I also find them much better for interviews and the like than text, you get a lot of information out of the tone people use, which is lost when it's committed to text.
They are great for that because, just like the Radio, it's not really important if you listen half of the time - because it's precisely low density, low quality content.
There are exceptions like Serial, but that's what they are: exceptions.
Sure, taken as a whole, most podcasts are terrible, and quality podcasts are rare exceptions. But then again quality books are also, on the whole, a rare exception when you include every self published manuscript floating around somewhere on the internet.
The absolute number of decent podcasts out there have increased massively over the past year or two, and there are easily a dozen podcasts that can match serial in quality and production values and more are coming online all the time.
People have been known to enjoy both the Game of Thrones books and the television series.
You could transcribe a Louis C.K. hour long show and read it in 15 minutes, but you would lose a lot.
For information you should continue to read as you were.