Opinion: Podcast Monologuing Is the New Mansplaining
Close your eyes, hold your breath for a moment and you can almost hear it. Even if your iPhone isn’t presently hooked up to your Bluetooth speaker, it’s in the ether: the buzzing hum of thousands of podcasters all across the country, breathlessly monologuing into their freestanding microphones.
As of 2024, podcasts feel like a more ubiquitously popular medium than ever, and audience statistics reflect this. According to a report this year on podcast consumption in the United States by Edison Research, out of all media, podcasts now represent 11% of daily time spent with audio.
Furthermore, the report found, Another bit of data analysis this year found that men are more frequent podcast listeners, but only by a slim margin. 45% of women listen to podcasts monthly, and 32% of women listen to podcasts weekly. In other words, podcasting is not exactly the bro-centric medium its reputation would have you believe.