Podcasts can cover a wide range of topics, from true crime to self-help and offer students a variety of options that fit their personal interests.
Podcasts have seen a surge in popularity over the past few years. According to Statista, the number of podcast listeners in the U.S. has increased nearly 20% since 2020, now at an all-time high of 73%.
“There is a podcast about literally everything,” said Arisbeth Orozco, a freshman political science major, and her claim isn’t too far off.
Orozco enjoys listening to “The Huberman Lab,” which teaches her about various aspects of the human body.
“[The hosts] provide a lot of important information on how to go about [living] life, and I love that everything that they do is science-based,” Orozco said.
Recently, the podcast has taught her how taste buds and cravings function, the importance of sleep, and the importance of moving your body.
Orozco mostly listens to podcasts while going to the gym and getting ready for the day.
“So when I have the time to sit down and focus,” Orozco explained. “On top of being auditory, I will read what they’re saying, so I always have subtitles on.”
Over the summer, Eva Jurcevic, a freshman economics major, listened to the Fantasy Focus Football podcast from ESPN to help her draft and manage her fantasy football team. She called the information she learned from this podcast “crucial for [her] to ensure that [her] lineup is ready to go every week.”
“[I jot] down some of my favorite stats or some important injuries I should keep in mind when drafting,” Jurcevic said. “I also love their continued advice throughout the season that helps with injury replacements or free agent pickups.”
“Their condensed information and supplementary articles on ESPN are very helpful when looking at things that may have happened during the week,” continued Jurcevic.
The Fantasy Focus Football podcast’s recommendations have helped Jurcevic win important games, and she even won her division last season.
A popular podcast topic that Carlee Cunha, a sophomore political science and philosophy major, currently listens to is two true crime and paranormal podcasts: “Crimes, Conspiracies, Cults, and Murder” by Kris Collins and Kallmekris and “Heart Starts Pounding” by Kaelyn Moore.
“What I love about both of them is their conversational narrative styles, where it feels like they are just telling you a story from a book with some of their own commentary mixed in,” Cunha said.
“They are also both highly active with their audiences, inviting viewers to suggest future topics and submit their own stories,” Cunha added.
To her, these podcasts are a form of passive entertainment.
“I listen to these podcasts during my downtime between assignments,” Cunha continued. “If I am working out, cleaning, or doing any other manual task, I put on podcasts so that I can get in my zone and get work done.”
Robbie Fullen, a freshman philosophy and law major, enjoys listening to podcasts while working out in the gym, going on walks, and doing homework.
“It’s easy to consume,” Fullen said. “It’s a way to get information or entertainment, while being able to do other things.”
For Fullen, podcasts combat his boredom.
“I used to be in the true crime era when COVID was happening, and I listened to ‘Crime Junkie,’” he continued.
Similarly, Cunha first started listening to podcasts during COVID.
"A lot of content creators I enjoyed began making podcasts around that time, so I started following them to show my support,” Cunha said. “What ended up drawing me in after that first exposure was that more natural progression of information. It's not as stiff as educational content often is, and it is more conversational, which keeps me interested.”
In addition to “Crime Junkie,” Fullen enjoys “Creepy Pasta” and “Lemonade Stand” for their engaging, dynamic hosts.
"[The hosts] kind of just like riff off each other, and they’re funny,” Fullen said.
Like Fullen, Clodagh Kloos, a freshman Spanish and neuroscience major, enjoys “Crime Junkie.” Kloos also listens to “Rotten Mango,” another true crime podcast, which he tells fellow crime junkies to “definitely” listen to.
"For ‘Rotten Mango,’ [the host] always tells the story really well, and most of them are just really engaging,” Kloos said. “If you’re not [a crime junkie], I’d probably stay away from them because there can be a lot of sensitive topics, especially to people who don’t like horror or gore.”
Cunha agreed that these podcasts may not be for everyone, depending on listeners’ sensitivity levels to graphic imagery.
“Not everyone can stomach hour-long conversations about murders and things that go bump in the night, and not a lot of people believe in ghosts,” Cunha said.. “However, to those who do enjoy that sort of content, I highly recommend both podcasts I mentioned.”
Some students are podcasters themselves, like Jake Karulf, a sophomore psychology major and newly established podcaster. The engaging, lively dynamic between himself and his co-host Nick Graham is central to his comedy podcast.
“When we get together, we have a pretty interesting dynamic that’s for a very particular audience that I think would find [us] funny,” Karulf said. “We just kind of riff off each other for 20 minutes.”
According to Karulf, his podcast addresses everything under the sun in a humorous manner, from the dark side of essential oils companies to being born.
“It’s meant to be funny because it’s weird,” Karulf said. “I’d recommend it to people who like dry humor.”
What is most important to consider when choosing a podcast is whether or not you are actually interested in it.
“There is so much information out there,” Orozco said. “It should be really something that you want to learn more about and that you feel like would benefit you.”
Cunha reiterated Orozco’s message, telling others, “You have to start with something you are actually interested in.”
“No podcast, no matter how well produced, will ever be able to hold your interest long enough for you to finish it if you don't enjoy the topic,” Cunha said.
And, like Karulf, if you are not interested in listening to podcasts, you can always host your own.
“To anybody out there who just wants something fun to do, I’d highly recommend recording a podcast, even if you don’t post it,” Karulf said. “It’s just kind of fun to mess around with your friends, even if you’re just pretending [that] you’re in a podcast.”
Carly Hunter is a writer for The Setonian’s Features section. She can be reached at carly.hunter@student.shu.edu.
