The Downfall Of Modern Podcasts
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Why is misinformation on the rise? Why is it stemming from podcasts? Well first we must understand the podcast model and how that is going to impact the information we receive. MASSIVE THANKS @BenCarpenter for your contribution.
Thanks again for watching one of my videos.
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Steven bartlett endorsing Huel is so funny when you consider he has Dr Chris Van Tulleken on his podcast talking about the dangers of ultraprocessed foods. There is a point in the episode where Chris mentions the hypocrisy and even asks Steven about the conflict of interests and Steven laughs it off like nothing
Money talks
There’s a podcast called The Studies Show where they investigated claims about ultra-processed foods and found them wanting.
Well, I always say show me someone that eats zero processed foods, and they are either going to be a rich person or a liar. I really go out of my way to avoid heavily processed foods, but I drink some whey protein and a small amount of an organic, plant-based protein. The reason I do it is because I would have to eat a pile of unprocessed food to get the same amount of protein. That pile of food bloats me just thinking about it. Tulleken said he eats processed foot at his friend's houses. Almost everyone is going to be two-faced about this subject. Almost.
He also said (not verbatim):
I need to remember who I'm talking to here but the overwhelming majority of research shows that there is no benefit to supplements, vitamins and minerals in already healthy people.
Never seen Steven change topic so quickly
Was there a pregnant pause before the laughter ( see the ad. )?
The funniest was when I watched an episode of Diary of a CEO where it went straight from Tim Spector saying any ‘ultra-processed food’ that makes health claims on the packaging is 100% marketing BS and probably harmful-to a sponsored segment for Huel.
:grins: I saw that one too - it really brought home how it's all about making money. We already knew that, of course, but rubbing our faces in it is not a great plan.
Yeah, have you also seen the 'Zoe Gut shot'?
And then Tim brought out an ultra processed gut bacteria product. It's all a farce, just some more convincingly well presented than others
Ironically it was the DOAC episode with Chris van Tulleken that drew my attention to his book Ultra-Processed People, which in turn led me to cancel my Huel subscription
Hidden message maybe lol
The way this podcast tackles the issue of authenticity in the influencer industry is spot on. It's refreshing to hear someone speak out about the lack of critical thinking and the monetization-driven content. Keep up the great work!
Ur another fake guru nice rental 😂
Fake subs too
@@flipedude5404How ironic, eh?! 😂
I'm so glad you posted this video! I've been feeling completely disillusioned with DOAC and other podcasts. So much conflicting info and so much bulls**t. Also, the clickbait thumbnails remind me of the tabloid newspapers back in the 90's. It's annoying!
Yeah, clickbaiting only works for so long and then people get tired of being tricked. It also exposes what's really happening; We get "free content" to watch, but in exchange we are giving our time and attention. It turns out they are getting the better end of the deal, and I think people are realizing it more and more.
Yeah DOAC have spoken about the time and effort they put into testing thumbnails etc. It’s clearly a business for them and you should trust accordingly
Doac is the worst, I don't even watch this guy anymore because he clickbait so hard
Click bait stuff is infuriating
Does feel a lot like we passed the golden age of podcasting now. Used to love CEO but unfortunately find it quite hard to watch now with all the conflicting info. Ya boy Chris is still on point though yay.
Yeah I actually felt a bit bad mentioning his name. His last Rory Sutherland podcast was incredible. 😂
@@JamesSmithPT missed a trick not putting him in the thumbnail!
@@davidbrobb And the flames
With red laser eyes and mouth agog @@verjason
I listened to his when it first came out, but got thoroughly frustrated at his lack of ability to ask questions and interview properly.
The guest often had to make the links between sections as it was all so disjointed and the questions felt like college students wrote them
This is why I love Modern Wisdom, because Chris actually acknowledges a lot of these flaws with modern podcasting, I've seen episodes where he states openly that he's aware that his guests may contradict each other, and even uses that for fuel for the conversation where they compare and contrast approaches. He takes what should be an in-built flaw with the format and actually uses it to optimise his content, whereas DOAC does just seem so self-contained that it becomes unsustajnable
based and correct take. this model of monetized attention creating a feedback loop of nonsense has permeated every industry in the digital age. it's the Kim Kardashian revenue model that has infected everything from politics to fitness to niche basket weaving. controversy creates engagement and engagement drives revenue. shit totally blows because it's incentivizing all of the worst behaviour and content syndication... but as you said, don't see it getting better anytime soon. appreciate your takes
When your supplier of laughs watches your supplier of information i feel in good hands
Leon! 🎉
tomato mafia
Brain worms, for damn sure.
Sadly so true!
Wow. You nailed it. I have been super frustrated with commercials that are not supposed to be there. The misinformation is now very obvious and just leaves you confused. Very disappointing. Thanks for sharing and the comments by everyone are spot on.
Nailed it. You put into words what I was feeling as I have abandoned many podcasts throughout the past year.
Yeah as the time goes on, I've also noticed how many many hours consumed haven't really made any benefits or like added value to my daily life. Now I just listen Andrew Shultz for the giggles
I don't have anything important to add but want to get your comment numbers up so the algorithm monkeys push this video to more people. Keep up the sterling work James.
I'd say that's an important thing to say
I want to do the same thing my commenting on this comment.
Dat's rite!
Yes
But why do you want this to get views?
You think anything it's going to change because of this video pointing out the extremely obvious?
I haven't listened to Rogan for years already, don't listen to any podcasts and am also sick my the few science type yt channels I watch.
But most people need some type of noise to fill their head 24/7 these days and they are not going to stop listening to these talking heads.
I actually gave up podcasts this year, because something just felt off with them. Too many ads, information seemed worse, and it was too much of a time suck. Focusing more on just listening to music I enjoy, and audiobooks
Wise decision
Most audiobooks are trash as well, and music is even more of a waste of time.
What's irritated me the most is podcasters make the podcast about them at every opportunity.
I literally timed the member of times Chris Williamson (modern wisdom) spoke and interjected on his guest.
He spoke for 61% of the time, wtf?
@@mohammedmiah7554how is music a waste of time? If you're relying on streaming it is, but not if you love music and have you're own physical library. What an absolutely garbage comment. I feel sorry for people like you.
good ones are still out there. you just have to be really picky
Diary of a CEO is a podcast of celebrities sulking about how uniquely difficult their lives have been.
Is Jay Shetty's any different? Now it seems like a "palette cleanser" for those who want to get their act together in the media. Very annoying.
Yesssss
@@emilijavidtmann7383yes I don’t like him a host because often times he was just talking about himself and how great he is lol
Hahaha exactly 💯😂
lol
Haha I was one of those who commented on the vegan doctor ep (in a constructive way though!) - I wondered why the whole video got taken offline! 😅 I started seeing guests getting rotated quickly through the same bunch well-known podcasters, and thought maybe they all had the same social media managers/agent. When authenticity gives way to the dollar and manipulative tactics, it's hard to not get a bit 'wish I could un-see the magic trick'. I wonder what the next wave of content creation will be - the new frontier is always exciting 😊, and I enjoy when everyone's navigating it and bringing less mechanistic/rinse-and-repeat marketing approaches. Thanks for sharing James and team, and for creating insights behind what many already feel is going on. Great work!
This absolutely nails it on the head! Really, as a scientist, I enjoyed Hubermann's podcasts early on when he was just getting started, when he would talk about areas he knew about or just had some of his Stanford colleagues or other scientists talking about what they had really deep expertise in. But now, it's just a sad waste of time. Very few science or health related podcasts are worth listening too. The ones that are worth it are not well known and don't run ads but get very little attention also. The trick with ads in the middle is to increase the skip time to 1 min. 2-3 skips and presto! past the ads.
This was my exact experience. I actually shared Huberman's podcast to the rest of my lab early on. The episode I started on was so well-researched and deep. As time went on, I noticed more and more errors in what he was claiming, and then realised that the research into each ep was becoming surface level.
There were a couple of podcasts where he used outright debunked papers to back up some of his points, stuff you would find at the first page of a google search. I assume it ended up being undergrads or interns doing the work due to time-constraints.
The moment I saw him in my feed at all was when it said stuff like “NEUROSCIENTIST has THIS advice about THIS (non neuroscience related topic)”
at that moment I knew I was looking at a hack lol
I also liked the Huberman podcast at the beginning but later it just became just talking for talking sake with all the same people that come on other podcasts, etc.
As for the ads in the middle, the problems is when you listen while doing some other stuff like housework, dishes, etc. and don't have a free hand to spare. It's then extremely annoying when suddenly an ad comes. Even worse, of they're like every 20 minutes or so, 2-3 times throughout the show. You need to drop what you're doing and run back and forth to the phone or suffer through these annoying distracting ads breaking the flow of conversation.
The trick with ads is installing UA-cam Sponsor Block. It will skip automatically (assuming someone already marked the segment) and you won't even notice most of the times
Bri even that science will always have confirmation bias, plus th body is so so complicated specially of billions that u cannot reduce to one set of variables. Science might not even ever understand the body fully. We had covid and look at th debates even over masks c come. Stop scientist religion
Unfortunately we live in a world where the more extreme you sound the more convincing. And they know that the people who are listening are not going to dive into the referenced studies let alone read and interpret that difficult literature. Instead they just blindly believe it and when the polar opposite comes, they get confused. I can hardly blame the people, it is definitely disingenuous from the experts.
Good points. Here in Australia, one of the best wxamples is this ad on Rogan’s podcast is about vpns. The next minute after the ad Rogan was talking to a guest and said vpns do nothing 😂
Damn, I only watch Adam Conover's podcast.
which episode was that?
I watched a Jr episode with Rhonda Patrick PhD and Joe is talking to her about her health standpoint on this and that, then says to - you have night terrors and she confirms, but I my view was taken back by the question- like we didn't agree on talking about this live.... From that moment I knew, not only did Joe Bogan not care about Rhonda, he was just a reptile in a human suit.
There are some use cases for VPNs but I understand what you mean. 👍
It's not a "push this button and be totally anonymous online" like it's usually marketed by lots of companies.
I must be the only guy that never gets ads when watching Rogans podcast lol. I’m not a paying subscriber to Spotify either but I still don’t get ads
Love the fact after this video Huel advert popped up with Diary of CEO.
Same 😂
And comments are turned off!
@nevis8106 Adblocker ;) easy.
Very interesting. I only listen to one podcast- 'we're all insane' here on youtube, where its kept me interested as she interviews every day people about their stories and the guest are very diverse. Kinda reminds me of the simpler time of podcasts
Exactly! It's wild how easily people believe things just because someone wrote a book or has lots of followers. Debunking that crap is so important and I appreciate that you call it out.
I just subscribed.
It's wild how easily people believe things just because someone made a UA-cam video about criticizing something.
You should also question this video's intention. And my comment's intention. And your own intention.
May I recommend the podcast, "If books could kill"? Because it's so good at untangling that bs.
He also took part in it massively, feel free to listen to his episode on Diary of a CEO to make you unsubscribe again
Thanks, I did unsub...not because of anything other than simply, his other content isn't something I want in my feed. I thought most of his content was the same as this, but it definitely isn't. I'm not big on channels that have multiple topics, it's confusing! ;) @@catherineeASMR
@@catherineeASMR What's the title of that video?
You are saying EXACTLY what I was thinking about these bullshit ads in the spotify podcasts, why am I paying spotify for no ads? Wtf. Great video.
it also happens with youtube for years. Companies monetize the shit out of us until we find a better option. 😂
You'll pay for a premium service and still gets and you'll be happy
Dude same - The first time I put on an episode of Rogan on Spotify and ads were interrupting every 20-25 minutes I was baffled.
Spot on. I noticed that as well. Unfortunately if we really want to be informed we can’t just blindly believe what one person says. Verify, verify. And confirmation bias is so seductive. I find myself falling in that trap at times unfortunately.
Why would you ever blindly follow what any one person or source say?
@@dominiquesmith7680 Yep. The fact that so many people need to be told this is embarrassing. Education is the only way forward. Anything authoritarian is a nah, so just educate ones-self. It's not that hard.
@@drockopotamus1Problem is most podcasts give the appearance of casual truth that feels less authoritarian, (especially if you like the person behind the mic) but they are more and more getting guests that draw an audience through clickbait strategies (making massively exaggerated claims about a product they're selling, or making shaky or made up claims that they know will draw engagement with controversy).
The appearance of truth masking manipulative lies and hysterical hyperbole is a deadly combination. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing everyone he didn't exist.
Only experts on UA-cam ........
Its the same with all social media, as soon as the big corporations take an interest money takes over content and the platform turns to trash
"enshittification" lol.... They did it to grunge and boom - Nickelback was born
I had no idea who Steven Bartlett was, I just knew him as "the guy from the huel adverts on youtube". When I finally asked someone at work who the hell he was, and why he's used as a spokesperson by huel, they effectively said "something, something, tech business, something, something, dragons den, something, something, podcast" lol. So effectively, he's just a young guy who managed to build and sell one semi successful company, and has coasted on that through social media and sponsorships ever since, but he's now seen as someone worth listening to hours of podcasts of. What's going on with the world?
Ive actually listened to him quite a bit and I agree with you, he is all fluff. He is a smart guy though, he will grow up.
@ShirleyGanske lol please share your cv, what are your achievements?
@@kgalanet lol why do people get so defensive on behalf of public figures? Just because someone has more achievements than you (however you classify achievements) doesn't mean you can't criticise or question their value to society as a whole, especially when you're being bombarded with advertisments featuring said person several times a day on platforms like youtube.
@@rhidiandavies1991 maybe we need to evaluate our own competence and achievements to balance out criticisms. How bad is Stephen? He created a platform most of us enjoyed watching because of his conversation style, now we want to hold him responsible for his guests opinions?
Unfortunately I can’t stand the sight or sound of that guy because I’ve been relentlessly bombarded with that Huel advert for about a month now.
I get what this is trying to say but it just feels like a hit piece...at the end of the day, we are still so lucky to have these types of podcasts mentioned in this video. They are all for the most part super informative, interesting and some even important conversations to listen to. Just be smart and read into something further if u are genuinely interested on a topic.
These are just conversations...
Crazy because I've listened to many who you mentioned for years, and in the last 6 months I've stopped. I couldn't put my finger on why... thanks for this clarification 👑
Same here!
That’s been my experience too
Same
For me it's sensory and information overload. Everybody comes with these click bait bold statements branded as "based on science", then you watch the podcast and realize it's just recycled information from another podcast.
Same. it’s either a million contradictory diet sessions. or perpetual “men vs women” bs like if the sexes were at some sort of war. or some conspiracy theories. or some pseudoscience or non-peer reviewed stuff about hormones/the brain/substances/etc. all whilst pushing products.
no thank you
This is so on point.
Ive listened to both DofaCEO and Huberman since the early days - but the last 3 months or so ive given up.
If theres a really interesting guest or topic ill listen to parts....and skip through all the annoying ads mid-episodes on my pointless UA-cam Premium subscription.
But, the conflicting information...and overload of repeated or unnecessary "new" information is getting too much...and its getting boring!
Same. Used to love Lex Friedman, now he just sucks up to everyone.
I just had a conversation with a mate where i said 3-5g of creatine was all you needed and then he said he takes 10-15g and we both had huberman videos to back it up 🤦♂️
The 3-5g range is the correct range.
@@cnewtonsmart2The correct amount is what you get from meat. So if you want to get creatine in the right proportions and other dozens of nutrients (probably thousands), then just eat meat.
@@hugoanderkivi lol why supplement anything at all with that logic? It takes kgs of meat a day to get enough
My creatinin was 39 in a range of 30-300, the meat obviously isn't doing the job
Why exactly is Jason Fung a fraud? It's an honest question. Would love to hear the argument.
and dr. Rober Lustig...out of all the possible questionable guests on all of those podcasts, this guy chooses doctors whose research is legitimate and has helped so many people, as if they dont already have the corrupt medical world and corporate interests as a challenge...It just looks like this was poorly researched and rushed to prove a point but missed to provide relevant examples.
Honestly how the fuck do any of us no whats true and whats bullshit anymore. It's actually fucked and doing my head in
This is also true on Chris Williamsons podcast when he gets “experts” on chatting about dating psychology and how women think which is becoming astrology for men at this point
I noticed this as well. On every episode regarding mens/dating psychology, he always goes on about hows all men are having a hard time connecting with women on a romantic level. And even though there definitely seems to be more of a divide in that field than say 30 years ago, If you are actively pushing the narrative every episode it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for the men that take everything he says as being true.
This is on point
100%. A startling majority of the men in the comments sections on those episodes openly lament that the situation is hopeless. Meanwhile my male friends irl are getting dates/relationships just fine. It doesn't parse for me.
Another thing that is bothersome is when he addresses feminism, because his guests are unilaterally opposed to modern feminism. It would be much more interesting to have a guest that approves of feminism for the sake of hearing the opposite perspective.
A podcast that does this well is Triggernometry. They have longform discussions with both sides of a debate, and are willing to concede or push back on points made by either side.
I totally agree with everything you have said , I noticed the podcast content going downhill very fast ,I'm sad to say the new God in heaven is an algorithm
This video is a must-watch! It perfectly captures the dangers of misinformation in modern podcasts. I've seen firsthand how harmful it can be, like when a friend convinced themselves they had a rare illness based solely on information from a podcast with a guest who wasn't even a qualified medical professional. It was scary and frustrating to see them fall prey to clickbait tactics and confirmation bias. This video is a powerful reminder to be critical listeners and responsible information consumers. We all need to hold podcasts, and any media for that matter, accountable for the information they spread. Kudos for bringing this to light, James!
Totally on point! Also, a little off point, most big podcasts are turning into "Look at what cool celeberity we have on this week! They don't have much in common with the focus of this podcast, but look at them! Oh and they have a new book/show/movie!"
Jay effing Shetty😂
For over an hour too…. It’s mind numbing.
James, as someone who has lives in the podcasting space this is spot on. Now, with the price paid to podcasters for ad spots going down, podcasters who use that money to eat are stuffing more ads in their shows and increasing the number of episodes while decreasing their quality. It is what many call "The race to the bottom" where we will end up with a show that is 30% ads, which is what radio is now. Podcasts became popular because they DIDN'T sound like radio.
That's a really cool perspective, thanks James. I'm wondering what would be the alternative to the current state of podcasting though. I've always thought that having guests of conflicting opinions is actually ethical and honest, because it reflects the real world. As opposed to legacy media where experts present their opinion in a 90 second blurb, podcasts let us hear the full scope of where someone is coming from. None of it should be taken at face value anyway. I understand the concern about quality vs engagement, I'm a frequent listener of DOAC, JRE, and I'm starting to feel like a leming myself. What do you think would be a better business model for a podcast in a capitalist world, that would prioritize quality and value over engagement and profit?
less greed. The problem with the capitalist system is that people mostly don't know what "enough" is..the incentives just keep being more enticing the more people get into the money rush. Noone forces those multimillionaires to shill anything.
I listened to hundreds on JREs around 600-900 the most. But only a handful of guests would have me try something. E.G. Wim Hof, but I'd try it myself and see for myself, did it help me in what I wanted? I jumped in a local river in winter for about 5 minutes for about 2 months, then one day I was still cold after lunch at work and I thought 'this isn't working'. Another example was Matthew Walker's sleep podcast, I was convinced for a few months and then saw this debunk article one-day and even citing the same studies he was citing and it concluded 6-8 is fine and generally the peak is 7 hours a night! Finally, one thing I still use is Joe's 'mental trick' he randomly mentioned on sauna duration "if I can managed 10 breaths I get to 10 and say, you managed 10 you can do 20, and then at thirty do another 10" works great at the end of high intensity running (not sprinting) for me. Generally, just at least use google or Consensus.app and get your own opinion. Or choose your gurus carefully, those that have ads use an extra pinch of salt. Also if someone is pitching something that clearly won't make money for anyone then it's probably dead legit. Like fasting, I mean companies hate you not buying food for a week!
@@cratoxylonexactly. Some kind of personal integrity is the solution. As a country, we seemed to have abandoned the idea that integrity is a valuable trait. So much misinformation is spread by people who don’t actually believe the misinformation they shill; they just do it because it’s a guarantee of engagement.
DOAC is the new London Real.
Since Spotify has audiobooks now I've started to move onto those instead of the usual suspects when I'm commuting more recently.
I didn't know they ave audiobooks now. Awesome. How to find these?
whaaaa? since when? i've never seen them
I used to work in digital marketing in the early days of social media advertising (I feel like I start every YT comment with this phrase) and this is the exact same business model and strategy that was implemented during that gold rush and it completely destroyed the blogosphere and independent entertainment websites (which then had to rely on traffic from fickle social media platforms).
Curious about Jason Fung as a misinformation bastion....
8:00 how is Jason Fung a charlatan I don't get it this is a first gonna have to look into that
That Soda Milk Diet Soda Water one was unbelievable, can't believe a respected scientist like Huberman released that episode.
Thanks for this, made me think about our own curation of guests. It’s a balance between bringing on different viewpoints so as not to create an echo chamber, while not (to your point) chasing conflict/rage for downloads.
We bring on a few well regarded academics repeatedly, despite mediocre engagement, as they take their domain seriously and fact-check their statements.
Also, my producer will fact check what I say and we’ll edit out statements/data I get wrong or could be misleading. We also, generally speaking, don’t bring on people to discuss health issues unless highly credentialed as the stakes are too high.
I pulled ProfG down from Spotify during COVID as I was so upset about, what I felt, was the platforming of mis-information..
Again, thanks-this made me think.
Have to reply to the Spotify dig because we know who it was targeted to. The truth of the matter is that now we do have a lot of science (we did back then too but whatever), way more and that podcast turned out to be right by being skeptical and bringing on guests with a different view (who were all doctors and academics btw). That podcast effectively saved millions by promoting safer treatments that ended up working better than the stuff promoted everywhere else. All the initial "evidence" and claims put forward by that side have been revised downwards by now and we do know from looking at official data that it's causing a lot of damage, fatal damage. In short, now we do know for certain that the best thing you, prof G, did for Spotify to stop "platforming" bad people was deplatforming yourself from Spotify to begin with so thank you.
I hope there’ll be a made a term for it, so it would be easier to call out. Everyone with a good mic and a camera has gained extraordinary authority on any topic.
Love this video! I remember Tim Spector on DOAC saying shop products like yogurts saying they were good for gut health wasnt actually that healthy... and now hes brought out his own identical product 😂
The original yogurt craze came from a study that also showed that ice cream had a more consistently positive effect. Except the headlines and news segments and even the scientists ignored that part. There's a recent article written about it by the Atlantic
Lot of great stuff in here. As a quick point, a very, very, very small percentage of podcasts get BOTH a commission and a flat fee from advertisers. Typically smaller podcasts are commission only - they get paid based on how much product they move. Medium-ish podcasts get a flat fee based on CPM, which is safer for the podcast. The biggest podcasts get both.
Actually great observations, points and arguments…until you said Jason Fung is a charlatan. How did you came to that conclusion and what’s your reasoning?
He makes claims far outside his field of expertise that are incorrect.
Eg long term fasting is not catabolic because igf1 increases. That is simply not true.
He charges a freakin fortune for his fasting advice, as well as $200 for half an hour of naturopathic advice, and claims long term water fasting is fine until you reach a healthy weight - regardless of starting weight.
He claims keto can cure cancer and he butchers studies to suit his selling point.
Great point. But that is not only podcasting. That is the whole internet. Lex Fridman is a great example of how not to do that, but he has other streams of very high income from his unbelievable programming skills. Not everyone is like Lex in that regard
One of the biggest problems these days is that they don't teach critical thinking in schools. We have so many people now who have finished education and can't think for themselves.
Also happens when you don’t have a wide base of knowledge. And too many people opinions on subject they know nothing about.
They definitely teach critical thinking in schools. But if people are on social media for 5+ hours a day every single day of their lives, that school influence is gonna be minor
Spot on. I only listen to them occasionally for the entertainment value. When people starting actually doing their due diligence to investigate and verify info the internet is feeding them, we will continue to be driven into tribes of belief.
There is little that annoys me as much as people who mention studies and then completely misquote or simply make up their own conclusions. So many people out there hear 'a study says...' and immediately take it at face value. Such a shame...
Russell Brand is terrible for click bait titles now. We’’re basically having a daily apocalypse when you read his titles.
Honestly one of my favourite episodes here! And the first one I have watched of yours @James smith. Loved your candid nature and really insightful - particularly because I have severely reduced the podcasts I listen to in recent times. Interesting take - thank you for sharing!
I think you have a point there. I was wondering why I suddenly could no longer listen in to most of those you’ve mentioned even for five minutes nowadays whereas I used to finish the two or three hours. I found myself going back to good old Freakonomics which has maintained its style and substance. But even there they’ve introduced a new paid model for some episodes.
try reading and less watching
Came here from Asmon reacting and love your content dude, definately a good sub and like
Completely right. Used to love Diary of CEO, because many guests were genuinely interesting, successful, offering unique insights. Now, everything is about health, finance, and happiness guru-ing. They're the biggest markets sure, but every guest now is for controversy-sake. Another one cropped up lately in fitness space, and all the guests are just 'My Dubai success story' or how they scammed their way to social media finance freedom.
I only listen to podcasts now for specific guests in fields I'm interested in. Philosophy, politics, history, some times fitness when I respect the guest generally.
Hopefully this fatigue and annoyance people are feeling now corrects this issue and cuts the waste. Not everyone or everything needs a podcast!
Absolutely correct. I used to love watching DOAC but since it's 2-2.5hr or something similar I just feel like I can't enjoy watching it because I most likely won't have the time to complete an episode in "one sitting". Contradicting information and bringing back same guests also made it less enjoyable. I started to watch it originally because I found it's a great source to broaden my knowledge in areas I wasn't so involved with...
Love you man! Please continue to speak your truth
The problem with this analysis is the assumption that mainstream consensus views are likely to be correct, and controversial "misinformation" that's contradictory is likely to be wrong. If you look at the history of science, or knowledge in any domain, it's obvious this is a false assumption.
6:50 thank you I've been saying this for years but no one listens, for example he says in the podcast that a food with high carbohydrates increases blood sugar but a food with the same amount of carbs but with high fiber content doesn't impact blood sugar. so if you eat added fiber with food number 1 the problem should solved yes? but he dogged that question in this video like all of those nutrition experts never answered this question and it's so weird!!
Diray of a CEO is the worst
There is a massive pool of talented, smart and expert people but they don’t get interviewed. Until podcasts start to invite non social media famous guest on this will absolutely continue to happen. My PhD supervisor has been a university professor for 20 years studied health and play habits of children around the world…never done a podcast. I’ve had loads of lecturers and professors that have never done podcasts. Teams should be reaching out to current university faculties at all universities and you can guarantee that the quality of information will increase.
Keep up the good work.
It's hard to have people on the pod when most of what you do is unknown to many folks. Huberman/Lex have their friends in academia or friends of friends that get recommended, but unless you reach out to them to talk about xyz topic, don't expect to get noticed.
hey man, ik u posted this a while ago but i’m doing my essay for school on this topic and i was wondering whether you had any references for this video that i could look into?
Ive definitely reduced my consumption of podcasts post 2020. Thinking about why you hit the nail on the head. Also I'm finding hosts are more locked into 3-4 topics. Just not as open and interesting as they once were.
Good points! What’s missing from this analysis is the problem that guests want to look good. Asking tough questions might scare away many guests and thus a podcaster won’t have guests. I suspect guests prefer softball questions rather than having to defend their views and podcasters prefer having lots of guests. Thus interviews are … lacking in quality most times. In US politics for instance, I really love that RFK and Vivek went on tons of podcasts that openly hated their views. That takes guts and confidence! Not sure if there is an equivalent in science and medicine/health. It’s tough!
I think we’re approaching a precipice with all of this podcast and social media chaos. People are truly fed up with being manipulated and driven in every direction simply for more views and attention. Most of my clients are completely confused about what to do when it comes to their health and fitness and have given up on trying to get it from the internet. This has been boding well for my business. I knew online coaching was more or less a scam or at least not effective. I can’t even watch the podcasts I used to get so much information and exposure to new topics/personalities. It simply doesn’t interest me anymore.
Those who interview "experts" all interview the same experts and each other which = they are all the same. I have listened to Diary of a CEO when he interviews health experts as a reminder to myself to be healthy (so confirmation bias, motivation and hoping to learn something new). One recently was saying extremely basic and obvious advice such as taking a walk in nature is good for your mental health and Steven was responding like it was a revelation to him that he has never heard or thought of before. That was ridiculous and turned me off. He also interviews celebs and the titles sound so "clickbaity" that I'm turned off and haven't listened.
Layne Norton deserves more views. Real knowledge
Expert.
Hmmm.
I was told years ago ; ‘Ex’ is a has been . ‘Spert’ is a drip under pressure.
Slightly tongue in cheek BUT effectively , it reinforced humility and constant question ,research and verify. Of Self and subject matter. The minute one believes one is an ‘expert’ you’re smug, off the boil, and learning nothing, or not enough. I’m forever grateful for that advice coz in the last 4 years it’s been invaluable.
I like this post. All of it resonated. It reminded me to remain vigilant.
Thank you.
What's the next evolution to this? I mean, some fields are definitely still debating over things and the science is developing every day, year, and decade to get better. Is it advisable to have podcast panels with differing opinions rather than 1-on-1s?
Great video by the way. It's very difficult for a layman to process through all the information and separate the charlatans from the real ones.
Depends on the subject, more niche subjects such as cyber security has some amazing podcasts. As the listener base will call them out for bs. This is key I feel to keeping them honest
Thank you for this. Critical thinking needs to be put back into the content creation sphere and podcasts are especially bad right now and have been for some time. You explained everything PERFECTLY.
05:50 true, cuz diet soda's will make you crave more sugar. So not causal, but correlated.
I had a conversation with my uncle for more than 2 hours, in one single unrepeated seating.
It Worths all the podcasts and everything I consume in the internet.
Just out of curiosity have you discontinued your podcast. Having just enjoyed your books I’ve started your podcasts but noticed you stopped last August?
I like audiodramas. They don’t have the guest problem. All the drama is based on plot, not hating real people. And there are literally hundreds of high quality dramas these days across all genres, some with big followings, some with very small, and anywhere from incredible art and entertainment to amateurish productions with a big heart. It’s quite an exciting time for audio fiction, perhaps a new golden age for an art that went out of fashion for a while. Happy listening!
thanks for breaking this down so clearly. It's an economics problem that can lead to huge social problems and disinformation
The problem with the modern experts these days is that they're all so exacting. It's all, "you've been doing this wrong! This is the ONLY way to do this." And that could be for anything: cooking a steak; lifting weights; bodybuilding nutrition; growing vegetables. The list goes on. Everything has to be optimum, and if it's not then it's considered pointless. Then to get their point across they'll just bullshit boggles brains you. Like they'll try to convince you that if you don't have some protein before bed then you'll never put on an ounce of muscle. Or if you put a lemon peel in your compost then nothing will grow in veggie patch. It's all utter nonsense.
If I just drop a comment, without anything to say, does it still help the channel?
I'd really do that just coz there isn't any sponsored ads, and actually when consuming your content I feel it's probably the closest to unbiased!
There's a massively recurring theme, that profit incentive turns everything good to utter shite sooner or later.
Great video overall but I would challenge the idea that guests "dilute their stocks" by appearing on multiple podcasts. Each podcast often has such a unique feel and structure that I'll often go listen to the same person on multiple podcasts to get a more rounded view of their message or personality.
The Rogan podcast became TRASH immediately after the Spotify deal. The amount of misinformation in his podcast is astonishing
Toros Neza
Guests promoting their own brands too. Great video.
Very good content James - well done! Psyche aka Psyche Thompson UK 🌹 - hopefully I can interview you some day.
Can you get Neutonic in Canada ?
The problem with podcasts is, like every popular thing, it’s a trend, and all trends die at some point!
I know this might sound dumb, but what is a good alternative to that?
As someone for example who learned a lot about psychology from Jordan Peterson, I recently saw really good criticism about him. Lots of things I took for granted bc I deemed him as a credible professional/expert and person.
I can’t possibly research every statistic/study that’s being quoted in a 2h podcast.
Also I and surely many others, listen to podcasts from „experts“, to gain knowledge instead of having to read. Is there any good alternative to this?
I don't think too much if any of this applies to Lex Fridman.
- He doesn't include ads or promotion in the podcast he just has affiliate links in the description (and all the promo he does is that he tells you to check those out without mentioning what they are)
- He will happily invite the same gues over an over again (like 3-4 times, 2 is pretty common). He'll also invite people who were on other podcasts and he even mentions it. (Actually, I don't think it's a problem. If I like a guest I'll frequently listen to multiple podcasts with multiple hosts.)
- Lex is a scientist and will ask about details if someone mentions a research paper (though Huberman is a scientist too and the BS about the soda was on his show). He'll also reference those in the description and/or show the abstract (and/or relevant figure from the paper, etc.) on the video while they are talking about it
Andrew Huberman's show is a bit of a disappointment. I thought I'd like it better after the first few episodes but it's not necessarily the content. His site is supposed to include all the references to the papers he references as well as those are there in the descriptions. At least this is true for the episodes where he talks about a specific topic by himself. Steven Bartlet (of a Diary of a CEO)... well, he's a bit cheesy for sure. I only listen to him very occasionally when he seems to have an interesting guest. His advertising is also the most intrusive probably. I've given up on Joe Rogan when I found Le Fridman because he had so much more interesting guests more frequently. So I didn't mind when Joe moved to Spotify where it would be inconvenient to listen to him, because everyone else I'm listening to on YT.
That's a bloody good video ! Thanks for the clarification James !
Wow thanks for explaining us what confirmation bias is so valuable, im sure there is one 8 year old watching this that didnt already know all this, amazing content bro
I stopped watching DOC for these very reasons. The soul has gone. It became very confusing. Am amazed the followers are growing.
I know what’s been bugging me about the big name podcasters who use a data driven, multivariate-testing approach. The data-driven approach - changing aspects of the content or thumbnails and measuring the response - is basically people-pleasing, writ large. The term for people who modify their behaviour solely to get the positive outcome that they want, is “people-pleaser”. People pleasers tend to be nice but inauthentic, and you never quite know who they are deep down, because they change shape to suit every situation. I see some of these podcasts (esp. DoaC) as kind of like a people pleaser. Good measurements or ratings are the consequence of being awesome. Changing your skin like a digital chameleon in order to get good stats is how you lose touch with who you are, why you’re making content, and why people liked you to begin with.
Enshitification is one of the most important concepts to understand about technology and internet based businesses today. It comes for everything: ride share services, video games, direct to consumer clothing, streaming platforms, and of course professional podcasts.
Stick to small hobby podcasts without sponsors, niche ones. The bigger things get, the quicker, the faster enshitification takes hold.
Very nice vid ! It is indeed becoming a very frustrating problem and trend
That was an excellent analogy The 2 experts that the lawyers both Bring
Very good indeed. I've been thinking exactly rhw same thing myself in recent years.
It just made me more selective about my information sources.
This is why I don't follow a single one of those podcasts. Excellent video!
Based on all the podcasts I consume, I need to....
Wake up at 5am, immediately go outside for a run and get some sunlight (even though it's pitch black in the UK till 8.00), Then submerge myself in ice water, not look at my phone, have my finances in order, meditate for 3 hours, write in my journal, do breathing exercises, not drink coffee, drink zero alcohol, no actually I can drink coffee, make sure I get a perfect 8 hours of sleep and I need to monitor this on a stupid watch with an app, eat 15 fruit and vegetables a day, but also only eat beef exclusively cause Jordan Peterson said so, eat zero sugar, consume 7 different vitamin/anti oxidant drinks, I also need to monitor this on an app.
Ohh and by the way, I also need to hold down a full time job as well as be a Dad, cook, do washing, do housework, wash myself etc....
Think I'm just gonna lay down...
Yes! Diary of a CEO does present conflicting information.
Completely agree with this. I find I don’t often listen to some of the shows I use to love for this reason.
If you're searching for a podcast that you can trust, not really heath related. I would highly recommend "Founders" and "How to take over the world". I really like both of these. Anyway, love the James, finally someone not being afraid to tell the truth!
Valid points, good summary. I only have time to listen to JRE but recently thought I’d look at diary of a CEO. Scrolled down about ten podcasts… all food, vegan and health. I assume that’s just what gets people commenting these days then!