5 ms·

Slow down guys...learn to enjoy life at normal speed, seriously, you don't need to act like you're in the rat race 24/7.

mrob 9y ago
In most podcasts the value is in the information, not the timing. 2x speed is more enjoyable (or maybe a relaxing 1.5x speed if you don't feel like concentrating) because there's less boring waiting involved.
- Cyph0n 9y ago
  Depends on the podcast honestly. If it's a comedy podcast, listening at 2x defeats the point. Even if it's a purely educational podcast or audiobook, any form of pacing or diction is lost at 2x, which, ironically, makes the story boring as well imo.
  - amputect 9y ago
    My two favorite podcasts are Sawbones and Welcome to Night Vale. I don't, like, personally care if people listen to them at high speed. It doesn't bug me and I don't judge them for it. My personal experience (descriptive, not prescriptive) follows: Sawbones is an edu-comedy podcast about medical history, and I tried listening to it faster and just didn't enjoy it as much. I really enjoy the comedic timing and interplay between the hosts, and it's already information rich enough that I feel fine listening to it at normal speed is fine. One of the things I really like about WtNV is the almost menacing, deliberate pacing of the narrator. His speech is so perfectly even, regardless of the content, that it's almost hypnotic. I tried that at 1.25x and it felt off, but again it's a personal preference thing.
- sevensor 9y ago
  Personally, I find that if I let my mind wander a little bit while listening to programming podcasts, it makes connections to my work all by itself. I worry that if I sped up, I'd miss those. Also, since my listening time is also when I'm doing household chores, I need to be able to relax my attention on the podcast without losing the thread.
mitchty 9y ago
Most podcasts tend to take too long anyway. Like lets say ATP for example, great show, but listening at normal speed instead of 2x with silence removal on overcast is honestly the most effective way I know of to get through all my podcasts and books and other things during the week.
jbob2000 9y ago
Podcasters try to target the length of their episodes to between 30-45mins, never longer than 60. You sometimes get a lot of filler or slower speaking so they can hit the length target. Some podcasters just take an annoying amount of time to ask/answer a question or make a point. It's not about enjoying life at normal speed, it's about cutting down on the BS.
- gsich 9y ago
  Well one feature of podcasting is that you don't have a length limitation. Seems like a forced thing to do. That's why I enjoy german podcasts. Often very long 2-5 hours, depending on the format. Speed-listening of course, usually 1.70x to 2x.
- sevensor 9y ago
  > Podcasters try to target the length of their episodes to between 30-45mins, never longer than 60. That's quite a generalization! I have a number of 90 minute podcasts in my feed right now.
amsilprotag 9y ago
What a coincidence it would be if people's optimal speaking speed, both reading out loud and conversational, was equal to their optimal audio comprehension speed. There could be some evolutionary justification for this to be true, but it would still be remarkable. I would love to find data on listening comprehension based on audio speed and activity, whether it be lying down, driving, doing chores, walking, or exercising. My intuition is that there are many people that best comprehend the material at around 1.5x-2.0x and comprehension drops precipitously at both ends. My guess is that, as with many mainstream broadcast choices, the canonical broadcaster voice is purposefully slow to cater the widest possible audience, including ESL listeners.
- crispyambulance 9y ago
  Actually, if you've ever heard a talk by one of HN's more prolific OP's, danluu, it sounds like the guy is talking (in his normal non-speed-up speech) at almost 2x (listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80LKF2qph6I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80LKF2qph6I). I wonder what speed he uses for his podcast listening?
  - Fnoord 9y ago
    Caught the high functioning autist wink There's so many examples. Bryan Cantrill also speaks quickly.
anotheryou 9y ago
we are not all doing it for efficiency

mrob 9y ago

In most podcasts the value is in the information, not the timing. 2x speed is more enjoyable (or maybe a relaxing 1.5x speed if you don't feel like concentrating) because there's less boring waiting involved.

Cyph0n 9y ago
Depends on the podcast honestly. If it's a comedy podcast, listening at 2x defeats the point. Even if it's a purely educational podcast or audiobook, any form of pacing or diction is lost at 2x, which, ironically, makes the story boring as well imo.
- amputect 9y ago
  My two favorite podcasts are Sawbones and Welcome to Night Vale. I don't, like, personally care if people listen to them at high speed. It doesn't bug me and I don't judge them for it. My personal experience (descriptive, not prescriptive) follows: Sawbones is an edu-comedy podcast about medical history, and I tried listening to it faster and just didn't enjoy it as much. I really enjoy the comedic timing and interplay between the hosts, and it's already information rich enough that I feel fine listening to it at normal speed is fine. One of the things I really like about WtNV is the almost menacing, deliberate pacing of the narrator. His speech is so perfectly even, regardless of the content, that it's almost hypnotic. I tried that at 1.25x and it felt off, but again it's a personal preference thing.
sevensor 9y ago
Personally, I find that if I let my mind wander a little bit while listening to programming podcasts, it makes connections to my work all by itself. I worry that if I sped up, I'd miss those. Also, since my listening time is also when I'm doing household chores, I need to be able to relax my attention on the podcast without losing the thread.

mitchty 9y ago

Most podcasts tend to take too long anyway. Like lets say ATP for example, great show, but listening at normal speed instead of 2x with silence removal on overcast is honestly the most effective way I know of to get through all my podcasts and books and other things during the week.

jbob2000 9y ago

Podcasters try to target the length of their episodes to between 30-45mins, never longer than 60. You sometimes get a lot of filler or slower speaking so they can hit the length target. Some podcasters just take an annoying amount of time to ask/answer a question or make a point. It's not about enjoying life at normal speed, it's about cutting down on the BS.

gsich 9y ago
Well one feature of podcasting is that you don't have a length limitation. Seems like a forced thing to do. That's why I enjoy german podcasts. Often very long 2-5 hours, depending on the format. Speed-listening of course, usually 1.70x to 2x.
sevensor 9y ago
> Podcasters try to target the length of their episodes to between 30-45mins, never longer than 60. That's quite a generalization! I have a number of 90 minute podcasts in my feed right now.

amsilprotag 9y ago

What a coincidence it would be if people's optimal speaking speed, both reading out loud and conversational, was equal to their optimal audio comprehension speed. There could be some evolutionary justification for this to be true, but it would still be remarkable. I would love to find data on listening comprehension based on audio speed and activity, whether it be lying down, driving, doing chores, walking, or exercising. My intuition is that there are many people that best comprehend the material at around 1.5x-2.0x and comprehension drops precipitously at both ends. My guess is that, as with many mainstream broadcast choices, the canonical broadcaster voice is purposefully slow to cater the widest possible audience, including ESL listeners.

crispyambulance 9y ago
Actually, if you've ever heard a talk by one of HN's more prolific OP's, danluu, it sounds like the guy is talking (in his normal non-speed-up speech) at almost 2x (listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80LKF2qph6I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80LKF2qph6I). I wonder what speed he uses for his podcast listening?
- Fnoord 9y ago
  Caught the high functioning autist wink There's so many examples. Bryan Cantrill also speaks quickly.

anotheryou 9y ago

we are not all doing it for efficiency