„Speeding Up Your Podcasts Won’t Solve Your Problems“
I personally haven’t decided what I’m going to do. I’ve been dropping my speed down to 1.5x lately, and even going back to normal speed for storytelling podcasts like S-Town and ESPN’s new 30 for 30 series. When going back, I feel like I’m listening to someone talk in slow motion, an effect that Isles, Youssef, and Pastore all say they are familiar with. Pastore’s research suggests that much like we can train our brains to read faster — up to 280 words per minute — we can train them to understand and become accustomed to faster audio speeds. However, even a trained brain can’t maintain its normal comprehension level beyond 1.5x speed.
As long as the publishing environments of Apple, Stitcher, and Spotify remain open, podcasts will continue to flood the market. Consumers craving efficiency will continue to fight diminishing returns on comprehension. Neither side will truly win out in the end; some will opt for quantity over quality, while others will value the producer’s work and their own personal retention by listening at normal speed.
Über Jahre hörte ich eisern jedes meiner 40+ Podcast-Abos auf 2x an. Kürzlich habe ich die Abspielgeschwindigkeit in Castro auf 1.5x gedrosselt und merke deutlich wie viel mehr Infos ich aus den Audioproduktionen mitnehme.