By Olga Alonso Blanco
What does your bonsai tree say about you? Who is shaping market trends in stationary culture? Why care about the world of numismatics? As questions and concerns flood our globalised climate, podcasts have become a prominent medium of critical discourse and information exchange. Aside from quenching niche domains of interest, they tackle all vital parts of life: from informing your news and forecasting your stock investment options – to advising you on your sex life and helping you choose your husband. The knowledge they provide us extends across all spheres, ranging from the intimate and spiritual, to the professional and political.
The outreach of podcasts has consistently risen throughout the past decade, with now over 4.5 million podcasts registered globally. This growth has been matched with popular engagement: around 584.1 million podcast-listeners worldwide in 2025 – a 6.83% increase from last year. Their far-reaching ability to deliver both specialised and diverse content in a regular and accessible fashion appeals to our individualistic high-speed lifestyles. In the competitive world of the media — an industry working to bridge the gap between information and the people — podcasts have introduced an unmatched degree of convenience. However, its numerous benefits spark fresh questions and reopen age old debates on trust, discovery, and authenticity. What happens to meaning when knowledge is infinitely available – and voiced back to you at the press of a button?
Their practical format and digestible nature streamlines information and entertainment into your daily life. They can make you laugh, cry, and learn – all whilst queuing for your Pret sandwich. Podcast listeners typically devote around seven hours per week to podcasts. They can swiftly become a built-in habit and crucial part of your routine. This is no longer the case with books. A 2025 annual literacy survey shows a steady decline in young people reading for enjoyment, with only 18.7% respondents who admit to reading in their free time. We seem to have gone back in time. In 2900 BCE, Ancient Egyptians recorded material on scrolls of the papyrus plant. Now, mounts of evolving technological innovation have taken us back to scrolling – this time on Tiktok. Parts of Dickens’ literary repertoire was published serially in weekly magazines. Today, we still await the Spotify notification that marks the release of this week’s favourite podcast episode. Traditional reading clubs were social hubs of reflection and exchange. These days, we have Discord chats and Subreddit threads. Our generation has carved out a new age – one suited explicitly to the quick outreach and on-demand content of podcasts.
Contrary to most cynical thought, this does not necessarily doom our society into impending human alienation. Compared to books, podcasts can deliver quicker, more direct engagement, forming personal connections between, and amidst, creators and audiences. They can encourage discussion platforms and create communities of shared interests from the comfort of your sofa. Active participation and staying informed are essential to a healthy democracy. In an era when fears about young people’s lack of political engagement are rife, podcasts could even serve as a force for democratisation.
Certainly, the medium’s accessibility has potential to fuel the spread of misinformation and rise of extremism. With cross-device availability and lower production barriers, podcasts mean that information is easier to reach and public debate easier to join. However, the absence of robust editorial oversight makes it hard to enforce evidence-based transmission. A 2023 Pew Research Centre survey assures that close to 9 in 10 listeners trust news they hear on podcasts to be accurate. Blurring the margins between fact and opinion, podcasts are becoming a reputable source to cite. Fostering epistemic cynicism and a deeper general distrust in the media – this can lead to obvious complications. Would you cite your nan’s neighbour’s cat’s groomer’s cousin on the future of the London Stock Exchange?
Aside from making fake news harder to filter, podcasts can have profound impacts on public opinion. Whilst other forms of traditional media and publishing undergo greater regulation and build long-term trust – podcasts commonly remain unvetted and personality-driven. Their online setting, driven by recommendation algorithms and incentive structures, can develop filter bubbles and echo chambers. These can confirm uninformed biases and baselessly attack opposing perspectives. In a political landscape characterised by populism and emotional appeal, podcasts’ contrasting ability to diffuse both fact and sentiment can be distorted to exacerbate affective polarisation. The accelerated, attention-grabbing design of online media steers people into podcast echo chambers that mirror their own personal circles and preconceptions. Overall, our journalists, policymakers and educators are not yet prepared for the pace and changing complexity of technological communication.
Although some scholars credit podcasts’ accessibility for diversifying narratives and amplifying voices from-below, the medium itself is still facing great transformation. Podcasts originated through the rise of smartphones connecting broader audiences. However, the industry is increasingly influenced by corporate intervention and adtech demands. In short, those already big are set to get bigger whilst grassroot creators will lag behind. Estimates suggest the global podcasting market reached $39.63 billion in 2025, where 69% of listeners say podcast ads introduced them to new products. Considering the digital divide, elite technology leveraged by those well-funded will likely shape any podcast’s growth potential. At present, roughly 40% of podcasters use AI tools to improve their content. This is already discernable in the emergence of video podcasts, limiting those with fewer tech budgets: almost one in two American listeners prefer to watch their podcasts. Although still under-researched and vastly contested, the future of podcasting could lose its accessible allure to an increasingly unequal playing field.
Ultimately, podcasts’ diverse purposes set up tangible paradoxes. Podcasts can both globalise and localise ideas. They can challenge and comfort. They can broaden your interests and narrow your mind. At the core is one tension: podcasts simultaneously democratise and gatekeep.
Podcasts are reinventing the notion of culture, conversation, and conviction. Whilst information is everywhere, our existence is finite. Podcasts therefore introduce us to a new problem: mass accessibility leads to excess. Amidst rising banality and deception in the media – does everyone’s opinion really matter? We are arming future generations to be critical and get involved. However, we are not pairing this with the tools to curate, the patience to sort through, and the confidence to decide. Politics is often defined as a nexus of power and choice. Podcasts’ accessible form grants people soft power – yet they render choice more complicated than ever.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own, and may not reflect the opinions of The St Andrews Economist.
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