The ONLY Medium worth following these days! (Podcasts 101)

Technology

The ONLY Medium worth following these days! (Podcasts 101)

Are you hungry for knowledge?

Do you crave to listen to different things but wonder what and where to listen? Are you willing to explore a different medium?

Then the answer you are looking for is ‘Podcast’!

Many of us (curious) feel a wide gap between the content we demand and that supplied by the traditional TV and radio houses. Currently, this gap is filled by podcasts. Podcasts are audio platform similar to radio and audiobooks. However, some creators have video podcasts as well in addition to the audio versions. It mainly showcases interviews, news, friendly chats and life experiences.

You can explore different genres like news, finance, humour, philosophy, lifestyle, etc. which are just a click away. There are niche topics like feminism, sex, graphology, start-ups, etc. which other media hardly show or discuss on. Many famous Indian personalities host podcasts viz: Cyrus Broacha, Ronnie Screwvala, Neha Dhupia, Kalki Koechlin, Ayaz Menon, Zakir Khan, Kenny Sebastian, Aadar Malik, Ashish Vidyarthi, Pawan Shrinath, Amit Varma, Anupama Chopra, Nilesh Mishra, Pooja Dhingra, and many more.

Podcasts can be accessed anywhere and do not require much internet data. You can listen to them while running some errands (like dusting, washing dishes, shopping, etc.) or during workouts or commute. These activities require lesser focus but take considerable time and podcasts can make this time productive.

I find higher engagement and concentration levels on the podcast while doing some of these chores rather than just listening to them while doing nothing. I believe consuming podcasts is a deliberate attempt of gaining knowledge, ideas, perspectives and information like reading. Besides, it does not depend on the flashy headlines or algorithms to draw your attention. Also, unlike radio where you have to listen to whatever the company broadcasts, podcasts give an on-demand audio facility, similar to Netflix for video content.

Since last one and half years, I have been following many podcasts. They have expanded my knowledge in different fields, even the ones I do not follow much. I have become more humble and even more hungry for knowledge after listening to them.

I listen more of news and interviews (list below).

I follow most Indian and foreign newspapers. Although newspapers like Business Standard or New York Times or Wall Street Journal do not provide free content on their websites, their podcasts, on the other hand, are free, giving a fair idea of their reportage. News is much better on podcasts than TV as they are short, to-the-point and not dramatised.

Podcasts have captured the interview set-up too, traditionally aired on TV and radio, and gives a great platform for independent journalists, researchers and content-creators. My favourite is ‘Seen and The Unseen’ by Amit Verma. He interviews one or two experts from the fields mostly related to, but not restricted to, economics and policy. He ensures that you understand those topics even without having much prior knowledge of the subject. I would recommend this podcast for anyone who wants to understand the behavioural aspects not only ours’ but also of the politicians and policymakers. (I can write a separate blog on this, so stopping here).

I would like to draw your attention to the podcasts created by Indus Vox Media (IVM), India’s leading podcast creator. It has podcasts on a variety of topics like comedy, advertising, business, story-telling, travel, arts and literature, food, agriculture, history, policy, culture, sports, and law. There are Hindi, Marathi and Tamil podcasts as well on their platforms.

India’s podcast industry is in the nascent stage and is growing exponentially. According to a Quartz report, it increased by 60% in 2018. According to the same report, downloads of National Public Radio (NPR) podcasts, leading USA podcast creator group, in India edged up significantly from 81,789 in 2015 to 3,35,828 in 2018. This medium is in vogue among the urban youth. With increasing popularity, we can expect more creators from different backgrounds, languages and topics using this platform.

There is a lot to explore in this medium for listeners as well as creators. For listeners, this platform is like a free breakfast spread involving different cuisines and flavours. They can consume anything they feel like. On the other hand, every creator has a unique topic, perspective and style which distinguishes from others and thereby the platform provides equal opportunities for each creator without having to worry about the competition. Instead, many creators support other podcasts and promote the content of other creators too. It is, therefore, very close-knitted, highly networked and co-operative market. It is a low-investment tool and attracts no cumbersome legal process. There is a free exchange of thoughts without any government license or censorship (at least as of now) making it a win-win situation for both; listeners and creators.

However, earning from this platform is not easy for creators as it is free for listeners. Advertisers should move to podcasts due to its increasing popularity so that creators can consider it as a full-time income-generating activity. However, advertisements could bring indirect censorship or bias. This could result in unintended consequences as witnessed in TV and radio broadcasting. Also, most of us would not like to pay anything for a podcast, thereby making it more difficult for creators to earn on this platform.

I believe that podcasts would remain like an unpaid job, a parallel activity or hobby for the creators as long as they gather a strong user base who are ready to pay either through subscriptions (where you will have to pay to listen) or donations/gifts (where the podcast remains free but you can voluntarily pay the host).

Meanwhile, let us make the most of this platform to our advantage.

– Swapnil Karkare

List of podcasts I follow or recommend –

My favourites:

Seen & The Unseen by Amit Varma,
The Economist Radio,
Freakonomics Radio by Stephen Dubner,

Recommendations:

News:

Indian –

Bloomberg Quint All You Need,
3 Things by Indian Express,
Business Standard Podcast, etc.

International –

Bloomberg Surveillance,
The Daily by New York Times,
Wall Street Breakfast,
Behind the Money by Financial Times, etc.

Other:

Indian –

The Pragati Podcast by Pavan Shrinath (Policy, Economics, International Relations),
All Things Policy by Takshashila Institution (Public Policy),
Ideas for India by Shruti Rajagopalan (Public Policy)
Econ Central by Vivek Kaul and Amit Varma (Economics, Current Affairs),
Interpreting India by Carnegie India (Society, Policy, Current Affairs),
Puliyabazi Hindi Podcast by Saurabh Chandra and Pranay Kotasthane (Policy, Philosophy, Politics),
2 Past 2 Curious by Biswa Kalyan Rath and Kumar Varun (History), etc

International –