The tale of murder victim Hae Min Lee and her alleged killer Adnan Sayed made the whole world sit on the edge of their seats, albeit with headphones on. Set in Maryland, Baltimore, the story of this decade-old case became an international phenomenon after it was investigated and retold by journalist Sarah Koenig in her podcast, Serial . Her enraptured audience had no grisly close-up shots or haunting picture to help them ‘see’ her story, nothing but her voice.
Serial ’s success heralds the golden age of one of the fastest-growing forms of media today, the podcast. Podcasts are episodic series delivered via downloadable digital audio files. They can deal with any topic really: music, books, health, even, like Serial , true crime. Podcasts are the radio of the millennial era; and their impact is not lost on India. We have dozens of podcast shows springing up. “All media has evolved into an on-demand model: take Netflix and Kindle,” says Amit Doshi, founder of the podcast network Indus Vox Media. “The audio industry is no different and people are slowly beginning to shift their listening habits.”
It helps that creating one isn’t as hard as it looks, Suyash Barve says; “My show, Adventures of Cheap Beer , looks at affordable, local bars in the city. It started as a blog, but I, along with my co-hosts Karan Agarwal and Siddhant Mehta, decided to shift to the audio format, because it was as easy as getting in front of a basic microphone, hitting record, and then uploading it when done.”
A large part of the appeal of the genre lies in the fact that there’s something for everyone. As blogger Kiruba Shankar, who plans to launch a podcast for first-time authors, says, “Podcasts are growing because they cater to niche audiences. We create specific, flexible content that you wouldn’t find in mainstream media.”
Avadhoot Khanolkar, executive producer of podcast network, Audiomatic, says, “Its greatest strength is that it’s something personal and intimate.” Audiomatic’s stable of shows include The Intersection , which melds culture, history and science in India, Our Last Week , a comedy podcast that has ‘physicist and neuro-science researcher’ Anuvab Pal and ‘philosopher’ Kunaal Roy Kapur come together to analyse the events of the previous week.
Then there’s Maed in India by Mae Thomas, which highlights upcoming Indian independent musicians. Thomas says, “Podcasts give you a multitude of choices, and unlike the radio, they play what’s good, not what’s popular. My podcast is a space for people to access new artistes from all genres; it’s about discovery of music, not listening to the same stuff over and over again.” Then there’s Jishnu Guha and Tejas Menon’s Geek Fruit , which celebrates nerd culture. As they say, “Between Star Wars , Game of Thrones and The Avengers , nerd culture is one of the biggest enterprises today. Our podcast became a way for us to talk about what we love, and it’s hard not to find inspiration in these shows and franchises.”
For Aniruddha Guha, a film critic and writer, his podcast Watcha! is a refreshing and alternative way of storytelling. “India is a highly visual country; cinema is our crutch when it comes to experiencing a story. With the podcast, I am trying to engage people purely through conversation. I’m not critiquing film — I’m already doing that in the written and video format — but trying to create a casual, informal environment, where I can discuss everything from how humour has changed in sitcoms to how a particular character may have evolved over the course of a show or film.” With episodes pulling in hundreds of listeners every day, podcasts are steadily on the rise. Jishnu Guha says, “There’s authenticity and accessibility in them that people around the world have come to appreciate, and Indian audiences are warming up to the form.”
“It took some time getting there,” says Thomas, “But I think we’re on the bandwagon now, and the portfolio of artistes and podcasts is only going to get bigger.”
