podcast discovery tools

Comp Lit 241 & 122 were aimed at students who were already avid podcast listeners before the course began, but in the rapidly growing audio world there is always more to discover. One of my goals was to expose students to a wide variety of formats and styles, so we could begin to compare and reflect on what makes great pods great, or funny, interesting, smart, intimate, etc. What do different podcasts have in common, what sets them apart? What are different ways of categorizing podcasts? What is missing in today’s pod-scape?

podcast listening guide —scroll below for links organized by category, or click through to the original Google doc

podcast discovery

In today’s media landscape, discovery is driven by AI recommendation tools that often have a homogenizing effect on the audio we hear. How can listeners find something new that challenges their expectations? Try these links to expand your horizons.

• 100 Great Podcasts Worth Listening To by New York Magazine podcast critic Nick Quah

• 1.5x Speed podcast newsletter also by Nick Quah, often includes recommendations and reviews

• How To Find Better Podcasts article on Lifehacker

• Listen Notes podcast search engine

• The Listener a solid weekly newsletter of curated podcast recommendations, often including small-time indie projects. very manageable at only 3 pods per issue. (note the newsletter is no longer active, but you can still peruse the archives.)

• Hot Pod newsletter - this free weekly newsletter tracks what's going on in the rapidly changing industry.

audio zines and more

• U+1F60C, an experimental audio zine by audio producer James T. Green featuring lots of awesome work by indie producers, including himself

• audioplayground.xyz - a very cool site that puts out  audio “assignments” or prompts for mini audio projects, and also publishes submissions. (students in my class will use one of these prompts for an in-class project, but anyone might find it inspiring to look at them all and listen to past submissions. you can also subscribe to have them sent to your inbox.)