Welcome to The Verge Hot Pod

The world of podcasts is changing. Welcome to your front row seat on the action.

In case you haven’t heard, The edge acquired Hot pod this month, and former writer and editor Nicholas Quah joined Vulture, our sister post at Vox Media, as a full-time podcast reviewer. He still posts there – you can subscribe to his review newsletter here – but I’ll write Hot pod from now on. I’m excited, and while I know Nick’s legacy and insight is unparalleled, I hope to do it justice. I appreciate you staying with us.

I’ve been to The edge for nearly six years and covering podcasting and audio for the past three. Around this time, podcasting grew from something that existed on the fringes to a full-fledged cultural and commercial force. I started to The edge as a cybersecurity reporter then became a full time gadget blogger and eventually landed in the big world of “creators”. My natural interest in podcasting (I co-hosted a show here called Why did you press this button?) and radio (I was a radio student and was still WXRT in Chicago) landed me in audio reporting. I’ve linked a few of my past podcasting stories at the end here to give you a better idea of ​​what excites me and what you can expect to read in future issues.

Here’s the gist: As it has grown, the world of podcasting has entered a period of flux. Large technological platforms move in space; the idea of ​​a “podcast” both in the way it is distributed and what it looks like is evolving; Hollywood stars and literal princes put on shows; and huge and mind-blowing chords are being signed. I mean, Paris Hilton is investing and profiting from podcast technology – who could have imagined!

I think we are witnessing the start of a new era of audio, an era in which more people than ever interact with audio content – whether through a traditional podcast, a live room. on Clubhouse, a YouTube video, or Siri speaking in their ears. Audio is going mainstream and I plan to chronicle the bumpy road until this point. There will be drama, infighting, wrangling from tech companies over show deals and talks about the future of the industry. With your help, I plan to walk us through these changes. Hope we even have fun along the way.

Among the questions I hope to answer: Who will win this audio attention war? Who will earn the money? Who is eligible to have a podcast? What happens to independent podcasters? What Happens to the Open Podcasting Ecosystem? Are we experiencing a “pivot to audio” that ends as the disastrous “pivot to video? Is all this just a bubble?

My boss, The edge, and all of us who work here, are well versed in the coverage of Big Tech and how it affects our behavior, livelihoods, and world. And we all want to see Hot pod grow in various ways – maybe that means more frequent audio adjacent product reviews from our stellar team here or longer features with bullet art from our ever-impressive creative team. But a paid newsletter is new to us, so first we have to learn how to do it and what you all like and what you need to do. Hot pod.

So for now Hot pod will consist of much of the same blanket, it is always well done. I’ll cover the stories you need to read and provide additional reports and commentary on them. Hope you all get to know and trust me and feel comfortable discussing what you read. I am open to comments, advice and criticism.

Here are some stories that I am particularly proud of and which I hope will provide concrete examples of what I am talking about in a somewhat abstract way in this first newsletter.

• The first concerns the Anchor referral tool having no sponsor apart from Spotify itself. I liked this story because it’s a preview of the Spotify machine – what it looks like for podcasters who use the platform to create, and how Spotify’s lofty podcast ambitions are evolving.
• The second is my first podcasting story – one on NPR’s ad tracking technology, RAD. It was a wobbly piece that hinged on the idea that NPR needed buy-in from major podcast apps to be successful. Apple still hasn’t subscribed to it, and neither does Spotify. We also don’t hear NPR talking about RAD anymore. He’s the one who set up Big Tech’s power dynamic in podcasting and hinted at the looming battle over podcast privacy and ad tracking – another topic I hope to cover.
• And finally, here’s an article on the “Hype House from Hell”. This story took months to relate and it was one of the stages where the company moved – the launch of the Himalayas in the United States, the spinning of HiStudios, then the separation of HiStudios and the Himalayas. – seemed obvious on the outside, but there was a lot more going on inside (like drug use, podcast lectures gone awry, and even the appearance of an ice sculpture bang). The podcast industry, like any creative industry, is made up of characters – and knowing these characters can tell you a lot about the company itself.

I have a lot more links – feel free to check out my Twitter! – but this chronicle is already getting long. This article is a version of the free newsletter from last Tuesday, and going forward, I will continue to post free newsletters every Tuesday – with associated columns here on theverge.com – followed by premium and paid editions on Thursdays and Friday. (You can subscribe to it here.)

Now, like I said, don’t hesitate to join me. I’m on Twitter at @ashleyrcarman and email to ashley (at) theverge.com. Hope to meet you all soon!