So you’re not going to believe this, but I was listening to a podcast the other day (I’m sorry I can’t remember which one) and they discussed the science behind time flying by as you get older. If I recall correctly, the basis is we remember unique events clearly and they take up real estate in our memory bank. As we get older and live more routined lives we’re not experiencing new things as often as before. Wake up, work out, go to work, rinse, repeat — these mundane memories aren’t deemed important or unique enough to warrant space in your mind. Therefore, when you look back on the year you have fewer unique memories and time has flown by.

I’m writing this as I look over my 1-month old daughter. I’m tired, operating on way too much coffee, and my thoughts are as sporadic as ever — apologies in advance. The other day my wife asked if the last four or so weeks have gone by super quickly or super slowly. I said “both.”

It’s hard to believe Discover Pods is approaching our two year anniversary. The blog I started to share podcast recommendations with my friends simultaneously feels way younger and way older than two. I enjoy writing these look back articles because firstly, it gives me a rare moment to stop and reflect on the year and secondly, they serve as great time capsule pieces I can revisit down the road. For example, last years’ Review was basically focused on what we did wrong in the inaugural year and how we can improve this year.

We mostly succeeded? I think?

The big difference — and something I couldn’t have imagined at the time of writing that Review — is how the website changed. We were (and still are to a large degree) considered a website that reviews podcast, curates recommendation lists, and gives props to indie podcasters. Those are still very much part of our goal, but things changed on February 15th.

On February 15th, we published a story about how it’s possible to game the Apple Podcast charts and a likely candidate doing it. This story has since been re-reported and analyzed by several outlets including, Forbes, Podnews, VentureBeat, 9to5Mac, and a good podcast episode from Darknet Diaries. However, to the best of my knowledge, this was the first in-depth article on the subject.

This article put Discover Pods on the proverbial map. People were reading the article and coming to the site in waves the site hadn’t experienced. We even went down for awhile.

The article also brought on a scary legal threat. But that’s a story best told over drinks.

The added visibility also meant I could bring on my voices to Discover Pods and their work would be exposed to a larger audience. They’ve helped the site become better rounded with the podcasts and genres discussed, keen insight, and most importantly they’re all much better writers than I am. Quick shout-out to a few of these writers, in no particular order: Wil, Morgan, Ely, Eric, and Charlie. I encourage you all to check out their work both on Discover Pods and on their respective sites/newsletters/social media.

What Could We Have Done Better

I’m really hoping to fix it this year, but once again the Podcast Spotlights become disorganized, myself to blame. I’m a bottleneck and with the rest of the site (plus I do have a day job), if I don’t get to them ASAP they build up. If you’re in the queue, I truly appreciate your patience.

More diversity. This is likely going to be an ever-present thing we could do better simply because it’s not something you can really accomplish. Since inception, Discover Pods has made it our goal to champion indie podcasts and bring a little extra awareness to the lesser known podcasts. Though recommendations, reviews, spotlights, awards, and random games we attempt to accomplish this. That said … we could always do more.

Bringing on more writers with different perspectives and more importantly, different tastes, helps this cause and I’m excited on what 2019 will bring.

Site layout. As we write about more podcasts, topics, genres, and greater industry happenings the site architecture is becoming a bit cluttered. My aim for the next six months is to push iterative tweaks to the site design and navigation to be more seamless and user-friendly.

More attention to the newsletter. We have A LOT of newsletter subscribers and I feel I treat the monthly emails as second fiddle. My aim isn’t to clutter your inbox (only send one email each month), or take up too much time, but I still want them to be useful and enjoyed. I’ll think more on this.

Have fun. I just want to try new things and have more fun. I don’t exactly how this will manifest itself in the site or what we talk about, but it’s something I’m consciously thinking about.

If you have any suggestions and/or feedback, please please please email me at kevin@discoverpods.com. I want to keep making this site better and your feedback is invaluable.

My Favorite Things from the Year

In addition to the podcast chart hacking article, I think the articles we published this year were a magnitude above the prior year. We had exclusive features (links) on Jonathan Goldstein (Heavyweight), Dan Carlin (Hardcore History), Lauren Shippen (The Bright Sessions), Phoebe Judge (Criminal), Paul Bae (The Big Loop), Jake Brennan (Disgraceland), Andrew Jenks (What Really Happened?), Jody Avirgan (30 for 30), Helen Zaltzman (The Allusionist), Michael Rapaport (I AM RAPAPORT), and several others. Even typing that list I’m honestly blown away. 2019 has some tough shoes to fill.

Who do you want to learn more about? Send me a note and we’ll see what we can do.

My Favorite Articles of the Year:

Lastly, we continued two things I loved doing last year: The Podcast Trends Report and the Discover Pods Awards.

The Podcast Trends Report survey podcast fans to better understand their listening habits, challenges within the industry, and to map trend lines in the greater podcasting space. This year we found:

  • 76.8% of people listen to podcasts for more than 7 hours each week.
  • 61.2% of respondents spend more time listening to podcasts than watching TV.
  • 48.8% of respondents said they purchased an item after hearing it advertised on a podcast.
  • 57.4% of podcasters list marketing and building an audience among their top challenges.

For the Discover Pods Awards, we nearly doubled the amount of nominations and votes from the prior year. No awards will satisfy everyone, but we’re proud to have awarded and further recognized a nice mix of both mainstream and indie podcasts. See the full list of winners below, but I encourage you to check out all the finalists as well.

Best Overall Podcast 2018: My Favorite Murder

Best New Podcast of 2018: Dr. Death

Most Innovative Podcast: The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week

Desert Island Podcast: Radiolab

People’s Choice: True Crime Obsessed

Best Podcast Production Company: NPR

True Crime: Small Town Murder

Sports: ESPNs 30 for 30 Podcast

News: Pod Save America

History: Stuff You Missed in History Class

Interview Style: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Comedy: Last Podcast on the Left

Kids & Family: Varmints

Society & Culture: Ear Hustle

Entertainment: The Hamilcast

Technology & Science: Radiolab

Audio Drama: Girl in Space

Business: Freakonomics

Alright, I’m signing off. I hope to make it to midnight (in Europe) tonight. Have a safe New Years celebration and get 2019 off in the right way. Thanks, as always, for continuing to read and support Discover Pods.

Related posts:

The Insane Growth of Podcasts What does the future of podcasts hold? I Finally Made the Switch from Apple Podcasts App to Overcast
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