With all that’s happening in the world, entertainment is more important than ever. For some this takes the form of podcasts and listening to them in their free time. Personally, I never took the chance to listen to podcasts as I substituted it with music; but recently I listened to a couple podcasts.
The first one I listened to was from Comics Experiment, a podcast that is based on comics and the pop culture aspects around it. I chose to listen to this because I am familiar with the content and with the hosts as I watch their YouTube channel. The content is very casual and is a conversation between three people. They had two topics they covered and were sponsored. This was a very calming podcast to listen to as I cared about the content a little more than a politic podcast. And due to my background with the group and content, I may have liked it more than the average consumer.
Next, I listened to the Monday Morning Podcast with comedian Bill Burr. I chose to listen to a less political podcast of his as I didn’t want to be too invested in current politics. So, this was more for comedic value but still had quite a bit of relevant material. The format is different than the previous podcast as it is Bill Burr rambling on issues rather than a discussion. But this rambling creates a stance for the listener and lets them form their own opinion off Burr’s stance. I personally am a fan of Bill Burr and his comedy, so I overall liked his podcast and found it entertaining.
The final podcast I picked was from Two Friends Friendly Mixes, a music podcast. Now this podcast is the most different from the classic format as it is a music podcast. The format was completely consisting of music. It had no conversations among podcasters, but rather was only music that was created by the duo. I found this very enjoyable as it didn’t have the typical podcast format where you just listen to a person or group speak about an issue.
Finally, I had to listen to two podcasts required the first being from Call Your Girlfriend. This was a special episode as they discuss how podcasters make their money. They discuss how being a businesswoman is difficult and how they have to set certain plans such as their $25 an hour minimum wage. This was definitely an interesting podcast, however in my opinion I would not listen to it on the daily. The topic is important and should be brought up and a podcast is a great place to do so. One thing I did like about this podcast was the obvious chemistry between the women, as they were very comfortable with each other and had a great back and forth when discussing the issue. Obviously I may not be the target demographic they’re trying to appeal to, but I found this podcast enjoyable when I did listen to it.
The second required podcast was from the NYTimes. Just based off the title, the listener can infer that this is a political podcast. Personally, if I were to listen to a podcast I would not listen to something like this as I want to relax or get enjoyment out of a podcast; while this is very factual. That being said it is a very well formatted podcast. They used quotes from news clips and spoke in a calm manner without trying to start an argument. The sound quality was fine, however at some points it got a little grainy sounding but that is a minor complaint. Overall, this podcast was interesting but I didn’t enjoy it like the others. The host was good but didn’t have much of a personality in my opinion and due to the nature of the content he didn’t need to. But the facts and format of the podcast were strong so it was just the content that brought the experience down for me.
Overall, I enjoyed almost all the podcasts I listened to. The host really made the podcast for me and most of them had enough personality to carry the podcast. The formatting overall was strong with no one podcast being too weak in that department. Two Friend Friendly Mixes was definitely the most different of the selections as it had no specific narrative and was just music, but that isn’t an issue. My overall opinion of podcasting has changed quite a bit after listening to these and I can see the obvious merit and why these are so successful. However, I can not see myself listening to a podcast everyday as a replacement for music; but as with everything that is based on personal opinion.
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