Podcasts v Audiobooks

[giblets]

Over the last few weeks I have been spending some time thinking about podcasts v audiobooks and which one brings the most value.

I possibly over-utilise podcasts. I try to listen to them as much as possible (instead of music), but I am beginning to think I could get more out of listening to audiobooks. I had podcasts on tech, news, personal development, minimalism, sport, and interesting topics (skeptics guide, the inquiry, etc). The audiobooks I like to listen to are autobiographies mostly, or non-fiction/history.

I am thinking maybe I cut back my podcasts to just news & sport (or tech), and spend the rest of my time listening to books on the other subjects, so as to gain a deeper more in depth perspective on those topics rather than the 20 to 40 minute bite size chunks that the podcasts offer.

Any tips? Has anyone gone through similar thoughts or process? My logic is that if I have started to think about this already is a sign that I should just do it.

[Brad_Hurst]

I've been thinking a similar thing.

Personally I think audiobooks pack a lot more information into them although I find I am less engaged as they tend to be spoken in a more monotone voice. (unless I'm just listening to the wrong ones!)

Podcasts are great if you find the right ones and I find I'm a lot more engaged and enjoy listening to them more. The hard thing I find is finding podcasts that complement the previous ones you have listened to as they tend to jump subjects.

Where as Audiobooks are set out in chapters and tend to be a lot more organised and set out the information better.

 

 

[WorkInProgress]

Because on of biggest interests right now are computers and programming. I feel like there are technical topics where an podcast can give you great bird-view information on specific topics (c++ and the current state of the language and supporting community) where there are no books about it. They are also pretty entertaining.

Audiobooks shine especially in biographies and historic contents as @giblet mentioned. I love to listen to them and especially the topics of computer history and hacking have some great audiobooks which are a good choice to learn more about the whole computer culture.

If you want to study special technical topics them visuals of diagrams and code are essential, so I have to read them in a book/pdf/wiki version.

To summarize my opinion: You need an intention behind consuming content.The medium of choice depends on the content you want to consume

[timon]

I used to binge audiobooks and podcasts all the time as well,... but I realize you need some time to process as well... so don't just cram shit in. And as WorkInProgress said, do it with intent!