I was introduced to podcasts in early 2024 when I started training for a half marathon. Every morning, I went running and worked out to the same playlist and wanted to listen to something new, so I ventured into podcast land. I only really listened to 2 podcasts back then: Huberman Lab because I wanted to improve my health, and Trash Taste because I was watching a lot of anime at the time.
Fast forward a couple months, I broke my collarbone and had to stop running, and my reason for listening to podcasts was no more. Then I got a throat infection, had to deal with a CSF leak, and by the end of the year, I had moved back home so my parents could take care of me. I was on bedrest, spending my days watching YouTube and playing games on my Steam Deck, which I knew was not great for my body or my eyes. Looking for an activity that didn't rely on screens, I dove head-first back into podcast land.
Podcast land was like a jungle filled to the brim with all kinds of podcasts for all kinds of topics in all kinds of style. At first, I was immersing myself in Huberman Lab, learning about the brain and body through dense lectures and interviews. Once my brother heard I was getting into podcasts and recommended Acquired, I started obsessively listening to the histories of companies and their founders. From there, I found other business podcasts, which led to news podcasts, which led to a deluge of choices, which led to googling "best podcasts on Spotify," which led to way too many bookmarked podcasts.
I started going down the list one podcast at a time, sampling episodes like I would sample flavors at an ice cream store, except this time I could order as many flavors as I wanted. I put The Daily and Morning Brew on my feed to keep up with politics, added Startup Therapy and Soft Skills Engineering to make sure I didn't fall too far behind in my career, included This American Life and Heavyweight to get emotional with heartfelt stories, and ordered a side of Thinking Basketball and The Besties to keep me engaged in my hobbies.
I kept adding podcast after podcast to my list. Most shows would air new episodes every week, with some podcasts uploading daily and others dropping long-form episodes monthly. Mondays were the big Huberman Lab interviews, Thursdays were Lemonade Stand's entertaining news roundup, and Fridays were The Besties' video game review. Every day would start with news from The Daily, and every few days I'd get to hear interesting perspectives with Ezra Klein.
I listened while I ate, while I went to the bathroom, and while I laid in bed recovering for most of the day. It started feeling like a fulltime job as I was listening to 4, 5, sometimes 6+ hours of podcasts a day. There were roughly 3-5 new episodes every day, and I was actually able to stay up to keep up while working down my backlog.
I was learning so much. For the first time in my life, I was up to date about politics and knew what people meant when they said things like "federal deficit" or "Medicare cuts." I was hearing from professors on how to be healthy, from founders on how to start businesses, and from entertainers who could make me laugh while I was isolated from my friends.
Podcasts gave me so much during my days of bedrest and offered an alternative to mindlessly watching YouTube and playing games. But like with anything, there can be too much podcast-ing...
I want to preface this section by re-iterating that podcasts are amazing and helped me so much in my recovery. It was only after listening to several hours a day that I started noticing some potentially unhealthy habits and patterns.
First off, I was using Spotify to listen to podcasts and frequented their "New Episodes" feed to see recent episodes from the podcasts I followed. I felt like I wanted to gamify it and keep the feed clean, which meant listening to every episode, even the ones I wasn't that interested in. I felt like to "follow" my podcasts, I had to listen to all their episodes, even if it felt like I was just checking boxes.
Spotify also has a section at the top for episodes you haven't finished. I'd often sample part of an episode and lose interest, but I still felt compelled to finish it just to clear it from my feed. Eventually, I started marking uninteresting episodes as "Finished" just to keep my feed clean. I don't think Spotify maliciously designed the tab to make users listen as much as possible (or maybe they did) but this is a minor issue that once you're aware of it, it's easy to ignore.
As my condition improved and I was able to spend more time out of bed, I started to realize that podcasts were just another form of consumption. Like TikTok and YouTube, podcasts could also be addictive in how they let you mindlessly consume content, albeit less stimulating than with videos.
I thought podcasts were "healthy" since I wasn't using my eyes and my body could rest while listening, but it kind of just became another way to fill the void. It was hard to just sit with my thoughts as I felt like I always wanted a podcast to be playing.
I also noticed a lot of repetition, especially with the news podcasts. Similar stories and advice were being echoed, which helps with retention I guess, but eventually it felt like I just needed to go ride the bike in real life.
As I return to the upright world, I want to be more intentional with how I listen to podcasts. I don't want to throw one on just because I feel bored or want to fill the silence.
The way I see it, there are 2 main uses of podcasts: a way to consistently learn on a day-to-day basis, and a source of entertainment that you can do alongside other activities.
Listening while exercising, eating, or doing dishes is essentially double efficiency since you can learn on top of what you're already doing. This makes it the perfect tool for learning a little everyday.
I feel somewhat conflicted though because after My Meditation Week, I've been trying to do things more mindfully. Listening to podcasts while doing something else is basically the opposite of mindfulness since your attention is split.
The solution to this I believe comes from how exhausting mindfulness can be. As I covered in my meditation post, mindfulness is basically a mental workout that trains your attention, hence why it can be so tiring. This makes podcasts a solid backup for when I don't have the energy to be fully mindful.
Some activities are also just harder to be mindful during like commuting in traffic, flying in a plane, or being on bedrest. These feel like great times for podcasts.
As I return to daily life, I'm sure my relationship with podcasts and how I use them will keep evolving, but as I see it now, podcasts are no longer a lifeline, but a companion.
I am very grateful that I discovered podcasts while I was bedridden. They gave my weeks some structure in the most uncertain time in my life, some connection to the world and other people in the most isolating time in my life.
Podcasts have helped me find a semblance of community, consider perspectives I wouldn't have otherwise known about, and discover a whole new media ecosystem - all from the comfort of my own bed.