Imagine tuning into your favorite morning show — not on television, but through your earbuds — as you commute, exercise or simply relax at home. Names like Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper have transformed their voices into powerful brands that garner millions of dedicated listeners. This phenomenon — the podcast — is not only a testament to individual charisma but also to the seismic shift in how people consume media.

In the evolving landscape of digital media, podcasting has emerged as a young, creative medium, captivating a worldwide audience with its blend of accessibility and intimacy. Now a dominant force, podcasts have altered engagement with information and storytelling. Eighty-four percent of United States consumers aged 12 years or older are aware of the podcast industry, a 30% increase from a decade ago.

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“Audio is an incredible medium,” said Willa Seidenberg, a professor of journalism. “It’s that midway between print where you get to hear somebody’s voice, you get to hear the emotion, you get to hear what’s going on — but you’re not restricted by video.”

Podcasting’s unique positioning allows listeners to receive or understand nuanced emotions and details without visual distractions and graphics that might accompany a show.

Seidenberg, the founder and former director of Annenberg Radio News, specializes in audio journalism, having decades of experience as a radio anchor, reporter and producer with Boston and Los Angeles news outlets.

She finds that the democratic medium has allowed the industry to exponentially grow. With just a computer and phone, anyone can create and distribute content, equalizing the creative process that often restricts creators from breaking into other news or entertainment media.

“Anything that you’re interested in or you want to delve into, there’s a podcast for it, whether it’s travel, health and wellness, news, education … anything,” Seidenberg said.

One microgenre that has exploded with the growth of podcasts is narrative fiction, an audio alternative to other forms of dramatic storytelling such as television.

“It started out with people having great ideas for fictional stories that they wanted to tell, that were stories that otherwise couldn’t really be told in [a] legacy sort of traditional media,” said Jeremy Novick, an adjunct professor of cinematic writing for screen and television.

But audio drama is only one of many podcast styles that have recently come onto the scene. Between casual chat shows, journalistic news productions and narrative fiction, listeners have an overwhelming variety of options to consider when choosing a podcast.

“Anyone who is a consumer of any kind of entertainment has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to their choices,” Novick said.

Whereas this choice overload could be a detriment to other forms of entertainment, the less demanding engagement that podcasts require has made them a popular alternative to visual media.

“I am not asking for your full attention, I’m asking for 40% of your attention,” Novick said.

One of the most compelling aspects of podcasting is its versatility to cater to different listener preferences and lifestyles. The medium accommodates a wide range of formats and episode lengths, from hours-long deep dives to five-minute updates that fit into even the busiest schedules.

“Do you have 60 minutes to sit on your couch and watch somebody tell you that stuff, or do you have 22 minutes to pop in your earphones and listen to that information in a more condensed platform while you’re loading your dishwasher or walking your dog?” Novick said.

This flexibility is particularly appealing to younger generations who are accustomed to short, digestible bursts of content. The ability to choose between lengthy explorations or short insights aligns with the fragmented attention spans that are characteristic of today’s digital age.

“A lot of college students, especially during the pandemic and after, used podcasts for company, and they would kind of have it on in the background,” Seidenberg said. “It reminds me of many years ago when people would always have the television on, especially people who lived alone.”

Celebrity podcasts have played a significant role in catapulting the medium into mainstream consciousness. Well-known figures like Michelle Obama and Conan O’Brien leverage their fame to attract a large, already-existent follower base eager to hear personal stories in a more casual, stripped-back setting.

“It’s a very intimate medium,” Seidenberg said. “Usually, people are listening on their earbuds, and that makes it even more intimate because you’ve got these people in your ear … You develop an intimacy with the people you’re listening to in a way video doesn’t.”

This personal bond enhances the effectiveness of podcasts in building loyal communities and making for a more engaging experience for an individual listener. While this societal penchant for podcasts experienced exponential growth in the wake of the pandemic, the industry is still growing, albeit at a much more controlled pace.

“Listenership is still up. People are still discovering this,” Novick said. “There was a period where it felt like what I imagine it was like to be like a record executive in the ’70s, where people are just like, ‘I don’t know, sounds cool, let’s see if it works.’ And now there’s a little bit more of, ‘Well, it is a cool idea. But who is the audience for this? And how many years do we really think we can get on this?’”