Blogs 📝

Back in the early 2000s, before reels and TikTok took over, blogs were the online diaries of Gen X’ers and Millennials — long posts about whatever they were obsessed with, shared with the whole internet. 

Niche blogs can be a great source of information for your topic — from railways to mushrooms, to medieval history, you'd probably find a blog about it. And chances are, it's written by a passionate expert who will inspire you and direct you to other great resources.

These days, a lot of that blog-style writing has migrated onto platforms like Substack, where writers publish both blogs and newsletters, so you can read their work online or have it delivered straight to your inbox.

How to find good blogs

• Google: “best blogs on [topic]” or “[topic] enthusiast blog”.

• Ask your AI: “List five blogs that cover [topic] in depth and explain what each focuses on.”

• Search Substack for your topic. When you find a promising Substack, check out the other newsletters that they recommend.

Podcasts 🎧

From Shelley, "I love podcasts! I love creating them. I love editing them. But mostly, I love listening to them!"

Why are podcasts a great source for LiD?

Here are my top 5 reasons why I think podcasts are great for LiD:

• They connect you with your topic's most knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and geekiest people. If someone’s created a podcast, chances are they’re very passionate about their topic. They’re often very open to receiving communication from you if you’d like to get more information on the topic.

• Podcasts can be super niche, and they have the freedom to go super deep into that niche topic.

• The audio format can make seemingly difficult, specialist information easy to access and engage with. And, I’d argue, this format could create more of an emotional connection with your topic.

• The episodic nature of podcasts allows for detailed exploration. They often layer context over time, which aligns with Egan’s notion of deep learning, rather than just the accumulation of superficial facts.

• You can learn on the go, and ideas can percolate in your brain — more on how to do that later.

How to find podcasts:

OK, so now let’s go hunting for podcasts for your topic — or your research questions.

Start with platforms like Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Type in your topic — whether it’s “railways,” “oceans,” or “Greek mythology” — and see what comes up.

I use a Podcast Player App called Overcast on my iPhone (I believe it’s only available in the Apple universe). It still pulls all of its podcast feeds from Apple Podcasts, but it improves the sound, and I’ve quite enjoyed its user experience.

You could also ask an AI for podcast suggestions, but I've found that a Google search is often better. Use a similar approach to the one you used for searching for documentaries. You could also specify the style of podcast you’d like — interview-style, scripted, or more off-the-cuff, level of research, typical length, target age range (if you want to get content appropriate for kids), etc.

You’ve also learned the names of a few experts and heroes in your field. Search their names to see if they’ve been featured on a podcast or if they host their own show.

Also, don’t be afraid to dig into older, inactive podcasts. Their back catalogs are often gold mines.

Listen to cross-promotional ads within your favorite shows; they often recommend similar podcasts if they’re in a podcast network.

When and how to listen to podcasts

At this point, I’m going to say that podcasts are not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But before you write off the idea of podcasts, I’d encourage you to think about when and how you listen to them.

I’m amazed by how many people listen to podcasts on their desktop computers. I mean, you do you, but I know I’d never be able to sit in front of my millions of browser tabs and open windows and pinging notifications and listen through to the end of a podcast.

Instead, my podcast time is in the morning when I’m cooking breakfast.

So I have invested in a pair of Apple AirPods, so there are no wires to worry about around the stove. Many other people listen to podcasts on their commute in the car, in which case they just need to connect to the car’s sound system. My friend listens to podcasts (and audiobooks) while walking her dog twice a day, so she just uses her wired headphones.

Also, you don’t have to listen to a whole episode in one sitting (or laundry-folding, or breakfast-making, or dishes-washing session!). Just pause when you’re done and pick up where you left off. I think this is one of the reasons I like Overcast — it’s really easy to hop in and out of an episode.

Keep track of your learning

• It’s easy to consume words and voices passively. But LiD is about active exploration. So, just like with videos, think about how you’ll capture what you learn from these sources:

• Save links to blogs and newsletters in your Logbook or a bookmark folder.

• Copy-paste quotes or ideas into your Logbook (always noting the author and link).

• For podcasts, jot down key insights right after you finish listening.

• If you’re listening on a podcast app, use the “clip” or “bookmark” feature to save important moments.

• Keep your research questions nearby — what new answers or new puzzles did you discover?