Only NPR Style Podcasts with 12 Producers are worthy of existing (Podcasting)
Stop making Chat Show podcasts that people actually listen to
It was nice of the people at Hear Me Out to burn the boats in their final episode which was titled “Podcasting Is Dead.” That led to many reaction pieces, hey even I am on my second one right now, and lots of the Podcasts About Podcasting talking about it.
Along with the It’s Dead theory is some sort of notion that some shows are lesser. The vibe I get is that if 14 people produce a 30 minute show with one guest THEN we THAT is high art worthy of existing. Podcasting is for Serious Journalism.
If two guys from Cheers or Saturday Night Live sit in a studio for 45 minutes and chat away, it’s somehow lesser.
Well gang, I have news for you about American Media. Americans like things like two guys from SNL and Cheers and Smartness and Rogan and even Hawk Tuah Lady.
The Hawk Tuah Lady launched a podcast off her viral fame. Talk Tuah was #58 in Overall on Apple Podcasts when I wrote this on Monday.
I imagine that #58 Talk Tuah is perceived as garbage because of the nice lady’s origin story.
At #62 I see Hidden Brain, a nice show which I sometimes will listen to. Let’s check out their website. Looks like a host, 4 producers, 2 writers and an audio guy. It’s a weekly show (plus episodes on a subscriber feed) and episodes are around 50 minutes long.
I don’t know how The Nice Lady is staffed up. I can’t say I have listened to it, but I just needle dropped one one episode (video version) and it appears to be two people talking, and my spidey sense says it’s not as researched as Hidden Brain. Doesn’t seem like 4 producers and two writers, but what do I know?
Is one better than the other? Can’t both exist? Can we enjoy both?
You don’t have to listen to them if you don’t like them, and you CAN listen to two non-professionals talking about Van Halen for 4 hours if you’d like (and self-producing) if that’s more your speed.
Back to podcasting being dead. Part of the vibe of the final episode of Hear Me Out is this sense that Advertising Is The Devil. Look, if you want to make a podcast about Stamp Collecting, Butterflies or how Federal Job Training Doesn’t Work that’s fine. Go for it. What you can’t do is get mad if someone else figures out how to make a living doing something you don’t find to be High Art.
Podcasting is not dead.
Here’s something else I wrote:
