Why are you guys so good at podcasts?

Posted by DufDaddy69@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 19 comments

I listen to podcasts more than music and I have to say, the UK puts out absolutely some of the best podcasts. Albeit most of my subject matter is history, current events, and football. However, the production quality, the research, and the formatting are far and away better than most things I find from this side of the Atlantic.

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True-Abalone-3380@reddit

the production quality, the research, and the formatting are far and away better

I'm tempted to say we have fewer crackpot shouty conspiracy nutcases.

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That_Northern_bloke@reddit

And those that do tend to be of an age that struggle with technology

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dynze@reddit

by not being fat and obnoxious

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EvilTaffyapple@reddit

Which ones also you listen to OP?

I’m not much of a podcast person but I’m interested now that people think we’re putting out some good ones.

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DufDaddy69@reddit (OP)

Big fan of goalhanger’s lineup and wondery puts out great pods about history as well.

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morecbt@reddit

There are far too many ads on the American ones.

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gogginsbulldog1979@reddit

The world needs much less podcasts. Whenever I hear of someone starting a new one, I just roll my eyes. A friend of mine has one and it's absolute dog shit, but he persists with it like he's gonna be Joe Rogan.

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InfiniteBaker6972@reddit

Well we have extraordinarily good radio here in the UK. Thanks to the BBC and a plethora of private & independent stations, we've 'grown up' with the idea that radio should be well produced and of a very high standard so it's kind of ingrained. As for the subject matter of the podcasts that's clearly subjective but again, as a nation we have a history of being interested in the world around us and learning about and from it. Bill Bryson said something along the lines that as a nation “If it moves, grows or just sits there looking interesting, you can bet there’s a British person watching it and taking notes.”

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Prestigious_Use_1305@reddit

I think this is key. The BBC sets a standard build also builds the skills network the private enterprise has to compete with but also gets a pipeline of talent from. The BBC also has the objectives to inform, educate and entertain. Most other media companies will only focus on the entertainment or inform (news). The BBC has a lot of cross pollination of all three that you don't see as much of in other media organisation.

The education aspect means that they will commit more budget to quality documentaries and more recently podcasting and have people like Hannah fry, Brian Cox, Dan Snow, David Attenborough etc that perhaps wouldn't get as much of a platform elsewhere

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No_Technology3293@reddit

As a fan of some American sports, and some TV shows I've tried to listen to several American podcasts over the years, and I'll have become tiresome, most recently due to the crazy amount of adverts in it.

The worst UK podcast for ads I listen to tends to have about 60-90sec ad at the start and same part way through.

I attempted to listen to a podcast episode by an NFL player last week, started of with 3 mins of adverts, then 2 mins conversation that was a stealth ad, introduced the guest for 30secs before another 3 mins of ads, got 5mins of interview before yet another ad break at which point I gave up.

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MissingLink101@reddit

Lots of other good points here but I'd also say we have a very good network of comedians and media/sports personalities that all mingle regularly on other productions too. Think of all the comedy panel shows we have and the mixture of guests you can have from different backgrounds but they all still have a great chemistry together.

They can all be quite famous here but still seen as relatively down to Earth in comparison to many celebrities in the US, which makes them more relatable and likeable in general.

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