Often when I talk with folks who know me from my podcast they will say something along the lines of, “I used to listen to your podcast!” Then they blush because their statement implies they don’t listen anymore (Exhibit A). And I just wanted to say…

I get it.

It’s fine. I take no offense. In fact, that’s part of the magic of podcasts! There’s an ebb and flow to them. Here’s ten reasons I give up on podcasts1:

  1. You need certain podcasts at certain times in your life.
  2. You and the podcast grow in different directions.
  3. You finish a season or story arc and it feels like a good stopping point.
  4. You find yourself subscribed to too many of the same kind of podcast (tech, murder mystery, actual play, two white dudes talking, etc).
  5. Nearly every podcast goes through an experimental phase and it’s okay not to join them on that cringe journey, you can catch up afterwards.
  6. Podcasts bring an immense amount of joy, but they can become another item on the to do list.
  7. There might be a global pandemic that cut your daily commute to zero and now you don’t have time for podcasts.
  8. You might get into audiobooks with a consistent narrative instead of rambly diatribes.
  9. People are only so original. When podcasts get a bit repetitive, it’s okay to peel off.
  10. A great reset where all podcasts must earn their position back in the queue!

Unsubscribe and if you miss it you can always go back. As long as they paid their hosting bill, it should still be there.

With RSS you can unplug from the machine. Podcasts – built on RSS – are the same. A never ending stream of content… but with latency. It’s important we celebrate the Thrill of Missing Out.

  1. You can also unsubscribe for petty reasons like audio quality or you don’t like the person’s voice, but I’d encourage you to seek past that best you can. ↩