I’m 77, live in a senior citizen residence, and spend a lot of time watching news channels such as MSNBC or CNN (never Fox News). People appearing on the political chat shows, like Morning Joe or Deadline: White House, were always promoting a book.
Heard this one? “As I said in my book …”
OK, that’s fine. Hell, I wrote a book (but made no attempt to promote it because Amazon is really expensive to advertise a book).
Amazon made it easy to write a book, create a front and back cover, and submit it to their book printing machine. In a short time, you’ll have a box of paperback books with your name on them. You can brag: “I’m a published Author!”
Now there’s a new moniker to brag your way onto the afternoon political chat shows. It’s “I Have a Podcast!” Just get yourself a high speed Internet connection, one or more microphones, and a Podcast app, and you’re good to go.
There are now two quintillion podcasts for you to choose from (OK, I exagerated). They exist on Apple, Spotify, and other hosting sites. Every chat host reminds us that the Charlie XCX podcast is available “wherever you get your podcasts…” It’s simple. Plant yourself in a chair and listen to somebody yak for over an hour about any topic.
So, the question is: “Is this a problem?”
I’m going to make a case that it is indeed a problem.
The most popular podcast is the Joe Rogan Experience. He gets about 11 million listeners per broadcast.
If you study the Wikipedia writeup about Rogan, he is an expert on Mixed Martial Arts, having participated in and providing color commentary of MMA matches. He is NOT an expert on infectious diseases and their treatments. Yet he advocated during the Covid-19 Pandemic not taking the mRNA covid vaccine, and using Ivermectin (a thoroughly debunked treatment for Covid). His views were so wrong and dangerous that over a thousand doctors signed an open letter to Spotify to terminate his podcast.
Spotify, of course, refused to intervene, since it has a $100 million contract with Rogan, and he is their best draw. NPR reported that Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, likened Rogan to a highly-paid rapper, suggesting that “We don’t dictate what they’re putting in their songs, either.”
So, what’s the problem here? As is the case with so much of today’s folkways and mores, there are no checks and balances on podcasts. With greed as society’s driving force, the podcast’s hosts are not going to fact-check outrageous claims and advice or suggest any remedy. Rogan and others of his ilk are making too much money for Spotify, Apple, et al.
There’s a number of other problems with the zillion podcasts out there. Most of the podcasts include advertising, since everybody is trying to monetize their time in the Internet. There are only so many hours in the day to gather information. What’s more efficient, listening to a Keith Olbermann podcast or reading a few articles in the New York Times or the Washington Post?
It’s been a while since I sat through a podcast. I think I’ll keep it that way.
So, please join my “Society for the Prevention of Any More Podcasts.” It’s free to join, nothing to sign up for, and I won’t pester you for money. You really don’t need to listen to some “Influencer” chatting for an hour about applying eyeliner when there’s plenty of five-minute YouTube videos demonstrating eye makeup techniques.
Beware of anybody claiming to be an expert (They’re probably not).
James P Lynch Books 