Drop your book, Pick up a podcast
Why podcasts are so great for reading
Podcasts are an amazing way to learn any topic at any level. I have written previously about my tips and tricks to become a better reader and I wholeheartedly stand by not reading and instead listening and watching, as a path to becoming a better reader. Truthfully! Reading a book on a new complex and nuanced topic can be really intimidating. Allowing yourself to be introduced through a different medium such as a podcast, lowers the friction and anxiety you may feel before engaging with the topic. Let me share this in greater detail below with my 3 top reasons why podcasts are so great for reading. At the end of this post, I share my go-to podcasts.
Note: These general apply more to the non-fiction genre of books like personal development books or philosophy-based books. Still trying to get into reading fiction, personally.
1. You hear directly from the author how they intended for you to read their work.
Before podcasts became a thing, I suppose the only way to actually hear from the author would be through meet and greets and live events. Nowadays, you can hear from the author anytime, anywhere. As the podcast goes on you get to experience the book through the author's eyes as they unpack the key elements as they were intended to be received. When eventually picking the book up (if you decided to do so) you don’t have to spend the reading energy trying to figure out what the author’s words are intended to mean, instead, you can spend energy thinking about how you are understanding the book and add your own critical thinking.
2. The big ideas are put into context and broken down in a Q&A format
The podcasts are often in a casual interview Q&A format, which helps put the big ideas of the book into context. This reforms the key elements from the book into bite-size pieces that are hooked onto the context of a specific question asked by the host. This is my favourite thing about podcasts as you get to unpack the ideas in the book as if you are having a conversation and the ideas are delivered in a natural way. The host acts as your eyes and ears and like any normal conversation, the podcast may go on tangents and bounce back and forth, which makes for a much more natural way of engaging with the topic.
3. There are tons of them for the same book/author
Lastly, there are often multiple podcasts for the same book/author/topic. YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify have an expansive catalogue of podcasts, which will almost definitely have an episode of a book you are interested in reading. I think this has a unique advantage because if you feel you wanted the podcast to have elaborated on a certain book idea, chances are, a different podcast would have expanded on it.
Conclusion
There are many many more reasons why I think podcasts are so great for books, which I may share more about in future posts. I think ultimately, the three discussed here are the main reasons why you should consider utilising them more (if you haven’t been already). In future posts, I will be sharing a few examples of my favourite podcast episodes, which helped me understand and, in some cases, re-experience the book.
As promised, here are my go-to podcasts:
JRE Podcast — Spotify, (Clips are on YouTube)
Modern Wisdom — Chris Williamson’s podcast on YouTube and Spotify
Deep Dive — Ali Abdaal, YouTube and Spotify
Rich Roll Podcast — YouTube and Spotify
PLEASE SHARE: Admittedly, I have been listening to podcasts that have a male host. If you have any recommendations for similar podcasts with female hosts please let me know in the comments!
