This week, I decided to delve into the realm of podcasts. I listened to episodes from three different podcasts– Comedy, Story, and Lifestyle/Advice. All three of these are structured in completely different ways. I decided to find my podcast content on Spotify, since I have Prime and don’t have to be interrupted with random ads from Spotify. That’s always annoying, right?

Usually for other media sources, I feel intimidated seeing these internet personalities always being so confident in every visual. Though, for podcasts, I only hear the personalities voice. In this case, I don’t feel as intimidated and that I’m actually part of the conversation.

Comedy podcasts make me feel especially apart of the conversation because they’re not usually talking about the red carpet or their expensive ferrari, but they cuss and say whatever. In comedy, hosts and guests talk about their funny daily life. This particular genre is structured like a talk show: each person has a unique voice to stand out, with their own humor and knowledge to contribute to the show. Regarding this podcast genre, I listened to a comedic podcast called “VIEWS with David Dobrik and Jason Nash.” The two co-hosts gained their fame through as active parody vloggers on Youtube. In a way, the two vloggers treat the podcast in a parodic way; making fun of the way people treat podcasts so seriously with question after question. The episode I listened to was from January 4th, 2019 and called “DAVID WANTS KIDS,” which was really eye-catching and I knew it would be full of “juicy” content. When starting the episode, I noticed they did a quick tease of what the episode will consist of, and then their quick intro music plays before the actual conversation starts. Also, I can tell they have questions prepared in order to structure the podcast for a particular theme, but everyone they have on the show is already so familiar with each other that they seem just like anyone else. It seemed really casual, and that the conversation really flowed.

For this episode, David and Jason invited their bestfriend Josh Peck, a childhood TV star and Youtuber, about becoming a father and taking care of his new son. Throughout the show, they circle back to Josh to ask him about his new life, barbaric circumcision, cutting the umbilical cord, if he hates not having a daughter, and so on. Sometimes they stray off from the questions, which isn’t bad, it feels like a normal, funny conversation– which is what I wanted.

The second podcast genre I listened to was a Story podcast. The podcast is called “And That’s Why We Drink” and it consists of the paranormal and crime stories that they hear or encounter in their daily life– which makes life scary! The co-hosts are Christine Schiefer and Em Schulz, two really close friends that lead very different lives. Their podcast episodes run typically over an hour, and are structured more conversational between the two friends. I listened to their 99th episode called “Paranormal Swirl and Aura Imprinting.” The two co-hosts started off the podcast with small talk that consists of quick updates on their life and two sponsored ads that they would endorse. After that, they give a tease of the story, give credit to the story if they found it somewhere and it’s not theres, and then start the rest of the story. The story consists of a hotel called “the Rams Inn of Gloucestershire,” which quickly became the most haunted hotel in Great Britain, as well was the oldest building in the town. The hotel has a layline that connects to the stonehenges, while as well being built on top of an ancient Pagan burial ground. The co-hosts details for the stories are so intricate and well-put together to make a compelling conversation about these paranormal and crime stories. The episode had me looking up topics discussed that I never thought I would be interested in. Personally, I preferred this storytelling experience as a podcast because I can do other busy work while listening. I am honestly such a multi-tasker; as I write this, I’m listening to another episode of theirs because their attention to detail and to making the episode comfortable AND full of interesting content is so calming to do work to.

As I listened to my second podcast, I came to an idea. For those who do television or other more visual media sources, the people within those types of media aren’t as well-spoken as podcast people. Also, anyone can have a podcast! These people I’m listening to are typically everyday people. Nowadays, there’s so many guidelines regarding censorship in order to have monetized content on Youtube or television. People also have to buy so much camera or lighting equipment, or even a camera-person depending on the video idea. Or, in regards to print media, podcasts are more engaging because in order to listen to content, you just hit play. But while holding a newspaper, you have to hold the newspaper in order to read it, and only read that paper and nothing else. Just some food for thought.

Anyways, the third podcast I listened to was a mix of Lifestyle and Advice called “Gals on the Go.” The episode I decided to listen to related to my personal situation– I’m really trying to find an internship for this summer. It was called “How to Land an Internship or Job, Interview Tips for Students & More: The Intern Queen,” and as soon as I started it, I was intrigued. It was especially great that they invited their friend Lauren whom is a CEO and looks over resumes and applications for interns within her company, and it was really insightful to hear her advice. The co-hosts though for the overall podcast are Brooke Miccio and Danielle Carolan, both whom do Youtube and are well-known girl bosses. They’re like, professional college women, in a way. I have always wanted to listen to their advice on they’re podcasts since I’m already subscribed to them on Youtube. Though, I came to the realization that they’re just normal people who know how to make “magic” with media. I felt like if I was there with the two co-hosts, I could give my input or funny responses, which helps because the girls are about my age.

After a certain point of the podcast, I finally realized the structures of most podcasts. In each episode I listened to, I noticed that the hosts don’t fully talk directly about the episodes main theme (that correlates to the title) until almost 15 minutes in. This may not be the case for podcasts that center around Academics or Sports genres, though, that’s what I got from my Comedy, Story, and Lifestyle/Advice podcasts.

After listening to all three podcasts, I’m pretty swayed now to listen to podcasts in my free-time. Now, I ask YOU to try out one podcast. Just one podcast. ONE. About anything you are interested in!

Have a lovely rest of the week, everyone! ❤ ❤ ❤