Well, well, well….my last chapter on this topic was written almost one year ago (one year ago tomorrow!)! Why bring this up again? Reason: a recent article from TheVerge.com on the name “podcast”, and a rationale for why this should be dropped (“end the use of the word “podcast””). Some pull quotes:

“But in 2025, with almost every major podcast now having a video component, the definition of the word “podcast” has become pretty meaningless.”

“So in 2026, instead of trying to define what a podcast is, I think we need to stop using the word altogether. “Podcast” is becoming an outdated or even a potentially cringe internet relic, similar to how the phrase “web series” faded from use online.”

Ah – I see where this person is coming from. As mentioned in chapter 64, many audio programs that are being created now are really videos. Also, instead of using the above pay-walled link about defining a podcast, we need to turn to this definition by Dave Winer:

“A podcast is a series of digital media files made available over the open web through an RSS feed with enclosures. Podcasts usually are audio, but you can distribute any media object this way.”

Here is a clear definition of a podcast. Admittedly, it is a “technology-based” definition (need to use a RSS feed to distribute the content), but still, a good, clear definition. For videos, go ahead and call them “videos” or “shows”. For audio that is controlled via apps and not using RSS, those media creations should use some other word (I suggested “appcast” back in 2019).

My final beef – is this “genre” of article needed or wanted? Audio programs are branching into video programs – so what? Podcasts and the creation of podcasts (podcasting) will continue, because no one can stop people from creating or publishing podcasts. Some quotes from Dave Winer on why podcasting is not dominated by a single company (although some might think Apple Podcasts dominates podcasting):

“There is no gatekeeper that can turn down your podcast, make you not cover topics they don’t want covered or use language or images they don’t think are acceptable, or compete with them.”

“Why is podcasting still open after over 20 years? Drumroll please. The answer: there are enough users who understand how it is supposed to work. They expect to be able to listen to any podcast anywhere they want.”

As long as the above two statements are true, there will be podcasts, along with shows, appcasts, or other names for media content that people want to consume using various tools/apps/web sites. I end with a quote of my own:

However, I think the thing to do is to make great things and find ways to innovate. Let’s get out there and compete people – come on!

I think that many podcasts are basically commentary (see just about any political podcast where the host interviews someone on current events, no need to provide links here…). However, I think there is a growing list of podcasts that provide criticism/critiques of podcasts, similar in some ways to general media criticism or literary criticism. Recently, I listened to the first episode of a podcast (the Phongraph Podcast) which analyzed the very first episode of the show that became “This American Life“. The hosts talked about specific parts of the episode, how they thought the parts worked or didn’t work, or how they liked/didn’t like certain parts of the episode. The hosts admitted that they worked in radio, and had wanted to create stories in the manner that This American Life evolved into over its history. I listened to this podcast based on a post by Alan Levine who heard about it on another podcast (his post is titled “A Podcast about Podcasting Recommended by a Podcaster on a Podcast”). Interestingly, the podcast stopped in 2019, then resumed in 2024, broadening its scope to a range of podcasts other than This American Life.

I was aware of other “fan” podcasts about other podcasts, and “official” podcasts about podcasts, but this was the first one I had ever heard. I was also intrigued how technical it got (analyzing production techniques). Finally, it was amusing that a podcast was used as the medium for analyzing a podcast. For most other media criticism, the analysis occurs in written form. I don’t think there are many examples of radio broadcasts analyzing radio shows, or television broadcasts analyzing television shows. Dave Winer had some thoughts on “official” podcasts today, which I agree with: “There has to be at least a possibility that they will say something critical, or funny, irreverent, even inconsiderate things, and not are not 100% self-promotion”.

My last thoughts on this topic: I will not be listening to more of the Phonograph Podcast, as I would like to spend my time listening to actual podcasts, where people are sharing their thoughts/conversation/knowledge, as opposed to analysis of production techniques or deficiencies in story or plot.

A few days ago, I wrote about discovering that the feed of the “Preserve This Podcast” podcast had a problem (episode 1 link was no longer good). To correct this, I thought I would reach out to people who were listed on the About page to see if they could help. None of them responded, so I next went to the Preserve This Podcast Github repo, which houses the source data for the podcast website, and figured out what file needed to be updated to correct the error when the feed was rebuilt (the site was created using Jekyll). I then created an Github issue and a pull request, and within two days, someone merged in my change and re-deployed the site! After two more days, the site cache was updated with the new feed, and I was able to load episode 1 successfully from two separate podcast apps. Victory!

Recently, I wanted to re-listen to the episodes from the Preserve This Podcast podcast (a podcast that discusses strategies for saving artifacts used in creating podcasts). I had written about this podcast when it came out in 2019, and poked at the creators for depending on the Internet Archive to publish the site instead of paying for hosting themselves. After all, they had a GRANT to cover the production costs! Surely they could have budgeted for 5-10 years of hosting. I went to the site, got the feed URL, added to my podcast app, then started listening. When I got to the second podcast (Episode 1), my podcast app displayed an error message that it could not download the file. However, the app was able to download the remaining episodes. I decided to open up the feed in a text editor to see if there was any problem. I found the URL for the episode and pasted it into a browser tab. To my surprise, the browser said there was nothing at that URL in the Internet Archive. I then checked the URLs for several other episodes, and they showed the expected files. After some searching at the Internet Archive, I found this collector page for Episode 1, which led to this URL for Episode 1, which did not match the URL in the feed. UGH!

It is quite ironic that a podcast about preserving podcasts has a problem with its own feed! I will try to contact the team from their About page, but if anyone knows how to get in touch with one of the producers, I would appreciate it!

I had seen some recent posts from bloggers I follow that the Core Intuition podcast (hosted by Manton Reece and Daniel Jalkut) was coming to an end after 626 episodes over 16 years. I listened to the final episode this week, and it was a pleasant conversation. They did make a few statements which should be examined, though, in my opinion.

The first was about how they were close to stopping the podcast some time ago, but then started taking ads, and they decided to keep it going. Many podcasts I listen to run ads, and almost without fail, the hosts of those podcasts talk about how the ads “make this podcast possible”. I wish to challenge this statement, especially for a podcast such as this. First, the two people involved own their own software companies (albeit small ones), so hosting should not be a problem (host as part of your company servers). Second, was the income from those ads so motivating? Was it paying for direct costs of the podcast? I mean, this is two guys talking, which could be done via Zoom or other free services with production using Audacity, And, they also had a membership option, where individuals could pay to “support” the podcast, and have access to some extra content. Again, was this revenue “the thing” that kept it going so long? I don’t think so. From this one episode, I got the impression that Manton and Daniel were good friends, and enjoyed talking with each other. I think that, with some recent events involving Manton, he felt like this was an area to “cut back” in his life, and Daniel was happy to “free up the time” as well. In my opinion, many podcasts that run ads are trying to “make it pay”, so that the people producing it feel compensated for their time. They could do that podcast without ads, but they are leaning on that as an excuse for running ads, and trying to convince their listeners that “they could not produce this podcast without these sponsors”. BALONEY!

The second statement that I take issue with is that, by their stopping this podcast, they were “creating some space” for new podcasts to start and take root. Give me a break! This is the Internet, where as Doc Searls righteously says “NEA: Nobody owns it, Everybody can use it and Anybody can improve it.”. And, by the way, the Doc Searls post I just linked to is talking about the openness of PODCASTING! Anyone in the world can create a podcast. I have written about how to use WordPress to host a podcast, and using Audacity to edit a podcast. Thanks to the work of Dave Winer, no one has been able to take over the ability to create and distribute a podcast. Marshall Brain gave a great TEDx talk in May 2015 titled “Getting Over Getting Started”, with its main theme that the only thing stopping people from creating things is their own inertia (tools are not the problem, knowledge is not the problem). So, PLEEEASE, Manton and Daniel, don’t think that your stopping your podcast is going to get someone else to fill your shoes. Enjoy your “extra time”, but it is up to others to decide to get into the podcast game, and your leaving the arena is not “making space” for others – the space has been there from the beginning.

I would like to close with a quote from my post “The Joy of Podcasting“:

To close, I recently listened to a Radio Open Source podcast episode focusing on the life of Hannah Arendt, who lived under authoritarian and totalitarian regimes in the 20th century. One line of her writing stood out to me: “We are free to change the world and start something new in it.”. I think that every podcast is a chance to change the world, and anyone is free to create one and send it out into the world. Thank you, Dave Winer, for making this possible.

from “The Joy of Podcasting”