Dani GassnerListening to podcasts 50 percent faster is either a convenient way to maximize your pod consumption or an unforgivable insult to the craft, depending on who you ask. As part of its annual list of Podcast power players, THR polled the industry’s top practitioners about accelerated listening. The answers were more mixed than we expected, with just over half of respondents endorsing the practice, most of the rest passionately rejecting it, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus hilariously baffled by what we meant by the question: “Thoughts on 1.5x”?
MrBallen (aka John Allen) — MrBallen Podcast
I totally get listening at 1.5x. People are busy, and it can be a good way to consume content if you’re really on the run! That said, it’s not for me. People watch blockbuster movies on their phones, but it certainly isn’t the same if you’re watching Star Wars on your phone vs in the theater. I want the full effect, the full impact of how the storyteller intended to deliver that story, and I’m sure it’s not with them sounding like a chipmunk.
Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor — Pod Save America, Crooked Media
1.2 is delightful. 1.5 is brisk but doable. When you start pushing 1.75x to 2x, maybe chill out. You’re not cramming for your “murdered ingenue” final at Dateline University. You’re just filling a little time before it’s your turn to say bowl or burrito.
Rachel Maddow — Ultra
If you’re in that much of a hurry and you really don’t care that much about who made it, and how they made it, maybe podcasting isn’t your thing — just get a transcript and skim it.
