For those who might not know what a podcast is, essentially, it’s a form of media that exists primarily in audio form. With a majority of the podcasts available today, the most common style of podcast is the “recorded conversation”, which as the name implies, is pretty much an average conversation between friends, but recorded for anybody to hear.

But that’s just one of an unbelievable amount of different podcast types and styles. There’s news podcasts, interviewing podcasts, podcasts about video games, movies, television, sports; if you can think it, there’s almost definitely a podcast about it.

One might think that mass amounts of podcasts could be overwhelming, and to an extent, it is. But if you know what kind of podcast you want to listen to, you can start broad and narrow it down to one or two specific podcasts you’ll return to weekly.

For example, the podcast “Important If True” is a podcast I frequently listen to. In it, the hosts talk about whatever peculiar, humorous and completely unimportant things that dwell on the internet, or things from real life that leak into the internet.

The podcast is quite entertaining to me, and is just one of numerous podcasts I enjoy regularly. That’s the great thing about podcasts — there’s one for everybody. No matter your interests, you’ll be able to find something that you can enjoy and connect with.

But something as equally important as listening to podcasts, is making one yourself. I believe that in today’s era, it’s more important than ever for the voices of our society to be heard, no matter how much they might be drowned out by a volley of insults, arguments and anger.

Whether a podcast is made to bring hard-hitting facts to the table to cripple a politician’s platform, or merely just to entertain and offer a shred of light in these truly taxing times, the fact still remains that podcasts allow people to put themselves out there and be heard by anyone, anywhere, at anytime.

For people that want to listen to podcasts, there are many platforms to find them on. Some examples are Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, PocketCasts, and many more, all of which offer many interesting podcasts to experience.

Podcasts have truly revolutionized the ability to speak our minds, as now some guy in a garage in Oregon can be heard and respected by someone in New York.

With podcasting, there are no rules. Some might think of this as a negative. Without rules, there’s no structure or quality in the content. But rather, the lack of rules in personal podcasting contributes to the freedom otherwise not seen in traditional forms of media, such as televised or online news.

Some other excellent podcasts I’ve heard include the H.A.M. Radio Podcast (a podcast about video games), the H3 Podcast (hosted by YouTube creator Ethan Kline), and Kinda Funny Games Daily (another podcast about video games).

Podcasts, of course, lie in the same lineage as traditional radio broadcasting. They’re an evolution of the format, when you break it down.

I think that so-called “golden age” of podcasts, being the last five years or so, is quite beneficial to everyone. Podcasts can exist for any number of reasons: to inform, to entertain, to persuade, the list goes one. And many that run podcasts would say that it’s easier than ever to make and run a podcast yourself.

In fact, I’m doing my own podcast right now (called The Manic Breakdown), which proves that even somebody with no prior experience in radio broadcasting or podcasting can create and host a podcast.

Podcasts can be used to inform or just to entertain, and more often than not, they’re a medium that allows for you to easily pick up and listen, or easily stop listening for however long you want.

They’ve been experiencing an incredible boom in the last few years, and with no real end in sight for the medium, coupled with the amount of podcasts produced each year and the diversity amongst them, there really isn’t a better time to board the podcast-listening-train.