Ep. 1 – Podcasting
– Mrunmayee Mainkar,
FY BSc. Economics (2024-28).
Estimated reading time ~ 4 minutes
Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, Ranveer Allahbadia – you’ve probably heard of them. These creators have podcasts, on which they interact with people from various fields and host stimulating conversations which are extremely informative and illuminating. If you love listening to podcasts about lighter topics, you would have heard of Cyrus Says, Mithilesh Patankar, etc. Podcasting has become quite famous now-a-days, and you can find tens of hundreds of podcasts about everything under the sun (sometimes even what’s above it 😆).
Podcasting (an interesting portmanteau made by joining “iPod” and “broadcasting”) has its roots all the way to the radio era. A Russian radio program, The Illusion of Independent Radio in 1989, was about music and talk-related software to radio stations in a digital format. It was the first Soviet Russian prototype of the media phenomenon which was later developed in the 2000s as podcasting. Adam Curry, known for his tech podcast “Daily Source Code”, is known as the “Podfather”, being the one who made podcasting popular. The global podcasting market has been valued at $2.84 billion as of 2023 and has been expected to grow to $17.57 billion by 2030. Research shows that 67% of the 12 years+ population in the U.S. listens to a podcast, which is quite a number.
Podcasting is a great way of exchanging ideas and information in a format which isn’t text. In an era where there are so many different ways of learning about new things, podcasting has to be one of the best ideas ever implemented. An easy and efficient outlet of creativity, it is super easy to create, the requirements being audio software, a microphone, a computer and the Internet. You can even start podcasting by recording it on a voice-recording app on your phone. There are several free platforms available for publishing your podcast, such as Spotify, SoundCloud, etc. There isn’t a regulation body as such, giving podcasters the freedom to talk about anything and everything. You can make podcasts as long or as short as you want, ranging from 15-20 minutes up to 3-4 hours. You can create a podcast about LITERALLY anything – say, unicorn cupcakes and – and you’ll still cater to an audience interested in something niche like that. You know what they say, “the riches are in the niches”. Being something which you can access anywhere, it is super convenient for a person to listen to podcasts, be it while cleaning, working or just chilling. Podcasts are also a great way of marketing, giving brands a platform in which their products can be advertised vocally by a prominent figure to the public.
But as we all know, every coin has two sides. In the name of podcasting, people often start posting nonsensical, racist, misogynistic, hatred-inducing content. Andrew Tate, a public figure charged with various crimes like rape, human trafficking and assault has a podcast “The Tate Speech” in which he has made several statements demeaning women, referring to them as possessions to be used and thrown. There is another podcast on Spotify known as The Kalergi Plan, which is known to be anti-semitic and claims that the elite Jewish plan to dominate the European, essentially “white” race. James Allchurch, another problematic podcaster, has been known to praise Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and has been heard telling listeners to have only “white” friends. These are just a few examples. There are so many such podcasts out there, influencing people in the most negative way possible, in the name of possessing correct beliefs. And it goes without saying, even if there is no formal regulation, podcasters need to know what to say and what not to. Just because one possesses such horrific beliefs does not mean that he/she has to say it out loud. While these people might think that with such content they would be going places, the only place they have gone so far to is the court.
Podcasting is quite wonderful. Being able to listen to talks about whatever you want, wherever you want, however you want is something that would have been unimaginable 30 years ago. Be it politics, space, beauty, investing, fashion, finance, or something super niche, you get to pick your poison. While there are so many options available, there are also podcasts about the aforementioned problematic topics. Given the current state of the world, social and political, and the rise of the previously mentioned problems, it can be difficult to decide what is the correct thing to follow. Rules and regulations are one thing, but deep down, you know what is right and what is wrong. You know what you want to follow. If you want to be a podcaster, you inherently know what your values are and what you stand for, and what kind of content you want to put out there. Realising and acknowledging this fact is what would make this industry so much more impactful.