IN FAVOR OF PODCASTS

About a month ago I was talking to my friend Honora, swapping music recommendations when she stopped me and said, “Do you listen to podcasts?”

Just for reference, the majority of my schoolwork in college involves the design process and graphic representation. That means, hours upon hours of tedious detailing and messing around on various programs in which can take little to no brain power.* When I’m doing this I listen to music.  And when I listen to music I usually go through artists an album at a time.  And you can only listen to the same voice so many times.

Needless to say, I go through a lot of music.

So when the suggestion of podcasts came about, for the umpteenth time, I decided to roll with it. While podcasts have technically been around since 2005, they have become increasingly popular in the past few years. Honestly, it seems like every organization is producing a podcast! For whatever reason, I didn’t see the appeal in them but I said goodbye to my podcast virginity with NPRs Invisibila as suggested.

I loved it. I don’t know why I refused to acknowledge the power of the podcast until now, but I’m glad I hopped on the bandwagon. As Honora smartly put it, “it’s a different space to work from… a podcast might put you in a different creative space-I find it similar to listening to classical music.” It totally is. I find myself leaning towards listening to them when I’m working in the morning and then going back to music later in the afternoon. So far I’ve listened to all of Invisibilia and then in trying to find another series about social and cultural phenomenon I stumbled upon 99% Invisible which is run by an architect and discusses the built world. If you’re into that kind of stuff, I highly recommend both but if not there is literally a podcast covering every topic of interest.  I have Welcome to Night Vale, Serial, and This American Life on my to listen list.

Are you guys into podcasts? Is that something I should try and do at least once? It seems like a fun way to create a platform for spreading information. 

*For clarification; the work I do isn’t easy per say, it’s just spending time to build a visual outcome which is time-consuming.  Getting to the point where I can just produce work takes thought. Unlike reading which can require undivided attention to maintaining focus.