There was a time when weekends were synonymous with bulky newspapers – hours spent poring over them at a café. I’m talking about the weighty Saturday editions of The Sydney Morning Herald, which used to arrive with seven thick sections, or The Australian, once a national masthead, now far more partisan in its political leanings. Today, those papers feel diminished, both in size and substance, with fewer sections and a less diverse editorial voice. Now, I fill those hours by immersing myself in podcasts.
Despite my radio background, I confess I was a latecomer to the world of podcast listening. Professionally, I was an early adopter, involved from the outset in producing and distributing them. But as for making them a staple of my personal listening, that’s a different story.
Initially, I found many podcasts fell into two extremes: either too “low-rent” or too “high-rent.” The former often meant unedited, rambling chats between two people in a kitchen – sometimes charming, but frequently unfocused. The latter, on the other hand, felt overly polished and formal, akin to NPR or BBC Radio 4. While expertly produced, they sometimes lacked the spontaneous spark I loved about live radio.
My turning point was twofold: spending four months in hospital with endless hours to fill, and the emergence of political podcasts. They offered an unparalleled deep dive into political discourse, a level of detail largely absent from mainstream radio. This became especially true during the run-up to the American and UK elections, solidifying podcasts’ place in my daily listening.
While friends often suggest narrative or comedy podcasts, those aren’t my focus; I find those genres adequately covered elsewhere. What I uniquely value in political podcasts is their profound analysis and, paradoxically, their often unscripted feel.
For years, my full-time radio job meant I was constantly immersed in audio, leaving little personal time for listening. However, a significant shift in my career over the past couple of years has freed up my schedule, allowing me to delve into a wider range of content. Unsurprisingly, I gravitate towards political podcasts, with “The Rest is Politics,” (all versions), “The News Agents” (all versions), “Back-to-Back Barries,” and “Politics Now” (ABC Australia), being my go-to’s.
PS on podcasts: from pre-recorded to live
One of the historical weaknesses of podcasts was their pre-recorded nature, meaning listeners had to wait for episodes to be uploaded. However, this has significantly changed in the past year or so, with a growing trend of podcasts going live, particularly through platforms like YouTube.
YouTube has become a central hub for podcasts, offering both video and audio formats (through YouTube Music), and is where I get most of my podcasts from. This shift to live broadcasting allows podcasts to provide immediate commentary and reactions to breaking news or events.
For example, during recent American and British elections, many podcasts went live on YouTube, with the audio becoming available shortly after.
A more recent and stark example is today’s bombing of Iraq, where many of my favourite podcasts quickly went live to discuss the unfolding situation. This means that the previous limitation of podcasts being a delayed medium has largely been overcome.
Unlike traditional television, which often requires significant setup time outside of a rolling news format, podcasts can go live very quickly. Radio, of course, can do it much faster, but you need to be tuned in to know about it happening. This agility and the notifications allows podcasts to cover unfolding events with remarkable speed, offering timely insights and discussions to their audience. This evolution makes podcasts an even more dynamic and responsive medium.
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