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tl/dr: Thanks to Serial, podcasting has acquired a snobby cultural cachet among the NPR set, but it has surprising origins 10 years earlier among nerds. Still,

• CharlesW 10y ago
  > Still, it can't entirely replace public broadcasting. If you mean "public broadcasting" as what they do, I'm with you 100%. Nothing about podcasting reduces the need for not-for-profit organizations like this. If you mean the radio-based sound delivery system part, this must transition to the open web, and that means podcasting¹. > What a weird take on podcasting. Amen! ¹At least for on-demand delivery. There's no live equivalent to the podcasting ecosystem right now.
  • panglott 10y ago
    "Public broadcasting" means a lot of different things. But one of the great values of radio-based sound delivery systems is that they are very local. And local radio cultivates niches that translate well into interesting podcasts. For example, when studying languages, one of the great sources of listening material is podcasts produced by local radio stations. There isn't a lot of material in Cajun French (vs. Parisian French) available—except for Cajun French music and local news radio shows/podcasts in south Louisiana. There's an Ainu-learning podcast I subscribed to once that IIRC was produced by a Hokkaido radio station. The local base of the radio station has synergy with a non-local/Internet audience. The major European non-English broadcasters tend to have streaming services rather than podcasts for some reason.