If we apply some of McLuhan’s perspectives on media, we might be able to explain why suddenly Podcasts seem to have “come into their own”, with greatly increased “listenership”. Marshall would say, of course, podcasts are aural, and this is a return to the more archaic holistic pre literary consciousness.
(for our purposes here, oral refers to spoken sounds, aural refers to all of the sounds in our environment.)
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Except podcasts are also electronic…and feature a disembodied voice…not someone acting out a story by the village campfire as was the case with aural traditions which were about learning and education and enjoying the tribe’s knowledge in story/narrative form. We have had access to aural companions while driving the commute.. this is generally pop music or talk radio or sports or News, but also includes listening to books being read aloud.
Yet somehow podcasts are delivering an experience people find themselves hungry for more and more, and it’s mostly while in the car, but also other times such as exercising, or waiting for something. Or while doing boring work? Perhaps it’s also that podcasts are much more accessible if one can connect a smart phone to the car audio system? And use powerful search tools to find just what one wants to listen to? It’s more of a “self programmed” experience than “radio”.
*These sorts of changes in media are what McLuhan wanted us to pay attention to. What changes to our mind, perception, consciousness, and sense of self occur when commuting while listening to a book that isn’t even “read” by our eyes?