Lauren and I were walking to work the other day. We walk together for about 10 minutes then we go our separate ways, so for the last 5 minutes of my walk, I walk alone. The other day, as we split, I noticed that I left my headphones behind. I seriously thought of walking back home to get them, but then remembered that I had ear buds at work. I rarely use my ear buds at work, but have them there for the occasional times I want to listen to something at work. I mainly have them there as a back-up, for just the situation that happened walking into work that day; so I can listen to podcasts at the end of the workday, since I couldn't before it started.
I listen to, at the very minimum, 15 hours of podcasts per week. I would actually guess that it's probably more in the neighbourhood of 20-25 hours most weeks.
I don't remember when I started listening to podcasts, but I feel like I can't live without them now. I'm like that teenage girl who can't get enough One Direction, except my One Direction is the podcasts I subscribe to. The few times I've walked around town by myself, without listening to podcasts, have felt like this other world, where I don't hear Dan Savage or Men in Blazers talking to me, telling me about their Movie Date, or tales of This American Life. I've reached the point where I am listening to podcasts while cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry. I even make a point of always using the self-checkout at stores that have them, mainly because I don't want a break in my podcast to interact with the cashier - I don't want to fall even further behind on my podcast listening than I already am. If that's not sad, I don't know what is.
A few years ago, on a day when I took the bus to work at De Anza, I was walking across campus on my way to work with my headphones on. A student mentioned in class that he had seen me walking but didn't say hi, because it looked like I was into my music. 'What kind of music were you listening to, Mr. Shirley?', he asked. I said I was listening to a podcast. He gave me a look that I've seen quite a few times since. One of 'Oh, OK' looks, where he wasn't really sure what I meant by that. I've found that there is a relatively big group of people out there, who know that podcasts exist, but don't really know what they are; like how I am with Pinterest and Instagram, which seemed to have passed me by without me being the least bit pinterested. Like many things, there are podcast people and non-podcast people.
The thing about podcasts is that there is enough variety out there, that when you tell someone who is also a podcast listener that you are one yourself, there is the 'what podcasts do you listen to?' question that is likely to come up. In the few times I've had this conversation, I found that I had very little interest in what types of podcasts the other person listened to, and the feeling was probably mutual.
Even Lauren, who I would say I have a great deal in common with, has very different tastes in podcasts. We overlap on a few, but I know that she doesn't care what Dan Patrick has to say about the Heisman Trophy race, and probably isn't too interested in the Cobra Effect. Likewise, I don't particularly care what stuff my mom should have told me.
My tastes in podcasts are primarily in sports and films. Those two categories make up about 1/2 of the podcasts I subscribe to (3 of my sports podcasts come in every weekday, so much of my work week is spent listening to sports podcasts). I also have some popular science type pocasts, story telling, advice giving, news, talk, and politics.
Sadly, only two of my podcasts have some UK connection (one is actually two British guys who live in the US, so I'm not sure that even counts). I wish I subscribed to more UK podcasts, but who has the time? As it is, I'm a month behind my non-sports and non-news pods. There is only so much time I can spend walking the streets of Edinburgh, as I plod and pod my way from place to place.
I listen to, at the very minimum, 15 hours of podcasts per week. I would actually guess that it's probably more in the neighbourhood of 20-25 hours most weeks.
I don't remember when I started listening to podcasts, but I feel like I can't live without them now. I'm like that teenage girl who can't get enough One Direction, except my One Direction is the podcasts I subscribe to. The few times I've walked around town by myself, without listening to podcasts, have felt like this other world, where I don't hear Dan Savage or Men in Blazers talking to me, telling me about their Movie Date, or tales of This American Life. I've reached the point where I am listening to podcasts while cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry. I even make a point of always using the self-checkout at stores that have them, mainly because I don't want a break in my podcast to interact with the cashier - I don't want to fall even further behind on my podcast listening than I already am. If that's not sad, I don't know what is.
A few years ago, on a day when I took the bus to work at De Anza, I was walking across campus on my way to work with my headphones on. A student mentioned in class that he had seen me walking but didn't say hi, because it looked like I was into my music. 'What kind of music were you listening to, Mr. Shirley?', he asked. I said I was listening to a podcast. He gave me a look that I've seen quite a few times since. One of 'Oh, OK' looks, where he wasn't really sure what I meant by that. I've found that there is a relatively big group of people out there, who know that podcasts exist, but don't really know what they are; like how I am with Pinterest and Instagram, which seemed to have passed me by without me being the least bit pinterested. Like many things, there are podcast people and non-podcast people.
The thing about podcasts is that there is enough variety out there, that when you tell someone who is also a podcast listener that you are one yourself, there is the 'what podcasts do you listen to?' question that is likely to come up. In the few times I've had this conversation, I found that I had very little interest in what types of podcasts the other person listened to, and the feeling was probably mutual.
Even Lauren, who I would say I have a great deal in common with, has very different tastes in podcasts. We overlap on a few, but I know that she doesn't care what Dan Patrick has to say about the Heisman Trophy race, and probably isn't too interested in the Cobra Effect. Likewise, I don't particularly care what stuff my mom should have told me.
My tastes in podcasts are primarily in sports and films. Those two categories make up about 1/2 of the podcasts I subscribe to (3 of my sports podcasts come in every weekday, so much of my work week is spent listening to sports podcasts). I also have some popular science type pocasts, story telling, advice giving, news, talk, and politics.
Sadly, only two of my podcasts have some UK connection (one is actually two British guys who live in the US, so I'm not sure that even counts). I wish I subscribed to more UK podcasts, but who has the time? As it is, I'm a month behind my non-sports and non-news pods. There is only so much time I can spend walking the streets of Edinburgh, as I plod and pod my way from place to place.
Wow, so similar and yet so different...
ReplyDeleteI also am glued to podcast through much of the day -- creating my background buzz while I work -- and encountering people all of the time who have only the vaguest idea of what a podcast might be.
But, my podcasts are dominated by tech news and current events, the latter mostly originating from public radio (US, Australia & UK). Sports and film would be at the bottom of my list.
I guess that is what makes the podcast media so great -- the 'post-fordist' personal customization.
Usually I just answer with NPR. SInce the majority of my podcast are theirs. But I know what you mean. If I miss one day of listening to podcasts I already feel overwhelmed. I'm happy Fresh Air split theirs in segments so I can delete ones I'm not so interested in.
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