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t’s likely that at some point over

the past three years, you’ve
heard someone talking about their
favourite podcast. | might even
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yourself.

My first real introduction to the
medium started at the beginning of
this semester. Newly moved into a
shitty basement suite and starting
my first semester at UBC after
transferring from Dougie, | needed
a way to entertain myself on my
hourlong commute. My playlists
had all dried up, a symptom |
blame on “not being with the
times.” | tried to read on the bus
but would end up with horror
flashbacks of Kelowna road trips
that ended with me puking in my
sister’s baseball hat. | had listened
to a couple episodes of Death, Sex
& Money in the past, but it wasn’t
exactly what | was looking for
entertainment-wise.

It took me a while to realize
that what | needed was a good
story.

Between the course load,
work, and learning how to cook
anything that didn’t come out of a
takeout box, | didn’t have a lot of
time to sit down and watch Netflix
or read a novel in my non-existent

spare time. AS someone who is
currently going to school to learn
how to write stories, the lack of
time | had to enjoy them was
getting to me.

That’s when | discovered the
world of podcasts.

The origin of podcasts as
downloadable series of audio files
stems largely from 2004, thanks to
the work of internet entrepreneur
Adam Curry and software
developer Dave Winer. The duo
created the program iPodder to
download radio broadcasts from
online straight onto Curry’s iPod.
Remember kids, this was back in
the days before Apple discontinued
my favourite product.

Developers picked up on
the idea, fine-tuned it, and voila,
podcasts became a thing. The
proliferation of portable media
players created the perfect
environment for downloadable
media files to catch on.

A friend of mine shared a
list of her favourite podcasts on
Facebook, which is how | found
Wooden Overcoais. | was missing
out on a platform that changes the
game for anyone who, like me,
enjoys stories but can’t dedicate
an hour to them at home.

S&S

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I'm not sure why it never
occurred to me before that this
was a thing—l’m enrolled ina
course on writing for podcasts
next term that, if I’m being honest,
| wasn't really thrilled about.
| thought that they had to be
nonfiction-focused.

The audio drama became
my entry into another world while
trying to pretend that | wasn’t
stuck in public transit, and | know
that I’m not alone in this. Granted,
not everyone is solely listening
to audio dramas, but that’s the
beauty of it; there’s a podcast for
every subject you’d be interested
in.

According to a study published
by Concordia University this year,
68 million Americans are listening
to podcasts monthly, while Ulster
Media’s 2018 study found that
nearly 10 million Canadians have
tuned in sometime in the past
year. The majority of Canadians
and Americans began listening in
the past three years. So, what is
causing the rise of the podcast?

There are a number of
different reasons. Streaming
services available now have
made podcasting even more
accessible than they were when

Storytellinc

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News

“If you have a micr

you can go ahe:

they first started in the early
2000s; smartphones sync with
cars so they can be listened to
during anyone’s commute; and
monetization is making podcasting
lucrative. In other words, it’s more
accessible and there’s more
content being published because
people can actually live off of the
cash flow.

The average Canadian has
about a 30-minute commute to
work. For students who have to
transit, those numbers increase to
44. It might just be coincidental,
but the average podcast length—
just like the sweet spot for album
lengths—is around 40 minutes.

Just like the internet when it
first became popularized, it’s the
Wild West of podcasting currently,
with around 525,000 different
series in circulation. US regulations
on decency in broadcasting have
yet to include podcasting, so hosts
can swear, talk about sexually
explicit content, and create an
experience that’s entirely faithful to
their own artistic vision.

Meghan Fitzmartin is involved
in two of these over half a million
podcasts available.

Aco-host of Wine and Comics,
writer/creator of the sci-fi drama