I learned the entire History of Rome via podcasts while driving. But that is the only time I listen to podcasts. I’ll queue up a bunch of them, plug my phone into the car AUX cable and take off. Makes the time fly by.
Wins the thread. Perfectly summed up.
I don’t quite understand the OP’s question - might as well be ask if we find TV or radio ‘irritating as all heck’. I can only surmise that the OP finds that 15 minutes of talk-show TV or any non-music radio show would also have them ‘climbing the walls from a mix of boredom and agitation’.
shrug maybe the OP is a strongly visual person and needs pictures/words for things to stick? Or maybe they just haven’t found good podcasts for their subject?
Like TV talk shows and non-music radio programming, a show will live or die by a small handful of factors: first and foremost the show host’s personalit(ies), interviewing skills (if guests are involved), production quality, etc. One of my favorite podcasts, EconTalk, is just one guy talking to another guy over Skype - one guest a week - but I find it fascinating because the host is an excellent interviewer. Others have mentioned RadioLab and This American Life; these have great stories and high production quality that bring the stories to life (early RadioLab in particular absolutely nailed this).
The OP mentioned ‘pre-Cambrian life’ - if the OP is into science related stuff, maybe the series of In Our Timepodcasts from the BBC would be worth a try?
Yeah I agree with this. I don’t listen to many different podcasts…I don’t have a commute, so I only listen at the gym. I have it whittled down to just a handful from How Stuff Works. I used to love their “big” one “Stuff You Should Know” but since the show got popular and the hosts sort of became “personalities” they spend waaaay too much time bantering and going off-topic that I can’t stand the show anymore. Episodes used to be around 20-30 mins now there’s an extra 15-20 minutes of banter in there. No thanks.
There are nice succinct ones from How Stuff Works, which are almost like Wikipedia articles and that’s fine with me. If the hosts banter, it’s short and related to the topic at hand.
I also like Radio Lab and other stuff I’ve heard from NPR because they are well planned and well edited.
This was also where I was leaning.
There are some aspects of podcasting that you have to be mindful of, such as duration, recording equipment, content, etc. However, as with anything, there are good and bad ones. I have no problem listening to the good ones, but I usually multi-task while doing so and it’s rarely a topic that needs 100% of my attention at all times. Most listening is for leisure and just “good to know” stuff. If I really care, I’ll pursue other information, anyway.
My question was basically “does anyone else feel like this?” I’m not sure why that’s hard to comprehend.
Hmm… you know, that’s probably true. I don’t normally watch TV talk shows, either, and usually find them boring. I’ll watch a YouTube clip of an interview of someone who I find interesting, but again, it’s rare for those to go more than 5 minutes.
Probably the former.
See - there’s another person who seems convinced that if I just give it one more try I’ll like it! I’m nearly 50 years old, I’ve been exposed to talk shows, radio, various forms of audio recordings, and now podcasts for nearly half a century, I think at this point I’m capable of concluding that it’s not bad podcasts and kin that are the problem, it’s just that I don’t respond well to the format.
I suppose I have some small regret I don’t get the same enjoyment as so many others, but it’s a piffle. I might as well pity my spouse for failing to enjoy a good novel. It’s a minor loss, if even that, in the greater scheme of things.
Nope, not looking for a way to enjoy podcasts at this point, just wondering how much of a minority I am.
I’m with you OP. I’m sure there are some great podcasts, but there is no way I’m going to listen to them when I could read the same information in a fraction of the time. If someone transcribed the content I might read it.
I don’t multitask well so if I were listening to a podcast to learn or be entertained I’d have to be just sitting there not doing anything else. Music isn’t the same way, I can enjoy that while doing something else; it doesn’t require the same level of attention as spoken content does.
Broomstick, am I correct that, when you were in school, you learned best from reading the textbooks and would often zone out during your teachers’ lectures?
I certainly wouldn’t listen to a podcast to get information. That’s what reading is for. I do listen to some for entertainment. I mostly listen to comedy/talkshow podcasts for laughs. Jay Mohr, Mark Moran and Bill Burr are some of my favorites.
If you’re going to get all wound up and upset when other people offer their opinions, maybe you should have posted this in MPSIMS instead of in IMHOpinion.
I’m not at all upset, in fact, I find it amusing. It’s funny when you say “I don’t care for this.” and someone else comes up and says “Here, try it!”
Anyhow, I’m not unique, apparently there are others who feel the same as I do, and a whole bunch of podcast enthusiasts out there. I wish them enjoyment of the medium.
That’s Mark Maron. And Bill Burr has a podcast? I have got to check that out. Thanks!
You can’t read while driving (well you could, but that would be dangerous 
)
Yes, when I’m driving I much prefer to pay attention to the road and other drivers. 
You were the one who posted in your OP that you don’t like “getting information” from podcasts. So a bunch of people are recommending podcasts that are not about “getting information.” If this isn’t making you feel insulted, stop mischaracterizing it as something you can deride.
In general, saying you find something “funny” because you think someone is being stupid is an insult. Why are you insulting people if you are okay with their opinions?
You never listen to the radio when driving?
I’m very much like the OP. Sometimes during my daily walk, I listen to spoken word selections on my iPod Shuffle (no fast playback available). Occasionally my attention wanders and I do have to rewind and replay segments.
I also prefer to read something because I can read faster than I can listen.
I still listen to an occasional podcast at my desktop PC if it’s a subject of great interest to me. But even then, I have to be doing something else at the same time, such as sudoku.
When I’m driving, I always have the radio on, but I can’t give it my full attention to listen closely and continuously. So audiobooks are out.
I’ve also stated that I don’t get entertainment from them, either, but I guess you blasted past those sentences.
I don’t feel insulted, and I’ve said that, but apparently you are incapable of taking my words at face value and are looking for some sort of sub-text.
If someone tells me “I don’t like peas” I don’t immediately start suggesting new and different ways for them to try peas, I just take them at their word. When my spouse says he doesn’t enjoy reading for entertainment I don’t try to persuade him otherwise because he’s old enough to know his own likes and dislikes. Yet there is always someone out there who is convinced that just one more try will change someone’s mind. I find that odd and even to some extent amusing, when I’m not finding it annoying (usually due to extreme persistence and pushiness, which I haven’t seen in this thread yet).
I generally have the radio on low volume and don’t have any problem tuning it out when needed. Just music, though, I find talk radio annoying. Also, if the driving is particularly tricky I’ll turn the radio off entirely.
Have you tried the BBC’s “History of the World in 100 Objects”?
I used to completely not “get” podcasts, but I think the issue for me is that I can’t just sit and listen to any kind of recording. I don’t do it with music or radio – why would podcasts be any different? Instead, if I’m cooking, or playing some kinds of video games, and I’m alone, I’ll play a podcast. I used to use them a lot at the gym, too, before I got sick. My favorites are the Alton Browncast, Savage Love and (as with about everyone else) This American Life.
The thing about these podcasts is that they’re done by professionals who understand media and are genuinely entertaining in their own right. Dan Savage is a great writer, Alton Brown an overall good writer and presenter in his field, etc. They also often have conversational style rather than just reading a story for 60 minutes – using user questions and mail, recorded questions, or in some cases actual guests. They’re edited, so you don’t get a lot of stumbling around and wasted time.
Podcasts aren’t a substitute for writing an article and they shouldn’t be. It’s a totally different thing, and in the right hands, it can be quite good. There are a lot of podcasts out there by amateurs that just aren’t all that good, but it’s because they’re amateurs, not because podcasts themselves are a flawed format.