041 - with Leah Culver of Breaker - On The Potential of Podcasts

Today we’re joined by Leah Culver, entrepreneur, avid podcast listener, and CTO of Breaker (the app we both use to listen to podcasts). Leah has joined us to discuss her business, the tech behind podcasting, and the state of the medium.

Podcasts are a strange phenomenon. They’ve existed and have been quietly growing in the creative underbelly of the internet for decades, but only recently have they become mainstream thanks to astronomical successes like, Serial. On the surface, podcasts are just radio shows, and radio shows have been around 100 years. So, what’s really made them vogue? Smart phones, easy and inexpensive recording technology, the ability to share anything with the world from your home? Or, is a deeper fundamental shift happening regarding individuals’ willingness to share and society’s desire to consume?

Leah dives in deeply with us in this episode. We discuss the proliferation of podcasts as a digital medium. We touch on the underlying technologies and the ecosystems being built on top (like Breaker). Finally, we dive into the past, present, and future of the podcast medium as a source of stories, news, and public discourse. Where did it come from, what does it look like now, and what’s the potential for the future of podcasting? We thinks it’s fantastic, and we hope you do to.

Enjoy this episode, and let us know how you feel about podcasts on our blog at https://www.zengineeringpodcast.com. And, as always, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes and support the show on Patreon.