Podcast Derangement Syndrome
Why does the very concept of podcasting make people angry?
This week, over at an interesting website called Seen and Unseen, I wrote the following:
During the pandemic, an Australian comedy show, At Home Alone Together on ABC, made a sketch that was widely shared on the internet, especially among podcasters. For those wondering what to do with their time, they had one clear, simple message given with typical Australian honesty: Do not start a f***ing podcast.
I’ve encountered hostility to the idea of podcasts since I started listening to them fifteen years ago, when the main options were This American Life and Kermode and Mayo talking about movies. Both were podcast versions of existing excellent radio programmes.
With every passing year, podcasts have become more popular, a huge boost coming in 2014 with the Serial podcast, which was a spin-off This American Life. People with iPhones were realising what the purple icon was, and they weren’t afraid to use it.
Many resisted. They didn’t really understand what podcasts were, where they came from, how to find them and what made them different from radio programmes. Merely mentioning podcasts would make people either roll their eyes, or far worse, causing what I would call “Podcast Derangement Syndrome”. We see that, albeit humorously, in the ABC sketch, urging people not to start a podcast.
In fact, the ABC sketch had a point - and I explain what in the article - , but there was a far worse case of ‘Podcast Derangement Syndrome’ in The Spectator last week, which I write about in the article, as well as reveal something podcast never talk about: how many listeners my podcast actually gets. Read all about it over here:
Talking of podcasts, I’d like to mention the recent series of the Keswick Convention podcast which I’m really proud of, not least people it was mostly not my own work. The whole series is about what it means to be human, and made in God’s image.
There are episodes like:
Could I be stored on a memory stick?
What is my purpose? The rat race, leisure and meaning of life
Creativity, the Bible, and Me: Am I creative?
Tribes, Tongues & Nations - What's so Amazing About Race?
Self-esteem and self-worth: Why bearing God's image is good news for us