EOTO Terms & Concepts

The Story of Podcasts

Almost everyone has heard of podcasts, even if they haven’t actually listened to one. The first podcasts were basically on-demand radio. They were episodic audio programs that listeners could find and download online through platforms like Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Much like NPR (National Public Radio) podcast hosts would use their shows to discuss things such as politics, news, sports, and movies or music. The main difference was that listeners could subscribe to these shows so they would know as soon as a new episode was available. Today, podcasts have evolved into a diverse medium featuring any topic you can imagine, from true crime to history to health and technology, but where did it all begin?

Back in 2004, Adam Curry, a TV announcer, and software developer Dave Winer came up with the idea that people would love to hear stories about current happenings rather than reading about them. A year later, Curry founded PodShow, which is a podcast promotion company, and began hosting his own shows. Curry is often referred to as The Podfather for his role in the founding of the medium.

Podcasts are a simple but interesting concept. According to Liz Covart, evolution has hardwired the human brain to be receptive to oral storytelling and almost all podcasts tell stories. These stories are prepared and organized with a beginning, middle, and end, enabling listeners to hear the story of a person, place, event, or some other phenomenon. The sole purpose of these types of podcasts and audio dramas is to convey a story and create an intimate storytelling experience. Because the platforms for podcasts already existed, it was easy for this medium to take off. Podcasts are inexpensive to produce, only requiring a microphone, an interesting story, and some research. Over the last 20 years, podcasts have taken the internet and the world by storm.

The good news is that studies show that podcasts are good for your brain. Some of the benefits of consuming podcasts include: helping to increase levels of empathy, foster relationships, and boost compassion. They also reduce screen time which is good for our eyes, and many of them are highly educational so they can improve your vocabulary and make you a better listener and conversationalist.
However, in excess, podcasts can distract you from your work and social connections and even impede your ability to learn and remember. Further, as the distribution of podcasts expands, so does the potential for libel, slander, privacy violation, intellectual property infringement, and other forms of media liability risk. There can even be a risk of convincing people of things that may not be true, such as what was done with the amazingly popular Serial podcast, where the host revisited a murder conviction, which ultimately resulted in a retrial and release of the accused, who is now believed to actually be guilty.

It doesn’t seem to matter what generation you are from or whatever your interest is; there is a podcast for it, and people can be found listening to podcasts all the time. So many of my friends enjoy podcasts like Call Her Daddy and Hot Mess because you can go on with your life, driving, working out, or going for a walk, and you can listen. Rather than playing music, both old and young people are listening to podcasts. As long as people are using critical thinking skills and are careful not to overdo them, podcasts are a great option for educational and entertaining content that you can access anywhere, anytime.