It’s the age of recommendations. So much of what we consume depends on what others we know are consuming… media-wise, that is. You read a book and tell someone you loved it and they go pick it up. Or the other way around. Or you buy a book from your favourite online store and find a whole list of recommendations as you scroll down after making your payment. So, no surprises, once you’ve listened to a podcast, you’ll find recommendations pouring into your app’s search or browse screen based on what you’ve just sampled. Titles from other genres too will follow.
But with tens of thousands of active podcasts on a range of platforms and directly on websites, one can browse forever and miss some brilliant programming. That’s generally true for all cultural products, on any medium, which is why we end up returning to the ‘recommender’ system. While that tends to reduce the possibility of discovering things by happy accident, it’s not a bad way to begin exploring any space.
When I posted an open question to my friends on social media, almost all said that they find podcasts mostly through word-of-mouth. A couple mentioned recommendations from their platform of choice, and another avid listener said that he paid attention to mentions on blogs, twitter, and “people talking about podcasts on podcasts”. Much like the echo-chamber effect, though, many of these routes take us to more of the same thing, or the same shade of different. The politics and the aesthetic tend to fall within a narrow — and comfortable — part of the preference spectrum.
Keyword searches on the web might be a better way to break out of the bubble and find a wider range of podcasts, particularly if one is looking for non-fiction programming. An academic who uses podcasts to inform her teaching and research, as well as to learn new languages, says she chooses by topic or via the media outlets she visits daily.
I might check “all of the above” if I were to describe how I come upon the podcasts I listen to and write about. If you’ve enjoyed a particular podcast you’re also likely to enjoy something that the host or producer of that series mentions. That’s how I heard about S-Town , the now legendary series from the makers of Serial (a true-crime podcast that has run two seasons and made podcast history of sorts and turned its presenter Sarah Koenig into a celebrity).
It’s also how I was primed and ready to subscribe to Death in Ice Valley , a collaborative narrative from BBC World Service and Norway’s NRK. S-Town was released, Netflix-style, in a bingeworthy six-episode stream, while Death in Ice Valley was a nail-biting weekly wait for new episodes (which are all now available on the BBC World Service site).
Recently, I came across a search engine dedicated to podcasts, Listen Notes, which allows you to search for series or episodes by topic or keyword. It also has a bookmarking feature, Listen Later, with which you can build playlists around a topic and send the links to the mobile app you use to play podcasts. Using the search engine also lets you gather a variety of perspectives around a theme. Typing in ‘Rohingya crisis’, for instance, gives me a list of over 500 episodes from a variety of podcast episodes that have dealt with the issue, with short descriptions and RSS links. For some themes, it is possible to search by type of content — individual episodes, podcast series, interviews, or curated lists. Harry Potter fans can choose from a set of four curated lists, ranging from ‘11 podcasts every Potterhead needs in their life’ to ‘Harry Potter podcasts even muggles can love’.
The point is, there’s a lot out there. Whichever way, and however one looks. You may start with a recommendation from a friend, or an algorithm, but that’s just the beginning. You may want to then explore the soundscape on your own and allow yourself to stumble upon something brilliant.
Note: If you enjoyed the first season of Slow Burn , reviewed in this column, the second season, focusing on the impeachment of Bill Clinton, is now running.
(A fortnightly series on podcasts.)
The Hyderabad-based writer and academic is a neatnik fighting a losing battle with the clutter in her head.
