# Is it strange that I hate podcasts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552 "2014-10-06T15:16:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/21 "2014-10-06T19:34:32Z")
Yeah; Videos are super frustrating too - I run into a LOT of them in “how to” or “Game help” sort of searches, and they’re USELESS. 15 minutes of someone uhm-ing and ahhh-ing to get 30 seconds of information. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/22 "2014-10-06T19:39:45Z")
I’d much rather read the content but there are times when that’s just not possible. I do have a few that I look forward to: Mission Log never fails to make me laugh. Hardcore History is gripping. Freakonomics is usually interesting Various NPR programs so I can catch up on Wait Wait… and SciFri on my own time. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/23 "2014-10-06T20:08:02Z")
Maybe it’s just that I’m a visual person and read and comprehend at the highest rates, but I don’t really get any pleasure out of listening to someone slowly tell me about something. I’d rather have the choice to skim general material and/or slowly dissect a complex or thoughful paragraph. It’s only slightly related, but seminars etc. that consist of someone… slowly… reading… the powerpoint… slides can make me homicidal. Which is how I feel about most videos for news, info, how-to, etc. SOMETIMES a video is essential. 99 times in 100, well-written text is better. But we’re in a world where most people can’t write two coherent sentences, a large number can’t be bothered to read anything but the Like button, and too many have time to listen to a slowly rendered aural or visual exposition. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/24 "2014-10-06T21:24:07Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I think a big part of it is how it fits into your lifestyle. I almost never have time to sit down and read stuff uninterrupted, but my daily work routine in the lab involves a lot of mindless tedium (aka science). I can very easily listen to interesting things as I work, and I do. And I’m 180 degrees the opposite. Most of what they fit into a 30 minute podcast could be written properly and be something I could read in 5-10 minutes, and I’d rather read it than listen to someone jabber in a usually unorganized fashion about things. Same thing for instructional videos. Unless there’s some real non-obvious trick to it that you have to literally see to understand, it’s probably better off written as a set of instructions. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/25 "2014-10-06T21:37:56Z")
A big part of the rambling “shooting the shit” stuff that people dislike in personality podcasts is due to unfamiliarity. Long time listeners probably don’t see it as rambling they hear it as listening to their “friends talking.” They know the personalities and the references where a new listener is just going to say “what the hell?” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/26 "2014-10-06T22:11:11Z")
Or maybe the format just doesn’t appeal to some of us. I don’t know why that is so impossible to understand. It’s not a matter of familiarity, or lifestyle, or quality of production, it’s that it just doesn’t appeal to everyone. It’s as if someone said “I don’t read for pleasure” and someone says “Oh, if you just try _War and Peace_/Dickens/Poe/John Clancy/whatever you’ll love it!” No, not really, some people just don’t care for reading. Ditto for just about every other form of human expression. Sometimes, a person just doesn’t care for a format or genre. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/27 "2014-10-06T22:56:58Z")
Why are people accepting “aimless rambling” as the definition of podcasts? That’s like accepting fan fiction as the definition of a novel or public access programming as the definition of a TV show. NPR, WNYC, PRI, and other sources of professional audio content put out podcasts and they’re anything but aimless rambling. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/28 "2014-10-06T23:05:27Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Or maybe the format just doesn’t appeal to some of us. I don’t know why that is so impossible to understand. It’s not a matter of familiarity, or lifestyle, or quality of production, it’s that it just doesn’t appeal to everyone. > > It’s as if someone said “I don’t read for pleasure” and someone says “Oh, if you just try _War and Peace_/Dickens/Poe/John Clancy/whatever you’ll love it!” No, not really, some people just don’t care for reading. > > Ditto for just about every other form of human expression. Sometimes, a person just doesn’t care for a format or genre. Well, for lack of a better term --“no shit.” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/29 "2014-10-06T23:20:35Z")
Just recalling other threads where we had posters popping up with “try THIS!” or “maybe if you listen in this context you’ll like one!” despite people saying no, they really just didn’t respond to the format. It’s like some people can’t believe other people don’t like the same things they do. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/30 "2014-10-07T00:43:35Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Just recalling other threads where we had posters popping up with “try THIS!” or “maybe if you listen in this context you’ll like one!” despite people saying no, they really just didn’t respond to the format. It’s like some people can’t believe other people don’t like the same things they do. But if you say “I don’t like X because of Y,” it’s not unreasonable for people to suggest examples of X that (in their judgment) don’t involve Y. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/31 "2014-10-07T02:22:56Z")
I notice that everybody that doesn’t like podcasts is using this as a platform to demonstrate their superiority to podcast listeners. Well, ain’t you special! ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/32 "2014-10-07T02:46:43Z")
There’s nothing strange about you if you don’t like podcasts - of all the forms of media invented that are easily accessible, podcasts and web videos would have to be the easiest ever to avoid completely if you don’t like them. I personally have about thirty podcasts a week that I listen to, mostly comedy ones, a couple of skeptical/scientific ones, and a few that don’t quite fit a category. Sometimes the rambling is the best part of it - not everything enjoyable in life has to involve specific knowledge being shared efficiently. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/33 "2014-10-07T03:28:24Z")
Probably the same kinds of people that don’t like talk radio. I like articles, but I can’t read an article while driving or while playing Hearthstone on my iPad. It’s not hyper dense information, but it’s ok. Sometimes, it’s the only way you’ll get that particular sort of information - I listen to The Angry Chicken, a Hearthstone podcast (it’s a card game), and the 3 hosts banter and talk about stuff which just doesn’t translate well into text. You could transcribe it, but then that’s all that additional work which frankly these guys aren’t getting paid for. It’s true, articles are probably easier to read and digest, but that’s because the writer has taken the effort to write clearly for you, and edit accordingly. If you had to read inane rambling paragraphs, that’d be just as bad if not worse. So it’s either podcast or bust for these guys, and podcasts fit my niche. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/34 "2014-10-07T06:59:29Z")
Podcasts aren’t meant to be informative, they’re supposed to be entertaining. If you go in looking for facts then you’ll probably be very frustrated. For me the meandering is the fun part, though all the talking over each other, and also live audiences, can be annoying. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/35 "2014-10-07T10:42:00Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > Probably the same kinds of people that don’t like talk radio. I listen to a fair amount of talk radio, but I couldn’t even conceive of listening to a podcast. The comparison to public access TV is apt. I prefer my entertainment professionally produced. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/36 "2014-10-07T11:24:55Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I listen to a fair amount of talk radio, but I couldn’t even conceive of listening to a podcast. The comparison to public access TV is apt. I prefer my entertainment professionally produced. Again, plenty of podcasts are professionally produced. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/37 "2014-10-07T11:32:27Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Podcasts aren’t meant to be informative, they’re supposed to be entertaining. This is where the non-professionally produced ones fall down. They are so ineptly done that they lose any entertainment value they might have offered me. I tire pretty quickly of any podcast that lacks focus or wastes too much of my time on the participants laughing at their own jokes. If a podcast seems too much like I am overhearing a conversation from a neighboring booth at Denny’s, I’m done. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/38 "2014-10-07T12:12:32Z")
I listen to a ton of podcasts. Some are educational, some comedy, some atheism based. They’ve taken the place of music when I’m driving, mowing the lawn, weed whacking, landscaping, cooking, doing handyman jobs. Love em. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/39 "2014-10-07T13:09:02Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But if you say “I don’t like X because of Y,” it’s not unreasonable for people to suggest examples of X that (in their judgment) don’t involve Y. I am not disagreeing. In fact, in one thread when I said one of my frustrations with podcasts was how slow they were compared with reading someone replied with the name of a program that speeds up audio, which was an entirely relevant contribution. Even so, I don’t quite get where people stating “I don’t care for X” comes across as hating or acting “superior” to those who do like X. I don’t like lima beans, either, but I don’t hate people who like lima beans, or feel superior to them, and I fully support their right to eat lima beans and enjoy them. Likewise for podcasts. If you enjoy them, great. Have fun. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552/40 "2014-10-07T13:22:15Z")
If you don’t like getting shit for sounding superior, then don’t say superior sounding shit like > [@Broomstick](#): > > The situations where some people like podcasts, like driving to work, I prefer to pay attention to my surroundings. because unless you never listen to the radio, think about what you’re going to make for dinner or chat with someone in the passenger seat, you’re just as potentially distracted as someone listening to a podcast. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-strange-that-i-hate-podcasts/700552.md?page=3)