Matt Levine talks to Elsie Escobar, an 18-year-plus podcasting veteran, mentor, strategist, and inductee to the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame.

They discuss the history of podcasting, what you must do to thrive in the new age of podcasting, and how to stand out in a world where thousands of creators are doing the exact same thing you’re doing.

• Elsie starts the conversation by describing what a podcasting advocate is and how podcasting has evolved from 2006 to now.
• She shares what a podcast is not and why there is still a lot of confusion around podcasting.
• Matt and Elsie discuss how podcasting started, the evolution of the space, and where the industry will be in the next five years.
• According to Elsie, the competition for podcasting is not radio or other podcasts; it’s anything people can do instead of listening to a podcast--this includes YouTube, movies, video games, etc.
• Elsie shares how she started her very first podcast, what it was like hosting an audio-only podcast, and the type of people who consumed her content.
• How podcasting went from being odd and weird to becoming cool and hype.
• Elsie and Matt agree that the constant demand to be visible, to be creating content, and to be pushing things out is what makes creators miserable.
• How to stand out in a world where thousands of creators are doing the exact same thing you’re doing.
• Elsie breaks down ways podcasters can be successful in today’s ultra-competitive market and the difference between building an audience today and building an audience in 2005.
• Podcasting is super competitive. Elsie’s advice for new podcasters is to focus on serving a small but engaged audience instead of trying to be the next big thing.
• When we create content online, everybody’s dream scenario is to go viral.
• According to Elsie, virality is not real because it’s almost impossible to replicate the virality that people crave.
• Elsie talks about the complexity of managing extremely large audiences.
• Once you start reaching millions of people, the freedom of saying and doing whatever you want goes away.
• Matt and Elsie talk about the identity challenge--and why most podcasters cannot separate their creative side from their personal life.
• Elsie describes what it’s like to be a woman in podcasting and why we need more diversity in podcasting--diversity of thought, language, and voice.
• Elsie explains what makes a podcast popular and whether there is a formula for becoming famous online.
• Why podcast metrics are not too different to those of broadcast television.
• What will podcasting look like 10 years from now?
• Elsie talks about the future of podcasting and why podcasts need to evolve to meet the expectations of the newer, younger generation.
• Matt describes how the model for publishing podcasts has changed. Right now it’s less about publishing content and more about making sure people see enough ads.
• Is it possible to get rid of ads in the content we consume? Matt and Elsie agree that it’s almost impossible because we live in a world where ads pay for everything.
• Elsie goes through the pros and cons of online ads and why she doesn’t like social media algorithms.
• According to Matt, the main reason social media sites use algorithms is so that you can keep seeing the stuff that you want to see without paying.
• For Matt, people love being sold to. They just don’t like being sold stuff they don’t want.
• Elsie talks about AI, how it will change the podcasting space, ways to use AI in your content creation process, and how to stay relevant in a world full of AI-generated content. 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Elsie Escobar on Instagram

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