The Podcast Pandemic

As someone who is very passionate about knowledge, I have been a strong proponent of democratizing both the curation and ease of access of knowledge. Podcast is one of these platforms that has helped many individuals share and gain knowledge.

I really like podcasts and regularly watch or listen to a number of thought leaders' podcast channels. My favourites are the education and business channels. However, I have recently observed certain trends in the podcasting ecosystem, especially in the lifestyle categories.

We are beginning to see an influx of new podcasters whose content, to put it mildly, are fallacious and misleading. I believe there are a great number of people who are starting podcasts when they should be undergoing healing, forgiveness, and in some cases, character and behavioral reform rather than picking up a microphone. This is definitely also open for debate as many believe that podcasting is also a way to vent.

I have encountered podcasts curated around the character flaws of the hosts and presented as engaging content. Some are curating insecurity as if it were leadership content, and the fact is that some of these new entrants have a tremendous following. I was shocked recently when a teenager quoted something that one of the new entrants into the podcast ecosystem said as the reason he spoke roughly to his father.

With the mainstreaming of the "my truth" conversations, many misinterpret what they should work on in terms of character as strength and use the media to portray it in a powerful light to the younger generation.

Due to recent misinformation and fallacious content instances, all in the name of virality, the question of whether podcasts should be regulated or even further censored has been the subject of an evolving debate. In a few years, I hope to see the works of ethical and safe tech advocates in this area.

Oluwaseun ADEPOJU