Even seemingly low-budget podcasts take a lot of work to put together. I used to do a 30-minute weekly tech news podcast with a friend. For that, I spent severa

Even seemingly low-budget podcasts take a lot of work to put together. I used to do a 30-minute weekly tech news podcast with a friend. For that, I spent several hours each week clipping news stories, then another couple of hours picking the best ones to cover, reading more about them and taking notes for the podcast. After the podcast was over, it took about an hour or two to listen through carefully and edit the podcast down to something pleasant to listen to, removing the crosstalk, pauses, weird noises, and things I wish we hadn't said. People who care more about their podcasts and have longer podcasts spend much more time researching and editing. That time has a lot of cost, especially for people with demanding jobs and families.