Podcasts are Annoying

Ah that's interesting! I find I tune out of live radio when it's something I'm not interested in, and then miss more interesting stuff.

I guess so. It’s hard to define - in my mind anyway. And probably pointless because I love both!

I rarely listen to the celeb ones. They’re largely boring. But the BBC Sounds investigative ones are excellent. I highly recommend listening to Stakeknife and Where is George Gibney. They both hit me like a ten tonne train

Love em sorry

I mostly listen to podcasts when I'm trying to sleep. Gives my mind something to chew on rather than being bored that I can't sleep. Set a timer for 10-15 minutes.

i like podcasts that give me information or explain something... explaining the law, politics, science, history. I dislike ones where people gush on about selves or rant about anything. But obviously some people love to listen to rants or Sleb gossip or mindless blather. Which is fine. Diversity is good.

Not like radio because podcasts tend to be more niche and less formatted, they don't have to fit in a strict time slot. Also, some are /were 'radio' but over in USA or another place I can't hear their radio, so...

Celeb twaddle is annoying full stop, whether it's on tv, social media or podcasts. But there are interesting podcasts about all kinds of things, just like there are interesting tv shows that aren't based on ridiculous celebrities.

Good point. I'm currently listening to the first in a 5/6 part series on the outbreak of WW1. That would probably be an hour on BBC4

Isn't the other main difference the actual content? Live radio tends to be shorter, less in-depth segments across a huge range of subjects - and need to grab those who may have little to no interest in that subject.

Podcasts can go a lot deeper and often cater to a more defined (and by definition more engaged and interested) audience.

I really like that podcasts have given lie to the theory that people won't consume long form content and that everything needs to be surface and tightly packaged for modern audiences.

I love podcasts where people with a passion and/or expertise make programmes about it - informative, fascinating stuff, often with interesting guests. I think Goalhanger do this particularly well - Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are obviously the originals who cracked the format (and I've learned loads about parts of history that I'd never have looked into without them doing episodes about it) but I have found The Rest Is Entertainment to be unexpectedly eye opening and I've learned so much about stuff I'd never thought of, and The Rest is Classified is similarly interesting.

I've got a huge interest in 20th century history so We Have Ways is a strong favourite, along with War Movie Theatre which isn't quite as slick. I listen to Buffy and Walking Dead rewatch podcasts by really funny, interesting and gifted presenters for pure entertainment and nostalgia value.

There are also some great limited series - it was The Ratline and Tunnel 29 that first got me into podcasts.

I've taken a bit of a break from news and politics podcasts but agree The News Agents are absolutely top tier and are no less quality journalism than you'll get on any TV or radio programme - and long form gives them space to go deeper.

OP, you seem cross that "celebs are jumping on the bandwagon" - realistically, this is a new revenue stream and a lot more lucrative for the successful podcasts than TV appearances etc.

I love the podcasts I love - I have little to no interest in "celeb culture" so those sorts of podcasts would definitely irritate me as the live tv equivalents.

My experience of the TV and radio equivalents of the podcasts I like to listen to is that they're much shallower, less expert and less interesting. Live radio is fine to give you a really surface look at a wide variety of issues (many of which may bore you to tears); good podcasts go much deeper and allow you to really feed your own interests.

Rest is History and Rest is Entertainment are both excellent. If you like old films, You Must Remember This is brilliant.

I like reading too but it's hard to do while walking/jogging/driving

Off Menu is great.

When I used to tell people I listened to radio 4 and 5live Non-stop they’d look at me like I’d just stepped out of the Victorian age.

Now everyone listens to podcasts. Pretty much the same.

I’d Say the difference now is that radio is live and podcasts are recorded. I know lots of radio shows are recorded but they are all on the podcast platforms and that you can listen back to live shows once they’re finished but that’s the only difference I can see.

I think of them as more YouTube for radio. I love podcasts (and also YouTube, incidentally) for the ease of being able to listen to (and watch) only things that appeal to me, on subjects I am interested in. Shortform media is best for me with my menopausal attention span and I am sometimes guilty of watching a podcast on YouTube in a weird 'best/worst of both worlds' way.

She’s constantly slagging Love Island on those threads as well, despite watching it. It’s bizarre 😂😂

This poster is very bitter and offensive about everything it seems.

As the guilty feminist podcast once said podcasts are radio that no one stops you making.

It's basically Netflix for radio. I love them.

I quite like some but I hate the choosing part. I wish there was a podcast radio channel which just played different ones through the day. You would come across new things that you might never have heard about. I like being able to turn on the radio with one click and just listen to whatever is on.

Out of the million or so podcasts out there I love about 5 of them and like about 10. They are like a non live radio and you know the topic in advance. Listen to something if you want, don’t bother if you don’t.

I don't like them so don't listen to them, they do seem to be a thing nowadays though

I love a podcast. I listen to ones from Mr Ballen, The Running Channel, Unsolved mysteries and Conspiracy theories with the occasional one about plane crashes. Some are thought provoking, some I can relate to and take advice from and some are just sheer entertainment.

I listen to them when I'm in bed as something to drift off to sleep to to stop my mind from going round in circles or for a slow boring run. Great for decorating also!!

I'm not keen on audio books, I don't want to be told a story word by word, I want to listen to someone describing a story to me if that makes sense.

I don't listen to the celeb ones as they have never appealed to me but podcasts are a bit like social media in that you need to curate your own feed of what you like.

I have a couple I listen to every weekend (Hard Fork and This Week in Virology) and loads from which I pick and choose episodes depending on my mood (Everything Electric, Outrage and Optimism, Mind Pump, Meaningful Money, Freakonomics, Good life Project, Hidden Brain, Zoe, Daily Stoic, Throughline, Code Switch, Sideways ... among many others)

I listen to a lot of audiobooks from the free library apps but a podcast that matches my mood really makes a walk to or from work go so well.