On Podcasts

I've found my new thing that I'll be really into for a while.

I've got to thank my brother for this one. I'm a visual learner (my excuse for mediocre grades on all my Spanish listening exams), and usually have a tough time concentrating on and engaging with aural media, but early this spring he suggested I try a podcast out for one of my frequent 7 hour drives between Nashville and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and I've been hooked ever since.

I'd always struggled to stave off the boredom during the marathon trips, but podcasts proved to be the perfect solution. No hunting for a good local radio station, no droning monotone of a book on tape, just interesting people talking about interesting things for a couple hours at a time. You can find a podcast for just about anything you're interested in, but I find the podcasts of comedians the most entertaining. Turns out funny people can be funny all the time, talking about anything, not just when their reciting a script or performing a stand up.
I started out with the Joe Rogan Experience, 1) because his podcasts are 3 hours apiece, 2) he consistently brings on very interesting and insightful guests, and 3) because it's the only one I knew about. It was a good choice. Joe Rogan is the perfect mix of entertainer and pseudo-intellectual to keep an audience engaged, laughing and thinking, for the full 3 hours. Turns out he's the 2nd most popular podcast in the world for a reason. And maybe the best part was that many of his guests had podcast of their own, and my tastes quickly expanded out from the JRE.

My podcast consumption is now what one might call "next level." Enabled by the aforementioned frequent road trips, I diversified my listening experience to include such auditory gems as Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast, Fighter and the Kid with Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen, and several Grantland podcasts including the Andy Greenwald podcast and my personal favorite, Men in Blazers. The podcast, more than anywhere else, is a medium perfectly suited for showcasing great personalities, and all long as people continue to support these personalities, the entertainment potential is potentially limitless.

There are podcast streaming and downloading apps available for both the iPhone and Android. I use the aptly named Podcast Addict. Try it out. You'll either like it or you won't, but it's free and it's different, and did I mention it's free?

Thomas out.