🎤Bonus: Is Podcasting Dead?

Not on our watch!

Hi! Shreya here with a quick midweek bonus edition to address the elephant in the podcasting room — is podcasting really dead? 

Let me give you the short answer: No, it’s not. The long answer? Well, that’s what the Feed The Queue bonus episode is all about. 

Slate’s Hear Me Out, which recently ended, featured a discussion between host Celeste Headlee and guest Nick Hilton where they pronounced podcasting, as we know it, dead. When the Tink team heard this, we simply had to have a conversation about it on our Feed The Queue podcast. 

On September 30th, we released Is Podcasting Dead?, in celebration of International Podcast Day. Our special panel episode features Wil Williams as moderator with Anne Baird, Lauren Passell, and yours truly reframing the tale.  

Soooo…Is Podcasting Dead? Spoiler alert: This investigation is going to reveal podcasting is anything but six feet under.

⭐ A few key takeaways 

The discussion merged our perspectives from our different backgrounds. I'd love it if you could listen to the whole episode; it’s less than an hour long and we’re cute and funny! 

If not, here’s a few takeaways for you: 

• Podcasting has not been around for too long. Perhaps we should take a breather before terming what is evolution death. 

• High-quality audio is alive and thriving. You just need to listen with the right set of ears. We also share our personal recent favorites that remind us of this! 

• The industry desperately needs to find a way to bridge the gap between celebrity podcasts and independent creators, especially to funnel money to smaller creators. 

• Audio has the irrefutable power to allow diverse and marginalized groups to tell their stories. As long as that exists, podcasting is not dying. 

💛 A podcast ending is sad. We get that this episode was a direct response to that. . We’ll all miss Celeste and the team at Hear Me Out. As always, sorry to see a wonderful show being sunset. 

✨ Why should you care?

Pardon my preach here! 

If you’re reading this, you have some skin in the game. As long as you’re playing, it’s important to know, truly know, the playing field. And this field is constantly growing and evolving, but not shutting down. 

As a creator or industry professional, it’s absolutely on us to understand where podcasting is at. The more we look at hyperbolic statements critically, the more we’re able to identify the actual opportunities of improvement in our industry. 

While our special episode declares podcasting alive, it also points out some potential flaws in our industry. We point these out (and work on these) because we care.

🎙️Tell us

What piece of audio, that you created or listened to, made you feel alive recently? 

So, is podcasting dead? We don’t think so. Catch Feed The Queue’s full panel discussion wherever you listen to your podcasts, and get ready to see podcasting for what it is: very much alive and kicking.

I’ll be back on Friday with a regularly scheduled issue. 

Until then, keep listening for magic!

Shreya