I love podcasts. It was only a few years ago that I had to time my afternoon jogs to coincide with the program I wanted to hear on FM radio, often to only have it marred by poor reception. So I now gleefully download many free podcasts, and I’m very grateful that there are people out there producing them.
No problem with them having sponsors and interrupting their show to acknowledge them. It’s what keeps it free, the same as broadcast television.
With all that said…
Shut the fuck up with your meant-to-be-witty-and/or-cute banter at the beginning of the show and get on with it!!! I’m so sick of these wanna be hipsters riffing or ranting before they actually begin their topic or bring on the interview subject.
I’m looking at YOU, Chuck & Josh of “How Stuff Works”. I regularly have to advance two or three minutes before you actually begin on the topic you chose for the show. Chris Harwick of the Nerdist - shut the fuck up already!!! You had Phil Plait on and wasted the vast majority of the show laughing at your own un-funny jokes. I want to hear what Phil Plait has to say, not a smug dipshit who can’t give up the spotlight for ten consecutive seconds.
Let’s all of you move to the Terry Gross model. Ever listen to “Fresh Air”? Here’s how it goes. Terry comes on and says, “This is Fresh Air, I’m Terry Gross.” And then she actually BEGINS THE FUCKING SHOW!!! AND STAYS ON TOPIC!!!
Psh, whatever. Banter in podcasts is totally dependent on their style and how it meshes with you. I happen to adore Josh and Chuck’s banter on Stuff You Should Know*.
Though keep in mind that my ADHD brain apparently aligns with their style so perfectly that I had no idea how tangential and off-topic they can get until a friend listened to one with me and said, “this is an awesome podcast but holy crap they get so random! It’s hilarious!” I had never noticed before because I do the exact.same.thing when talking about something. :embarrassed:
I’d also like to register the converse complaint: stop appending several minutes of cutting room floor garbage to the end. Two podcasts I listen I regularly add in a joke or two that got cut, but The Titanium Physicists always seems to have seven minutes of stuff, half of which is just dead air.
In the particular case of Chuck and Josh, it’s not likely they’re going to tell you anything worth hearing anyway. Most likely it’ll be some woo-tastic ode to the powers of acupuncture or homeopathy. I gave up on them a long time ago.
That seems to be a hallmark of a a lot of the Discovery podcasts.
What really drives me nuts is when they play old episodes on Stuff You Missed in History Class. Candace, one of the old hosts, has a Valley Girl way of speaking that makes me want to stick screwdrivers in my ears.
That one reminds me of the Schweddy Balls sketch on Saturday Night Live - Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer doing a great send-up of the NPR vibe. It almost seems like the Stuff You Missed in History Class girls are channeling it.
I put up with Josh and Chuck’s banter, Radiolab’s over-production, and the History women’s voices, because I’m learning something. That makes it worth it all.
But I do agree: I wish I could download a separate “Just Get To The Topic” version.
Marc Maron’s podcast would probably drive you batshit insane. I love his interviews with comedians, but the first 15 minutes usually include his gazing at his navel and getting in touch with himself.
I run a podcast (80’s movies, only 21 eps in so we are new) but some of the feedback we got from our few listners was that we just jumped right into our content and didn’t let people get to know us…
Part of why we do that is because like the op I hate stupid banter with no point, or banter that is just obviously trying to witty/funny and failing. Drives me frackin nuts. Chemistry, humor, wit, is not something that can be scripted. It has to flow with the show and with the topic or else it just seems forced.
You will probably want to avoid “Paul and Storm Talk About Some Stuff For Five To Ten Minutes (On Average)” then. They rarely have a point. Mostly they just talk about stuff.
That, their episode on chiropractors was the same and it made me call into question all of their facts.
Back to the topic, I haven’t listened since the first couple episodes, but Penn’s Sunday School was such a random clusterf*ck that I gave up on it. There were some great moments in there but not worth sifting through that much crap.
I always forward the Moth podcasts at least a minute into the program so I can skip most of the talking and get to the story. I always hope to miss the theme of the night as it’s always something that’s somewhat punny with a subtitle.
The Dice Tower’s enhanced podcasts have chapters to make parts of the episodes skippable, but their format is like Penn’s Sunday School and unless there’s an interesting part I know about, I don’t even download them anymore.
I actually like the format. I mostly listen to podcasts to pass the time while I’m doing mindless stuff, like driving. If I wanted to get information quickly, I’d go and research it on the internet myself.
I agree about the Nerdist podcast, though. Too much crap at the beginning. I get why they put their “word from our sponsor” at the beginning, as nobody would stay and listen at the end, but it’s irritating.
Kevin Allison’s Risk podcast is like that too. Great stories on it, usually. But the host’s narrative spiel/drivel takes up waaaaaay too much time.
I finally had to give up on most of the How Stuff Works/Discovery genre too, for similar reasons, or because too many of the episodes sounded like they were done by bright, bubbly high school students. That’s okay for an episode or two, but makes me berserk after a while.