Hi my name is Sophie and I’m addicted to podcasts.
It started as nothing. A teacher might assign a podcast for a reading, or my brother would recommend a particular episode he thought I might really like. I was listening to podcasts so infrequently I didn’t think anything of it
Then I heard about Welcome to Nightvale. A friend was listening to it at the time and told me how much they enjoyed it. I didn’t start listening right away. It wasn’t my style. I don’t listen to podcasts very often. If I want to listen to something I’ll put on some music or on a long car trip I’ll get a audiobook. I didn’t think being a podcast listener really fit into my lifestyle.
My friend was listening to “Welcome to NightVale” pretty consistently by then. She’d talk about it so much, about how funny and strange it was. She’d sometimes bring up things that were happening in the podcast. I always enjoyed hearing about it so I decided to give it a try.
One night, I went on Spotify and looked up “Welcome to Nightvale”. I had to scrolled down to the bottom of the list to find episode one. Finally, I settled down and pressed play.
From there on I couldn’t stop. I was listening to Welcome to Nightvale everyday throughout all my usual activities. Washing dishes, taking a shower, walking to class. I always had my earbuds in listening to the secret police update on the mysterious obelisk that never existed in the dog park that no one is allowed into. I loved it there was always something new to hear. Something exciting going on in Nightvale while I just went about my usual routines! I was always itching to find out more and started slipping on my earbuds during class or when a friend was going on a rant about something I’d heard already. I couldn’t get enough of it.
From Welcome to Nightvale I quickly grew my podcast library. I started listening to Serial, Stuff you Should Know, Comedy Bang Bang, 99% Invisible, The Nerdist, Radiolab, and Freakonomics to name a few. Something about podcasts just hooked me. I would compare it to reading but there’s something else to podcasts that makes me love them. I love how accessible they are, you can find so many on Spotify or download them from online. I also love how portable they are, I carry my phone and earbuds on me all the time it’s a little harder to stash away a 500 page book. There’s also so much liberty as to what can be made into a podcasts. I could honestly find a podcast on most any subject I feel interested in. Finally I appreciate the medium for how any one can get into it and raise themselves up to a most popular podcast. I think it’s a beautiful medium and I can honestly say I think I will stay hooked on podcasts for a very long time.