Between an hour long daily commute, the gym, and a life toiling away in a lab, I consume 4-6 hours worth of podcasts a day. I haven't seen anyone in this thread mention Stitcher Radio. Stitcher is by far the easiest way to consume podcasts, and is easily my most-used app.
As mentioned earlier, I think the increased prevalence of 4G/LTE wireless speeds have led to this renaissance. Also, it is now much easier to produce and distribute a podcast. The fact that advertisers are willing to shell out $5k for a 30 second ad spot certainly helps encourage the production of quality podcasts. Podcasts also provide an avenue for content delivery to those who are terrible writers, but incredible speakers.
For the HN crowd, I suggest checking out the Startup Podcast by Alex Blumberg of Planet Money fame (http://hearstartup.com). It's a brutally honest, often painful portrayal of a completely inexperienced guy ditching his comfortable life in order to start a podcasting company. Listening to him pitch Chris Sacca will cause you to scream out "WTF!" in sheer frustration. But good for Alex -- he's taking a risk that most only dream about.
As mentioned earlier, I think the increased prevalence of 4G/LTE wireless speeds have led to this renaissance. Also, it is now much easier to produce and distribute a podcast. The fact that advertisers are willing to shell out $5k for a 30 second ad spot certainly helps encourage the production of quality podcasts. Podcasts also provide an avenue for content delivery to those who are terrible writers, but incredible speakers.
For the HN crowd, I suggest checking out the Startup Podcast by Alex Blumberg of Planet Money fame (http://hearstartup.com). It's a brutally honest, often painful portrayal of a completely inexperienced guy ditching his comfortable life in order to start a podcasting company. Listening to him pitch Chris Sacca will cause you to scream out "WTF!" in sheer frustration. But good for Alex -- he's taking a risk that most only dream about.