For those completely new to the podcast scene, podcasts are a series of audio files made available online. Most podcasts are set up like a TV or radio show, with different “seasons” and episodes focused on varied topics featuring special guests. 

The number of podcast listeners in the US has pretty much been on the rise for more than a decade. The most recent survey conducted in 2019 found that more than half (51 percent, to be exact) of consumers above the age of 12 in the US listen to podcasts (Statista, 2019). 

That is a very large jump from the previous result of 44 percent registered in 2018, which is the biggest increase (percentage points wise) from the 13-year period from 2006 to 2019. This is also more than double the number of podcast listeners (22 percent) there was a decade ago in 2009. So why have podcasts become so popular over the years? 

For starters, it’s very convenient compared to watching a TV show or movie. It almost completely removes the visual aspect of the entertainment making it more accessible. Listeners can subscribe to specific podcasts, download new episodes, and listen whenever it’s convenient to them. 

More than blog posts or videos, which demand someone’s full attention, podcasts give listeners the gift of multitasking where you could do something like paint or draw, get ready in the morning, drive to work, or cook dinner while listening. 

Plus, though I personally wouldn’t mind reading about many topics, putting all the information into words out loud makes it easier for many people to comprehend and is overall less work to obtain the information. 

I have listened to podcasts before, but I never really got hooked on one show so I was looking for a podcast to listen to and I ultimately found the podcast Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People by Chris Gethard specifically episode #132 titled “I Survived A Mass Shooting.” With this podcast, the title is what really captured my attention, but after listening to the whole thing her perspective on what happened to her truly astonished me. 

She and her husband were survivors of the Las Vegas shooting which took place on October 1st 2017 and is reported as the “deadliest [shooting] in modern U.S. history.” She went on to tell her story and realizations from that experience and what really stuck with me was her positive outlook on everything that happened. 

She says, “I think as a survivor a lot of people don’t really get to tell their entire story and I feel like when a mass shooting happens a lot of what the focus is, is [all on the] who the shooter was and [you know] how many people were injured or didn’t make it through and [you know] I just think that there’s a lot of positivity that also comes out of being apart of that and I hope [you know] that I can share a little bit of that side of [you know] being a survivor.” 

Even the host, Chris Gethard, was very shocked by what she said because generally when someone hears the words mass shooting they aren’t thinking of anything positive, but for someone who actually experienced it to say that there is positivity that results from it is like a whole new world. 

This particular podcast was very eye-opening for me and I’m sure it was for a lot of other people. So when I say that this podcast is one of the main reasons that podcasting has become so popular, I feel justified in doing that. 

The podcast showed that you don’t have to have a sob-story to touch people’s hearts and get people to listen and I think everyone should go listen to it and learn from it. 

That being said, if you haven’t tuned into a podcast yet, I’d recommend giving it a try because you have no idea what you can learn and maybe you can even find some joy from it.