broadcasters and stifling voices — leaving the podcasting world at risk of becoming less accessible. Though this is a risk, Lee says she’s not worried.
“Analytics should never be feared, and almost anything could be at risk of being commercialized when you look at it. I like to look at YouTube as a good example of what could happen — sure, there are corporations that create channels and start making videos, and often do well. But that doesn’t mean that it will take away from independent creators. Consumers of digital media will always appreciate rawness, authenticity, and personality. I think independent creators don’t need to worry as long as they stay relevant, keep up with industry trends, and continue to strive to improve their craft.”
It’s up to the listeners to pick and choose whom they support. So be mindful out there, listeners. Uphold the underdog and podcast on.
Darien Johnsen is a UFV alumni who obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with double extended minors in Global Development Studies and Sociology in 2020. She started writing for The Cascade in 2018, taking on the role of features editor shortly after.
She’s passionate about justice, sustainable development, and education.