A Beginner’s Guide to Listening to Podcasts

Apps open a world of episodes on topics you’re interested in, can learn from

Chris Morris and Lexi Pandell,

AARP

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En español

Published August 19, 2024

a man listening to a podcast on a smartphone

James Clapham

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Podcasts’ exploding popularity • Check out their quality • Discover your favorites • Lots to choose from

Since the release of the popular true-crime podcast Serial more than a decade ago, podcasts have exploded in popularity.

About 42 percent of Americans age 12 and older have listened to these on-demand audio programs in the past month, according to Pew Research Center estimates. And in the past year, 42 percent of adults 50 to 64 have listened, plus 28 percent of adults 65 and older.

If you’ve been reluctant to join in, here are three reasons why you might want to give them a try:

Unlike radio, which is mass media aimed at general audiences, podcasts typically serve niche interests.
You can listen on your schedule, not your station’s.
And while you need a device for listening and an internet connection for downloading or streaming, the podcasts themselves are generally free.

Podcast ratings can give you an idea about quality

With millions to choose from — including Today’s Tips from AARP and The Perfect Scam — there is bound to be one to satisfy your curiosity, whether that’s knitting or retro video games. And because podcasts are audio, you can listen on the go or while doing other things.

Kymberly Deane, a senior manager with the nonprofit News Literacy Project, says it’s best practice to check a podcast’s reviews and ratings on the app.

“Platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify allow you to read other listeners’ feedback on the quality and reliability of the podcast,” she says.

The most common reason listeners 65 and older cite for choosing podcasts is learning, Pew found. And you tend to develop a mental connection with the hosts, such as Julia Louis-Dreyfus who hosts the Wiser Than Me podcast.

How to find your new favorite podcast

Think of a podcast directory as a sort of search engine for finding content that feeds your interests.

1. Download a free podcast app to your smartphone if it doesn’t already have one — Apple Podcasts and Samsung Podcasts are already on those devices — and create a free account. Google retired its Google Podcasts app in April 2024. They all work similarly.

Some popular options from the app stores: Overcast for Apple devices (free), Podcast Addict for Androids (free), Downcast for Apple devices ($2.99), Pocket Casts for both platforms (free to $9.99 a month). Some music streaming apps, such as Spotify (free with premium options starting at $2.99 a month), also stream podcasts.

2. Go to the app’s search field and type in the subject that interests you. For example: Type in “Abraham Lincoln,” and you’ll find an episode of History That Doesn’t Suck! with Professor Greg Jackson.

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3. Tap on that episode to listen. If you like the show, you can tap “follow” or “subscribe” to get more episodes.

A lot of podcasts, but not as many as you think

Not surprisingly, podcasts got another boost in 2020 when the number of new podcasts rose past 1 million as lots of people stayed home to avoid COVID-19 infections, according to Listen Notes, a podcast search engine and database. The number created just about tripled from the previous year.

A low-budget podcast can be built with just a smartphone or laptop, which both have microphones to record your voice and storage for the audio files, according to Spotify, which says it has more than 6 million podcast titles just on its streaming platform.

Nearly 100 million episodes. As of July 2024, Apple Podcasts hosted 2.7 million downloadable shows with nearly 98 million episodes, according to Daniel J. Lewis’ Podcast Industry Insights. Almost 43 percent have had more than 10 episodes.

But not all podcasts stick around. Some are designed to be complete in a few episodes, like AARP’s Closing the Savings Gap , a seven-episode podcast hosted by personal finance columnist Jean Chatzky.

More like 440,000 recent episodes. Other shows just fade away. Podcast Industry Insights estimates that only about 16 percent of the podcasts on Apple’s platform have had an episode in the past 90 days. About a quarter of the podcasts posted have had only one episode, close to 10 percent had two episodes and 6 percent had three episodes.

Including other downloadable platforms outside of Apple’s orbit, the analyst estimates only 10 percent of almost 4.3 million podcasts with 123 million downloadable episodes have had a new episode in the past 90 days.

Still, you won’t find a dearth of new content. More than 45,000 episodes on Apple Podcasts and nearly 440,000 downloadable episodes total are 90 days old or newer.

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Chris Morris writes about consumer technology for Fortune, Fast Company and other news organizations.

Lexi Pandell is a contributing writer who covers technology. Her work also appears in Wired, The New York Times, The Atlantic and other publications.