Podlandia

If I were a journalist, Podlandia would be my beat.

The pods. It’s not just another online thing; it’s a realm I affectionately call Podlandia. The Podlandia of the 2020s is bustling with distinctive characters, in duos, threesomes and ensembles. The hosts and guests have performative exchanges; they are like an audio version of the very animated folks in a painting by William Hogarth(1).

More than 30 very busy looking comic characters in a public house scene in 18th century England — "An Election Entertainment" by William Hogarth

Just Listen and Follow

Catch a podcast in your off hours and sort yourself out. No in-person mingling is required. Podcasts are powerful media with compelling content on a big spectrum of topics, each show inviting a follow from you. Hop on a podcast player platform, tap tap, and find some good company (2). Listen earnestly to a podcast and you might emerge a believer in the enterprise of the conversational arts.

I’m in deep now, in Podlandia, but it started with one or two podcasts.

Mac Power Users with note that it was discovered in 2013 and The Pen Addict noting “Ridiculously Brilliant company for me since 2016” — Relay FM LTRs: MacPower Users and The Pen Addict [screenshot]

Naturally, I took notes while listening.

3 Field Notes memo books labeled Pens and Inks 1,2 and a third labeled Tech Stuff — Duly Noted, Labeled, and Indexed

Things escalated…

13 podcasts including Connected, AppStories, Take Note, Cortex, 1857, and more — More Podcasts [screenshot]

The screenshot above reveals my show lineup in Apple Podcasts in 2021 with cover art and relationship duration ("Followed") for more than a dozen podcasts.

20 podcasts in library including MacStories Unwind, Parallel, Maccessibility, Krishna Das, Clockwise, Roderick on the Line and more — Still More [screenshot]

Viewed as a Library, the podcasts in a lineup look so orderly and bright. Be sure to chant, sketch, eat, read, write, mind your tech stuff and your cortex and get back to work if you can recover from analyzing your tools and workflows which is more fun anyhow. Be sure to take notes on everything, make art, and call Roderick to sort out the deep stuff. The "Still More" screenshot's top row of additions in 2020 does signal a few challenges. Is a heavy dose of Apple tech shows so exciting that we need to unwind?

I don’t need an algorithm to tell me to Listen Now.

Podcast channels Relay FM, MacStories and Team Bugle — Top Three Podcast Channels [screenshot]

Indeed these are among my top channels in September 2022.

Sometimes the juxtapositions in episodes Up Next are surprising.

3 podcasts including Daily Prayer, Reconcilable Differences and Do by Friday with annotation “FIRST YOU PRAY” — Oh, oh.....[screenshot]

I might be an arch-listener?

Notes

(1) William Hogarth’s An Election Entertainment (ca. 1755) comes to mind.

(2) The podcast apps I use most often are Overcast (https://overcast.fm) and Apple Podcasts.

Composed with iA Writer 6.0.5; images edited with Apple Notes, Affinity Photo 1.10 and Annotable 2.9 on iPad Air.