The question had, quite innocently, been a simple one—what podcasts did other pilots find worth listening to and why? I liked the question and I liked how it was asked—sent out to all my colleagues for them to mull over and respond at their leisure—assuming they wished to respond at all. Call me easily impressed, but I still marvel at how seamlessly interconnected we are anywhere on the planet.

I’m sure you are familiar with discussion boards/forums and the hundreds of “threads” that can run simultaneously. I like how they allow us to be conversationally “plugged in” 24/7. Of course there are two sides to all good things and the “other side” in this case is that corporations too frequently use these forums to replace good customer assistance—in other words, they post a list of frequently asked questions instead of giving you the opportunity to talk to a human when you really need help. Either way, these forums are the way the world communicates these days and I don’t see anything better to replace them.

Winston Churchill is quoted as having said “I get more out of whiskey than whiskey gets out of me” and I feel the same about these online discussions. Sure, one can waste one’s life in pointless political arguments, but with care one can find them instructive, intelligent, and informative. The good news is that the same goes for podcasts—another opportunity for time well spent.
In fact, I consider podcasts to be a treasure of our modern life and I regret that they had not been around earlier for us to enjoy throughout the decades. Podcasts are special as they remind us of a golden era when radio might have been the only game in town, but it could be a very good game indeed.

In many ways, podcasts are proving to be the modern extension of radio—a medium that depends solely on voices and the power of our imaginations—a wonderful combination. Yes, I know that podcasts have tough competition from the videos on such sites as YouTube, but they are more than holding their ground—they are not only growing, but growing quite quickly.

As early as the late 1950s commentators predicted that radio would soon be dead. Well, it held out longer than expected, but by the early 2000s its popularity did seem to have run its course. Streaming video and music started to rule the roost and if we did/do listen to the radio, it is either in the car or to hear warnings about bad weather. Apart from sports, AM radio has devolved into commercial filled “talk radio” and the FM band is not much better. Sure, it has its niches of quality such as NPR, but the music stations are formulaic and lack creativity. Moments of uninterrupted listening are getting to be pretty rare.

The internet however, is changing things for the better when it comes to listening options. After 2010 application developers started in earnest to write programs that they called “podcatchers” and a universe of “podcasters” (the modern incarnation of the broadcaster if you will) sprung up to provide content on sports, politics, the arts, language, technology, etc. Suddenly, podcasters could range from a guy in his garage passing along his knowledge about fishing to a Nobel Prize winner speaking about economics. Thus began a virtuous circle—more listeners motivated more podcasters to create quality content.

Now, in 2019, we enjoy an embarrassment of content and listening riches.
With such a wide selection it is getting hard to keep track of what is out there. In fact, it’s overwhelming and we often have to rely on recommendations from friends or colleagues just to start. The better podcatchers, however, help by providing “what’s new” updates and offer good category selections so the listener can find something of interest. Yes, commercials are finding their way into this realm, but no matter what your interests, there is most definitely something there to spark your interest.

More good news. If we get into a listening rut, all we have to do is take up one of the recommendations and plunge into something completely different.

This is what prompted the pilot’s question that I mentioned in the first paragraph. He was looking to stretch his horizons a bit and I admire how polite he remained in answering the colleague who replied that he just preferred books.

That’s the beauty of it—podcasts do not replace books but rather augment them. Sure, books are great when you can sit and read, but what about when you are exercising, driving, working in the yard, or walking through an airport terminal? Podcasts are perfect for those occasions and so books and podcasts should never be viewed as an either/or situation—we can have our cake and eat it too. Just like the quote from Churchill that I mentioned—wise and judicious management of your podcasts will add to your life and not detract from it. Listen at your convenience and they will always be there for you.

Each person has his/her tastes and I have found a mixture that works for me. I like listening to the neuroscientist and commentator Sam Harris’ Making Sense podcast as he allows for two, even three, hours of uninterrupted discussions of the topics at hand. While that length might sound boring, he and his guests can spend the time to get beyond mere soundbites. The salty-tongued Joe Rogan does the same on his show The Joe Rogan Experience. While he does not have quite the intellectual heft of a Sam Harris, he lets his guests talk and pretty soon three hours have sped by.

Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant out of Atlanta present a program called Stuff You Should Know that discusses all kinds of fun and interesting topics—from the building of the Hoover Dam to how the Sun works. Freakanomics Radio out of New York is an instructive and often counter-intuitive look at economic and behavioral trends, while Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History takes a deep dive, with segments of up to four hours, into the grand sweeps of history.