THE WAY I SEE IT In the Pod

“Find us wherever you get your Podcasts: YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Good Luck Search, Pay Now Listen Later, Pay Now Never Listen, PodMe, Insta, Mix’n’More and more and more.” When did ‘Podcast’ become a thing? One day I am sitting around trying to decide if I will ever watch the old VCR tapes I have saved for that day when a pandemic might strike, when I will have unlimited time to watch all the things I have saved to see on the TV. As you might guess, VCRs were long dead before the unpredicted pandemic hit--as were my tapes. I finally threw them out. My DVR is full of exciting, intended viewing as well, but I am certain cable will dinosaur away before I catch up on those. Somewhere between dead VCRs, DVD disks, DVR’ing and streaming services, Podcasts showed up.

Like the evolution of Netflicks, no one really paid attention and then suddenly everyone was paying for it. Many Podcasts are free and much like Netflicks, if you can lift someone’s access, your paid Podcasts can be free too. I may be the only person I know who does not yet have a Podcast. I may be the only person I know who has yet to tune into a Podcast. I am still not sure what I am missing other than the lost time searching for, connecting to, and falling down the rabbit hole of Podcast wonderland. The best I can tell, Podcasts are like talk radio but without the radio station. Much like streaming is like going to the movies without the movie theater experience. Discussion with friends, (you may know them as humans you can interact with in person without texting, facebooking, or instagraming), has informed me of the joy of listening to a Podcast. Everything is out there: true crime, untrue crime, best real estate deals, educational information, medical information, self-help information, fashion, gossip and bite-size information, fiction and nonfiction and it goes on and on and on—much like a Podcast. Just like attempting to catchup on my over-stored DVR shows or attempting to binge watch a streaming series, I just have no time in a fixed spot to pay much attention to good intentions.

I have been a fan of talk radio for decades. It started with the AM radio stations of mostly white guys spouting the end of the world at any moment if the government did not step up and control the UFO’s circling the Earth. Next came national radio syndication where more white guys were spouting the end of the world because women could vote. If you were patient, the beloved Dr. Ruth showed up to explain sex to anyone listening to AM radio in the PM. Then the self-help gurus filtered in to tell me how to feel good in my own skin. Finally, I discovered my sports hero, Jim Rome, and the litany of sports talk radio nut cases yelling at me about the latest contract of the poor millionaire baseball players. I still treasure my AM car moments with my sports broadcast dudes.

The best I can determine, Podcasts are mostly the same element of information, the only difference is anyone can host a Podcast. Now that I am more familiar with The Google, I did a quick search on how many podcast exist. That was not my initial question, but The Google clarified what I was searching and provided me the statistic that there are around 150 million podcast episodes, averaging 50 episodes per podcast. On a more realistic note, The Google shared that half of all Podcasts are downloaded less than 29 times in the first week after publishing. Like I am ever going to download a Podcast. I cannot even get the HULU to connect to the whatever gets the steaming going on my television.

My cousin wanted to bring me into the 21st Century and attempted to educate me the old fashion way: she bought me a book called, “So You Want to be a Podcaster”. First, good for her bringing me an actual book to read instead of telling me to visit The Google again. Second, I fear the antique book defeats the purpose of Podcasts, but I appreciate how well she understands me. No, I do not want to be a Podcaster. I am still not sure I want to dive into the Podcast vortex. I have seen news clips on the old fashion television with my antiquated cable connection about every celebrity, sports junky, news personality, entrepreneur, social media guru, fitness instructor, animal trainer, mommy and me expert, pole dancer, furniture finders, bargain shopper/coupon clipper, travel mentor, pill popper, wine whiner, well, you get the pod invasion.

I am sure I will stumble upon my first full Podcast soon enough. It will not be intentional, but maybe the right connection will hit where I must sit and listen to the jabberings of folks that are not content enough to just Pod in the privacy of their own friendships.

Phillips & Associates Realty’s Do Good Committee volunteer event at the FVPS (Family Violence Prevention Services) Donation Center. The Do Good team organized and cleared space to make way for additional donations for their residents.