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Comment by mxstbr | Hacker News Reader

Who is making “Discover Weekly” for podcast episodes?

I want personalized episode recommendations based on past listening behavior; I don't have time to dig through 30 podcast feeds to find an episode that interests me, which is why I usually only listen to specific episodes that friends recommend.

I bet recommendations across all podcasts (not just ones I know of) that match my interests to others with the same listening behavior would massively increase the amount of time I spend listening to podcasts.

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Well, Spotify does some of that as far as I know. But I'd never switch to playing my podcasts there just out of principle (even though I pay the subscription too) because I don't like how they are trying to build a walled garden for podcasts and kill RSS as a thing.

Is ad-segment or sponsor-segment free podcasts a thing?

I too pay for Spotify and I tried to get into some podcasts, starting with Darknet Diaries, but the ad and sponsor segments are just too jarring. I guess I'm not paying enough in my Spotify subscription to get it without that stuff, so who/what/where do I pay to get some podcasts I want to listen to without it?

I think most podcasts post the exact same episodes to all popular platforms. Some may have an ad-free version on Patreon.

With Spotify, it's sort of similar to when the paid YouTube (Red/Premium) became a thing. Yea, you'd get rid of the Google-picked ads, but the in-video sponsored ads added by the video creator would still obviously remain.

Yes, but that sort of thing isn't included as part of a normal Spotify subscription. It looks like Spotify has support for podcasts subscriptions, but it's all on a one off basis as far as I can tell.

Out of the podcasts I listen to, I'm not sure a single one uses Spotify for subscriptions. Commonly it seems to be Patreon.

With all of that being said, many quality podcasts have jarring ad segments on purpose. Partly it serves as an ad for the ad-free feed but they also serve as a way to inform the listener that the following words aren't the podcasters' own and they were paid for an endorsement.

> they also serve as a way to inform the listener that the following words aren't the podcasters' own

Agreed. One of the reasons I stopped listening to Leo Laporte was how subtly he would slide into the ads.

>so who/what/where do I pay to get some podcasts I want to listen to without it?

Podcasts are still, and I hope stay that way what the web should be

Most podcasts offer some kind of Paid / Subscription that is Ad Free, but you have a subscribe to them Individually, not through a platform like Spotify, then you need a Add like Pocket Casts where you can add the Subscriber Feed instead of the public feed.

I do not want Podcasts to become an other Platform Pay Walled thing that Spotify, Apple, and other want to make it, Keep Podcasts Independent and Platform Agnostic

Thanks that's really helpful to know!

Uhh Yeah Dude is one of the very first podcasts (est Feb 2006). Zero ads.

They also inject ads into existing podcasts

Apple Podcasts “Listen now” tab has a dedicated section entitled “More to Discover” that is based on listening history. It includes around 20 - 30 recommended episodes, mostly from podcasts you’re not following. It seems to update daily.

The recommendation algorithm seems to work well, I’ve discovered a few of my favourite podcasts via the feature.

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