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Comment by pkulak | Hacker News Reader

I've been into podcasts for about 6 or 8 years now and, as stupid as this sounds, it has really changed my life. Not in some huge way, but still, those are strong words. There are just so many mundane, crappy things you need to do throughout the day. Especially since I've now got two kids. I have no idea how many hours I spend a week preparing meals, cleaning the kitchen, picking up toys, vacuuming, etc. Radiolab, TAL, Serial, Startup, et all turn that time from boring drudgery into something I _enjoy_. The quality of some of the content is amazing. I feel like I've sat down to watch a documentary, but instead I just cleaned the whole house or went for a run.

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I discovered that I could listen to This American Life while playing Borderlands (and its sequels). The game doesn't have characters that talk to you nonstop (especially when you are playing side missions) and something about the shoot-y gameplay meshes extremely well with talk radio.

The weird part is that the two mediums got completely and inseparably tangled together in my memory. When I think of a specific This American Life episode I can instantly recall the 3d layout of the level that I happened to be exploring while listening to the episode. And when backtracking later in the game I see the terrain features and the ideas and important parts of the show flood back into my mind.

I find it very strange, and very interesting, too.

That's really cool! I experience the exact same thing. I used to listen to Stern everyday for years. When I hear old shows with memorable parts, I can remember the exact location, time of year, lighting, and weather of the moment when I first heard it. And when I think about various locations, times of my life or things that I did, I start to remember moments from the radio show.

It's really fascinating how our brains form strong memories through these auditory and visual associations. It seems like the more interesting the the sources are, the more likely you'll remember it for many years to come.

i've only started listening to podcasts in the last 3 or 4 months, but what you said really resonates. i subscribe to about 40 podcasts now, and it lets me soundtrack all of the mundane and tedious things in my life (the hour+ of walking i do every day, the hour+ of jogging i do every other day, the hour+ of cooking i do every day, etc) is soundtracked by either neat minidocumentaries or conversations between people i think are funny and interesting. between podcasts and my chromecast i've completely severed myself from traditional broadcast media and i feel much richer for it.

a few recommended podcasts for others who may want some:

-the podcasts of npr's better shows: this american life, radiolab, the moth, snap judgment, the organist -- by extension, serial, which isnt an npr show but is TAL affiliated

-the radiotopia.fm suite: 99% invisible is the best known, but all of them are top notch imo

-the duckfeed.tv suite: best known for watch out for fireballs, weekly discussions of a different retro video game; all of their shows are videogame oriented, and frankly while i barely play video games at all anymore i enjoy listening to their discussions

-no such thing as a fish: weekly half hour of a group of people quickly rattling off interesting facts

-i don't even own a television: reviews of bad books in discussion format

-the flop house: reviews of bad movies in discussion format

-roderick on the line: conversational comedy podcast

-uhh yeah dude: long-running general comedy podcast

As a counterpoint, all of my good ideas come while preoccupied with mundane tedium. The mind will try really hard to come up with something more important or exciting it would rather be doing. (The trick is to not go on a bottomless wikipedia spree but first short-circuit the daydream into hastily written notes and return to the mundane.) I'm not sure I would want to be constantly enjoying others' conversation, because when will my own shy thoughts bubble up?

Good advice for would-be creative hackers, as long as paper or other recording device is available to honor fleeting inspiration.

fair enough, but i like to think i maintain some degree of autonomy when i'm listening to other people talk

Completely agree with you. I know this sounds strange, but I tend to develop a sort of personal connection with some of the hosts. As if I've known the my entire life. This doesn't seem to be imparted via other content delivery methods.

I know what you mean, although in the last year I've strongly felt the same thing with people I've subscribed to on YouTube as well. It requires persistence and honest personality from the creator though (such as vlogs), any sort of scripted or slick experience is hard to connect to, maybe that's why podcasts work better at this.

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