SOMEONE just remarked the other day—she is a Gen Z—that her generation and young millennials love listening to podcasts.
A podcast is defined as “a digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically.” The word podcast, a frankenword combining iPod and broadcast, is nothing new. Podcasts have been around since around 2004 but somehow, they gained popularity in the last two to three years.
Some of the top podcasts in the Philippines are Barangay Love Stories, Yellow Space, Teenager Therapy, Adulting With Joyce Pring, Sleeping Pill With Inka, skypodcast, Payaman Insider, TED Talks Daily, and Wake Up With Jim And Saab.
I know someone who is subscribed to podcasts, like Sleep With Me, Phoebe Reads Mystery, Sleepy, Game Of Drones and Get Sleepy. She only listens to these podcasts at bedtime and they all help her to fall asleep.
I always thought podcasts were an older millennials’ thing but somehow, in the course of the pandemic, Gen Z got into them. Initially, it was perhaps because many of them listened to podcasts while working from home (just so there’d be a voice beside them). After being in an office, working from home seemed strange then even if you lived with other people.
After that, I think—and I’m basing this on the fact that I live with a Gen Z—they liked to listen to podcasts to help them fall asleep. Essentially, podcasts became companions in quarantine to them.
Sleep podcasts became popular during the pandemic because sleeping patterns were disrupted by anxiety and stress. One such podcast is Boring Books for Bedtime, mostly nonfiction works. Not everything is boring but most of the selections are definitely not riveting.
For kids, there’s Goodnight, World, a collaboration between Sesame Street and Headcast. Basically, what this podcast aims to do is help kids transition to peaceful sleep.
Tom Jones, not the singer, and others host Get Sleepy, with stories and monologues that will put you to sleep. Jones is a sleep expert so he should know what he’s doing.
Personally, I love different types of podcasts. One of my favorites is Stuff You Should Know, a general knowledge podcasts perfect for someone like me who loves to collect information, some of them useless (such as the origin of ballpens).
Another favorite is Quiz Quiz Bang Bang Trivia hosted by Annie and David Flora. This podcast covers everything you’d need and/or want to know if you’re a trivia geek. Still about trivia and information is No Such Thing as a Fish, during which a certain fact discovery is talked about for the whole podcast. It’s very entertaining actually, if you’re into that sort of thing. If you’re looking for food podcasts, they say Off Menu is worth listening to. Hosted by Ed Gamble and James Acaster, it figuratively brings you to your dream restaurants with vivid food descriptions.
Still about food is The Sporkful, which has won the James Beard Award, Webby Award and Saveur Award for Best Food Podcast. The podcast talks about food from different points of view and does so for eaters instead of foodies.
Conceptualized by Dave Chang and Majordomo Media and launched in 2020, Recipe Club is a cooking show where culinary experts cook, eat and judge three different recipes of the same dish or a dish that uses the same main ingredient. Episodes are either ingredient-focused or centered on a specific signature dish. Still on the topic of food is Cherry Bombe. What makes this different is that it features interviews with the most successful and exceptional women in the food and culinary world.
You can listen to podcasts on Spotify, Google Podcast or Apple Podcast. Most don’t require subscriptions and can be listened to for free.