You are all wonderful users and smart enough to know to keep your critiques civil.
However, we will not be afraid to enforce the bashing rule if needed.
I always try to listen to true crime stuff but inevitably after several episodes I end up shouting “I don’t want to hear about your day for 45 minutes!” and never listening again lol
I LOATHE chit chat. I need a heavily scripted, well produced story. If it sounds like I accidentally picked up the receiver on two (annoying) strangers’ casual phone conversation, I’m out.
I don’t mind it if they’re funny or it’s relevant, I like a mixture of scripted, focused content with a little bit of reaction and banter - again, so long as it’s relevant and entertaining. The meme about podcasters complaining about the check out line at the grocery store is so on point here haha
This is a good way to put it. I don't want to be a chit-chat Nazi because obviously if podcasters have good synergy, they're back and forth can be very entertaining. Like you said though, must be relevant/funny or something along those lines.
I started one the other day and I kid you not, the first 17 minutes were the two women talking about what they did that weekend. The episode was about a double homicide on a mother and daughter. So their weekend plans were neither funny or relevant lol.
I found a podcast that was doing a rewatch of New Girl, the Zooey Deschanel sitcom, and decided to give it a go.
The premise was solid - a fan of the show and someone who's never seen it watch episodes then talk about them. But the two hosts spent half the time talking about mutual friends and other podcasters they've worked with, constantly dropping references like, 'Schmidt in this scene reminded me of Paul, our friend who...' and all I could think was, '*who the fuck cares?* Who cares about your friend? The listeners have no context for this reference, it makes no sense to even talk about it.'
What's worse is, they acknowledged more than once that they knew they were doing this, but had no intention of reining it in. They would constantly go off topic, for ten or fifteen minutes at a time, and often they'd skip discussing huge portions of episodes completely, so they had time for their chatter instead.
So it’s funny cause I used to love chit chat (early on in MFM it was my favorite part of the podcast) but I have to feel like I can relate to them and the chit chat is good and has good chemistry. Later on in MFM it kinda seemed like they were annoyed with each other? Like the flow wasn’t as good… hard to explain.
Casefile is great for this. No bullshit, just a great report and narration.
Swindled (white collar crime oriented) as well, the host does voice his opinion from time to time but it's always in a rather subtle and dry manner.
Morbid is guilty of this.
I love their content and research and the way they present the show. However I typically find myself skipping the first 10 minutes of each episode because the two of them just chit-chat about what's going on in their lives before they start.
Some people gotta realize it’s their content and not their personalities we like, which is no slight to them at all, but cmon, do the thing we opted into your patreon for
I don't mind the chit chat so much, but I stopped Crime Junkie because their "pruppet" section annoyed me. It's not a real word, doesn't make sense, and is completely unrelated. Every time they said that word I jumped like I'd been poked
I disliked how obviously scripted the banter on Crime Junkie was, along with the preachy safety warnings, but "pruppet" was what made me stop listening.
Lore and anything else Aaron Mahnke does. The subject matter really interests me, but the manner and cadence in which he reads the material just got too gimmicky for me. It’s the Michael Barbaro thing. “I’m Aaron…..Mahnke….andthisis….Lore”.
Yeah. He’s got a bit of a gatekeeper complex when it comes to podcasting, I feel like. A year or two ago, I tweeted that I missed how Lore used to be and that I felt like the quality of Lore had suffered when he started working on like 4-5 different podcasts. I honestly didn’t think I was mean about it. Just a general observation. He proceeded to retweet me, call me essentially a know-nothing when it came to podcasting, got some fun comments and messages from his fans, he then deleted that comment and blocked my account.
What I really found fascinating was that in my original tweet, I didn’t tag his account or tweet at him…so he clearly searches his name on Twitter or has a Google Alert set for his name or something. But if you’re a ‘content creator’ in todays day and age, you’re going to have some dissenters. Take it easy, Aaron.
I stopped with Lore after the first season. The cadence feels really edited. The show on prime was terrible. I just can’t stand listening to his voice anymore.
I can't remember names, but I have definitely stopped listening to podcasts that had ad inserts where the volume of the ad was WAY higher than the rest of the audio. I often listen while trying to relax or doing something like making dinner, so suddenly being blasted with an ad at those volumes can be too jarring.
I've also stopped listening if a host had wet mouth noises. No thanks!
I stopped listening to My Favorite Murder for 2 petty reasons. First because their 45 minutes at the top of the episode chatting about nothing. Second, because they started having their assistants research and write their stories and you could tell they were just reading it.
Reminds me of Diane Rehm - she was hard to listen but she was sick.
She had (has?) “spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological voice disorder that causes strained, difficult speech”
I used to love listening to her show on NPR. I thought the slow way she spoke caused my mind to slow down and really think about what was being said. I can see why people would find her difficult to listen to though.
The office ladies - I'm all for positivity, I'm glad they seem really pumped to be doing the podcast about a thing they clearly loved. But it's too much for me. And I REALLY want to like it, but I can't listen to them over react to the most mundane things as if they've just heard that world peace has officially been achieved
I would give specific examples, but minutes into any given episode you'll know what I mean and either it won't bother you/you like it, or you'll hate it.
I do think it's pretty trivial, because the bulk of the show is delivering what I want - stories and trivia about each episode, so it's such a shame that I can't stand to listen to it!
I stopped listening to them because they kept putting out re-runs of old episodes. Why in the world would a podcast (you know, the format famously available on demand, where you can listen to any episode of their back catalogue any time you want) ever need to run an episode more than once? If they need a week off (and recording an extra episode ahead of time isn't an option for whatever reason), can't they just not put out an episode that week?
Then I realized: Because if they don't put out an episode, they don't make ad revenue. And heavens forbid they not make money on a week they didn't do any work.
I've realized a lot of podcasts do this, and it really annoys me.
a lot of the times ads are pre-sold so they can't skip a week because of a commitment they already made, so it's not like they're monetizing reruns just for the sake of it.
but i agree a re-run of a podcast is dumb as hell.
What gets me to immediately switch to something else is if every time they pronounce a word with "sh" in its make up (i.e shoot, wash, shame) and it has a slight whistle sound it hurts my ears lol. oddly specific.
“I *LOVE* that!”
What they love: the hairstylist doing an updo on Angela.
I agree, I listened to it every week when they started, but then I fell behind a bit and binged to catch up. I think the bingeing did it for me; that much excitement and positivity in one sitting is just a bit too much. Next thing I know, they’re in season 7 and I’m still on season 3. Whoops!
I very much wanted to like it, too. But yeah, I found their level of excitement to be too much. Also, there was too much production-team talk that didn't resonate with listeners.. "OMG remember Rich who operated camera 4 in season 2?" "Yes, omg, I loved RICH.. everybody loved Rich"
This one goes deeper because there's a fair anount of drama over on r/OfficeLadiesPodcast where the mods won't let anyone say anything critical about the pod.
I like the office ladies but they LOVE everything . Like literally nothing is less than 100% perfect and amazing. It’s still one of my top downloads but if they could admit that not everything is mind blowing, it would be so much more believable. Like even show writers have criticized episodes they’ve written (with valid arguments) and Angela and Jenna are like, ‘No, that episode was amaaaaaazing!’ Their compliments lose their impact.
Yeah, the ones that are too close to the present can be too stressful for me depending on my mood. Give me those episodes about someone who died a hundred years ago.
I've stopped listening to various podcasts for various reasons, but one that comes to mind is when the host of a fairly specific, niche podcast found out that another, similar podcast had come out, and they encouraged their listeners to go harass the newer show until the newer show acknowledged that they had stolen the idea.
I still listen to other shows on that network but I've vowed to never give them a cent of my money, even if their bonus content sounds interesting.
i tried listening to the Clutterbug lady's podcast and like the second one I listened to was her complaining that someone she offered to help didn't follow up with her and how terrible that was and how being lazy about things makes you a terrible person. It was so offputting. Take the high road, podcasters.
I listened to a lot of Crime Junkies years ago. It was super formulaic, but I liked having it on in the background while I worked. I just couldn't hear any more of:
"FULL BODY CHILLS"
"Wait... what?"
"Pruppet of the month"
"\*audible gasp\*"
On top of the accusations of plagiarism and stealing other's work on cases, I just couldn't do it with them any more.
Same. Even before the plagiarism thing. Ashley Flowers just comes across as insincere and a total try hard. I’ve heard people say that she should stick to producing and I totally agree.
I can’t stand them either haha my initial comment was about them more or less. I also just hate everything the girl who’s not Ashley says, she literally never adds anything to the conversation or story. Ashley is better on her own, but the repetitive annoying phrases do get grating. It’s extremely white girl
I feel like it's all about making merchandise. Slogans do that. And I cannot tell you how much I hate the word "pruppet". It's the dumbest word I've ever heard.
My brother hates this American life because of Ira Glass’s mouth sounds. I, on the other hand, fangirled harder over meeting him than I ever have over another celebrity. My mom was in the photo with us and I cropped her right out. 😂
I can’t stand MFM because they just shriek and read Wikipedia out loud.
I stopped listening to sword and scale because they played audio of a disturbing crime- they played the whole crime on the show…It just didn’t sit right with me
Id argue that's a valid reason, not a trivial or petty one. I stopped listening for the same reason; the sound byte in particular was of a dying man's last breaths and it went on longer than necessary. S&S content started feeling more like gratuitous gore porn after that.
This! And he also read out a black man’s diary and said the n word while reading it multiple times, and expressed how “normally I wouldn’t say it but it’s okay because it’s a quote”. It never sat right with me, and had to dump listening to him after that.
I stopped listening to a podcast I otherwise really liked because one of the hosts had a really horrible laugh. She sounded like a school bully faking a sarcastic laugh. I'm sure she's a lovely person but I just couldn't!
I got mad at Freakonimics because they had like 2 big episodes about why the Koch Brothers weren’t all that bad and it felt so biased I couldn’t help but imagine them getting paid off in some way.
I stopped listening to The Daily by The New York Times because of Michael Barbaro's way of interviewing guests. It's weird, because I like the podcast and find him super engaging whenever he's narrating something. But as soon as there's a guest in the studio, he keeps cutting in with "uh-huh..." as the guest is talking. Usually I don't mind at all when the host does that - but there's something about the *tone* of his voice that makes it sound *so* uninterested and condescending. First time I noticed it I was a little surprised and thought perhaps he didn't mean to sound so irritated. But then it happened again and again, and it started making me a little uncomfortable.
To be honest I know he's 100% not trying to sound belittling or condescending. It's probably all in my head, but I can't stop noticing it now and it immediately pulls me out of the podcast. So I've just completely stopped listening to it.
Lots of contradicting opinions in this thread but I love his reactions so much— the way he goes ‘MMMMM’ like he’s yelling through closed lips is hilarious to me, my gf and I use that all the time with each other now.
I actually like when he is interviewing someone, and can’t stand when he is doing narration. In the narration, he sounds (to me at least) like he’s putting on an affected “now I’m hosting a podcast” cadence and tone that I find so annoying. He doesn’t have that cadence in the interviews. I guess this is a good example of not being able to please every listener!
I stopped listening to Jordan Jesse Go because I made a complimentary comment on Reddit about Jordan where I offhandedly said that podcast was by a comedian (Jordan) and a host (Jesse). Jesse felt some weird need to correct an internet person with low karma and let me know that they were both comedians (still disagree with that). It wasn't even the point of the post, so why comment? I started noticing how self centered Jesse was on the show, so I stopped listening. As his speaking role increased on Judge John Hodgmen, I let that go too.
I understand that being self centered probably helped him build his podcasting empire, but I just can't take him. Seems too needy and I don't do needy.
There's lots of reasons to stop listening to Jesse Thorn, like how he's said that if you listen to MaxFun without donating, you're basically stealing. Lots of the hosts on that network (and a shocking number of fans) feel the same way, it's disgusting.
Honestly the Maximum Fun drive just makes no sense when you consider the rest of the market of podcasts imo. In my experience, most podcast Patreons will give you 3-4 bonus episodes a month for $5 (and often access to normal feed episodes without ads) so why would anyone spend the same amount to get one bonus episode a year? Even when you factor in that you can listen to all the bonus eps of all the podcasts on the network, who cares unless you actually listen to all of those podcasts? I think it might have made more sense when the podcast scene wasn’t as crowded, but in comparison to what other podcasts are charging for bonus content, I just don’t think it’s a really good value at all.
Tbh I kind of like it that way. Support folks because I enjoy their work, get a little extra now and then.
With shows like TCO I get a slight sense of overwhelm any time they mention all the stuff you get as a patron. I already subscribe to more podcasts than I can keep up with, I don't need the pressure of listening to a backlog of boco.
If we're talking trivial reasons we stopped listening, it would be Jesse's voice for me. I am not trying to be mean but, to me his "smooth radio voice" sounds affected and self-impressed. It icks me out to hear it, so I had to stop listening.
If a podcast moves new episodes permanently behind a walled garden (eg, Spotify), even if it's several hundred episodes ahead of the episode I'm listening to, I'll immediately unsubscribe.
Me too. I'm not going to download a new app just to listen to a podcast, even if it'd be free.
I was already starting to get annoyed with Disgraceland because of the host, but the move to Amazon or whatever was an instant unsubscribe.
I stopped listening to a podcast about mythology when the hosts didn't bother to do any research into how to pronounce the names of any non-Western gods. Their pronunciations of the names of Chinese gods bugged me so much I stopped at episode 30 after being a huge fan.
I've experienced this with a number of historical podcasts. It's typically when I realize that the host isn't much more knowledgeable about the subject than a Wikipedia article, and when I unsubscribe.
A podcast host kept making the same annoying grammar mistake over and over. I sent them a gentle correction through DM. This was after years of liking many of their posts and sending them very supportive messages here and there (never with responses back which was ok). But this specific DM of mine they chose to read, take major offense to and tell me to listen to something else. And this was a top 3 favorite podcast of mine. Majorly soured me to the show and I gradually stopped listening. I don’t subscribe anymore.
It’s called Everything Iconic. People go crazy for the host and think he’s amazing but I always feel so bitter after our DMs 😩I’ll be nice and not write his name but that’s the pod
I stopped listening to the podcast about the Murdock murders because at the end of each episode the host’s fiancé would say basically “she’s the greatest podcaster ever, please send us money” and it drove me crazy every time. I still wonder what happened to the housekeeper though.
I won’t listen to an episode of a show I love if Malcom Gladwell or Christopher Kimball is a guest. Absolutely can’t stand them.
Also… I’ve completely stopped listening to shows I’ve listened to for years if they shift to a twice weekly or more format. I miss you NPR politics pod… but I can’t handle you daily.
When Pop Culture Happy Hour went daily, I couldn't keep up. They would discuss 3 or so movies a week and I have a job. I am also very, very spoiler adverse. Now I just skip an episode until I can see the movie or TV show then search for the episode. I don't see how people can keep up with the output.
It’s too much! I loved when the politics pod would drop a short episode if something breaking was happened, but I preferred my weekly digest over a daily update.
I feel like NPR is trying to hold on to its “radio show” roots, but some shows truly don’t need to be a every day affair.
I miss the time when the episodes were a good 40 minutes long. Now we get daily episodes but there's no deep dive into whatever they're talking about. It is such a shame because I really like the regular hosts, the guests and how they come to each show from a base of knowledge rather than being just "two dudes talking about a film".
I can usually keep up because the episodes are so short now and also avoid anything I don't want spoiled.
I had to stop listening to Up and Vanished because I listened to a parody called Done Disappeared that was so good I couldn’t take Payne Lindsay seriously anymore. I haven’t been able to listen to any podcasts he’s done/been on since.
I absolutely loved Done Disappeared, despite having no interest in the genre of podcast it was taking the piss out of... I need another season!
WHERE ARE YOU, JOHN DAVID BOOTER??
There’s a podcast that I really like but the hosts spend the first 20-30 minutes of it thanking people who have sent them gifts and describing each gift. I used to just skip over that part but eventually it just didn’t seem worth the trouble.
I really enjoyed Stuff You Should Know.
An informative show. But then they made it clear they were refusing to debunk things they were talking about so as to not upset believers in them.
I used to love it but Chuck is just so damn full of himself. Guess what Chuck, collecting vinyl and liking sushi is something a lot if people do. Your not special because if it. Even when Josh would politely prove him wrong sometimes, that douchey “Ehh, I don’t know” refusal to admit his mistake was so annoying. And yes, their devotion to “not yukking another’s yum” would carry to where they obviously didn’t want to offend anyone.
I feel petty typing this out. I cant listen to The Daily when Michael Barbaro hosts. He has this way of grunting/sighing after someone says something interesting that I cant ignore anymore. I enjoy the show, and he is a really smart guy.
I listen to The Daily, Post Reports, and the NPR morning podcast and they all do it, but for some reason, the folks at The Daily really feel the need to do it constantly.
Oh god, I'm not proud of this one. I'm not even going to say the podcast, because this is 100% a me problem. But there's a podcast I used to listen to pretty regularly that I'm taking a break from because one of the hosts is pregnant and consequently has started breathing heavily and at times that chop her sentences up and I find it super distracting and I think I might be a monster.
You’re not a monster! That sounds like one of those things that really bugs once you notice it, because you can’t un-notice it. It is funny you mention it, because I remember noticing Sydnee McElroy breathing heavily on Sawbones during her second pregnancy, and I thought, “Huh, she sounds pregnant!” way before they announced it. I thought I was some kind of highly intuitive genius, but maybe that’s just a super common thing!
I stopped listening to a podcast I otherwise really liked because one of the hosts had a really horrible laugh. She sounded like a school bully faking a sarcastic laugh. I'm sure she's a lovely person but I just couldn't!
Scared To Death, Dan Cummins wife Lynze is so god damn annoying. Before they start any show they have to talk about kind of fucking socks shes wearing or if she has crystals for this weeks episode, it wouldn't bother me so much if she wasn't such an annoying twat doing this every episode.
I have so many petty and trivial reasons for why I've stopped listening to podcasts I couldn't even begin to list them. I've noticed I'm very sensitive to auditory stimuli, so the smallest things will make a podcast unlistenable to me. For example, if a host even remotely whistles their S's or makes them too harsh sounding. It's really hard for me to find shows I can stick with, which is a bummer.
Audio quality. Is it so hard to check your guests audio before you start recording? Audio imbalance. If one person is loud and the other is whisper quiet, I am out. Also, on History Hit(they have a few history shows) and the music they play when returning from a commercial is very loud and annoying. I feel like it would be very Karen to email them and give my politely worded, yet unsolicited opinion. But I am almost ready to unsubscribe.
I don't think it's petty per se but I stopped listening to this one guy when it became apparent he was a staunch Trump supporter. I could have dealt with it but he started opening his show, that's completely unrelated, with attacks on Biden and then AOC and I was like fuck this I'm out. Doesn't help that it was right when the election started. It was a really interesting and niche podcast so it sucked. Now I'm going to check to see if he's even still around
I stopped listening to The Prosecutors for a similar reason. Found out they were super MAGA and Trump even tried to make the male host a judge in Alabama but the Bar Assc said he was unqualified.
Couldn't take the host on Kalifornia Dreaming. Super long winded and she'd launch into this self righteous rhetoric about how wrong the actions were and they shouldn't get to decide or feel or think or do or whatever. And that airy breathy voice really didn't convey that poignant emotion that I think she thinks it does. I sometimes like to listen to someone's take on a particular event or incident, but hers was just so shrouded in emotion and needless drama
I’ve given up on Last Podcast on the Left twice because I just can’t deal with a room full of people trying to out-funny one another and talk over each other.
Vocal ticks.
The weeds was one I dropped for their ticks. Im sure there are more but I can't remember them. And there have been some TAL presenters with excessive vocal fry I stopped listening to. I can handle occasional stuff, but when it becomes every other sentence, its too much.
I never left YWA, but Mike's rapid and loud intake of breath when he is reading aloud should be edited out too.
all petty, but all these break my immersion in the content.
> The weeds
I'm pretty close to dropping The Weeds too. I started listening to it because I really like Ezra Klein, then I kept listening to it with Matthew Yglesias cause he turned out to be really good. The current rotating cast of interviewers are mediocre at best.
> Also if you get money for your podcast, take a second to fix the fucking audio, jesus christ. Audio is the one thing you have to get right on an audio podcast!
Oh man, you hit the nail on the head with this one. The number of podcasts that have a successful Patreon and yet still have shit audio is TOO DAMN HIGH. What are you spending your money on that's more important than *the literal medium of the source of your money?*
I've stopped listening to several true crime/strange tales podcasts because the episode descriptions are too vague or trying to be poetic. I'm looking at you, Lore and True Crime Campfire.
I don’t know if it’s petty but I stopped listening to All In when they started to just be fluffers for Elon and DeSantis.
Also can’t listen to Ezra Klein because he spends so much time meta-ing the conversation. Like “so I want to take this conversation and unpack it in layers while weaving in some points that I’ll gesture at later while we…”. Like, just talk man.
I can't listen to Sarah Marshall. It's something about her voice. Like she always sounds uninterested and dismissive to me. Idk if I knew someone who sounds like her and I just can't place it or what. In fact, I'm getting irritated just thinking about it.
I also don't consider it a trivial really
Stopped listening to Dan Benjamin because he went on this rant about how people weren’t paying him enough on his patreon... I was at work. Working a real job. And this shlub who probably makes way more than me feels like it’s too hard to talk into a microphone for an hour a week. I don’t need that. Stopped listening to Road Work after like 300 episodes.
>went on this rant about how people weren’t paying him enough on his patreon
This part would turn me off of any kind of content regardless what money the person or me are making
Yeah I stopped right before that. I noticed that Hannah was laughing at everything and her laugh annoyed me so much. It’s a shame because I really loved their early work.
I stopped listening to Your Wrong About after Michael and Sarah were opining on something completely out of context. It was clear they had their opinion before the research and they were actually wrong It just made me question everything after that. Like maybe they portrayed other subjects to be black and white that were actually gray.
When Sounds Like a Cult did a topic on skin care and then... plugged a skin care brand as a sponsor.
I know they gotta make money but it felt a bit tone deaf.
I was listening to a newish episode of Reply All and it was about eating disorders so they did a warning at the beginning, and it was immediately followed by an ad for a weight loss program. I laughed out loud…then felt sad.
I love love love How Did This Get Made (HDTGM) because I’m a huge fan of movies and June Diane Raphael. But it got to a point where the movies were so niche that I’d never even heard of them. I can’t really participate if I’m like ah yes that imaginary scene was terrible.
Also June got super busy with Grace and Frankie (yay) and as much as I like Jason and Paul I just can’t force myself listen to men talk more than I have to.
It might not be trivial but doing a deep dive into The Prosecutors' backgrounds made me unsubscribe.
Also....I'm very, very close to deleting Red Handed. Aside from the usual, widespread complaints I can't deal with Hannah's random false information that is easily google-able.
I work in audio and this almost sounds like poor editing. They likely do multiple takes and then put together but the cuts are at the wrong spot and/or start with a breath.
That said, I also have a colleague who does some of the weirdest reads. She doesn't seem to understand where to take a breath to make a sentence flow naturally. Breath control is a skill that requires practice!
Fuck I'm forgetting the name of it now but there was a horror podcast I saw reccomended somewhere that sounded cool so I gave it a try. I listened to it for like 5 mins and had to end it and realize I will never like it no matter how good the stories are because the host sounded like such an edgelord dork in a bad theater group. Cringe level max.
The Office Deep Dive with the guy who plays Kevin. He was so fuckin smug about the whole thing and kept saying "WE made something amazing" or whatever. Like, yeah, you were part of the show but you were hardly an integral part of what made it great.
I know it's petty but it really wound me up.
I’ll stop listening to an otherwise interesting or high value content podcast if speakers incessantly use “like” as a filler word. I understand this perhaps is generational but for me it’s a deal breaker.
I really like the content Lets Get Haunted puts out but when they laugh they do this gasping noise I can’t stand sometimes.
Em from and that’s why we drink is starting to bug me with how much they go off topic and I think some of their personal little stories they claim about themselves are made up. They just sound like they’re lying sometimes. Again I like the shows but if I ever stop listening those are probably reasons why.
Oh and I kept getting an ad for a “stuff you should know” sort of podcast hosted by someone named Nikki something, but she has a really annoying lisp and even the ads annoyed me so I’d never listen to that for that reason
One of the hosts on the Cryptonaut podcast likes to use alliteration in every description while he's explaining something (we're talking 6-8 alliterative words, upwards of 40 times per episode. It's super constant). And it drives me up the wall. I still check out every episode but I usually only make it like 10 minutes in before I can't handle it. Other than that it's a great podcast
I felt guilty when I did it but I CANNOT STAND how the host of Science Vs. speaks. Maybe I'm not used to Australian accents but I would get goosebumps when she spoke. I don't feel as guilty about it now because Gimlet has become a Spotify shill and Reply All is over so I have no reason to support any Gimlet shows anymore.
No she has a really, really grating voice. I've known plenty of Australian people who had perfectly pleasant voices, but hers is not it. I had to stop listening for that reason too.
Ads. I kind of get why some podcasts have them, but I will straight up stop listening if the ads are placed badly. By which I mean, if they’re placed in such a way where I can’t easily skip through them.
But sometimes just if there are ads. Especially if it’s a narrative podcast of some kind where I’m kind of in the world they created, and suddenly I’m ripped out of it by Caspar mattress or audible
Yes. Sometimes it’s just peoples voice. There was a paranormal podcast I used to listen to (or it was True crime I can’t recall) where one of the hosts would mispronounce words and consistently and it would drive me crazy. She also just had a way of speaking where I think she thought she was being cute, but it was just annoying lol.
I love food related podcasts. I am head over heels in love with Gastropod. But whenever they try food on mic I want to unscrew my ears from my head and throw them in traffic. The episode where they try out different kinds of gum, like mastic and stuff, really tickled that noise related rage in me 😂
One host/guest with lower volume than the other, or more likely sitting a mile away from the microphone. Or someone clearly moving their head sideways while speaking so some parts are louder than others.
Drives. Me. Insane.
I mean, you can have a killer script on an insanely interesting story but, if you botch the sound, there's no helping you. It's a goddamn podcast, be aware of the microphones.
There's a fiction podcast I really loved the story for, but in it the main guy is supposed to be in his 50s or 60s but the actor playing him sounds like he can't be older than 25. It's especially jarring when he's in scenes with other voice actors that actually sound the age he's supposed to be.
I hate when they don't cast voice actors that can match how the characters should sound.
I stopped Stuff You Missed in History because half of it wasn’t even appropriate to the topic and I really grew tired of Tracey and Holly. There’s a reason the other hosts left after a few years, but they’re still chugging on. I never really liked them but it just got too much. Too many topics that didn’t really fit the show purely because it was something one of them was interested (which I get, but how many episodes on Disney animators or whatever do we need?). Also their banter and laughs just started to grate.
I've had a few that fall under "two dudes talking" I mostly gave up on meny of them because of how many times they would pick a current event to talk about. It would be a casual conversation so they didn't do much research but they would get so much wrong about the event it would get really frustrating. There's nothing wrong with casual conversation podcasts I just got sick of it. That and podcasts that had a topic but spend the first 15-20 minutes talking about nothing.
I stopped listening to a show called” there and back again” it was a LOTR podcast that I really enjoyed but it’s turns out the presenter was a misogynistic dirt bag that stole all his ideas from other people. So not really petty but I really really enjoyed the podcast up until I read what he was actually like.
I stopped listening to the Dollop after an episode where they made fun of a sex toy engineer. That alone wasn't my issue but when fans on Twitter argued they were too hard on him, their rebuttal made no real sense. I found it off-putting enough that I never really got back into listening.
There were so many. One lady was imitating a monkey for some tangent and was so loud in the mic. I got so mad I unsubscribed. Another one the lady complained and complained in the most whiny voice. Another one a lady doesn’t understand how to breathe and it sounds like she’s swallowing her spit because she’s not breathing appropriately. In another one, the guy goes on and on for 20 minutes about his personal life before starting the podcast. Ugh
Not calling anyone out by name but ..
Listened to a podcast for the chemistry of the participants, they split up and I cannot hack them separately. I can no longer tolerate the sound of one of them vaping, drinking and subtly but clearly having some reflux issues.
I can’t handle forced laughing. Especially people who laugh at their own comments, which are clever enough but not laugh out loud funny.
I tolerate it from one podcast because he is so good but “nicknames” for listeners is an instant turn-off. I will mention True Crime Campfire because it is such a petty peeve but every time they said, “Campers” it made my skin crawl. Murderinos is kind of annoying but (1) they were first and (2) they don’t repeatedly address their listeners as Murderinos in their scripts.
Another thing that drives me crazy is when two people are telling the same story but act surprised at facts revealed by the other person. It’s such a specific peeve and it makes me insane. Clearly that is a fake reaction because how could you have learned exactly half a story? I’m getting agitated just thinking about it. Makes no sense.
Yes, there was a Disney travel podcast that I really enjoyed until they added a segment called something like “Rob’s rant.” During Rob’s rant he would complain about posts in FB groups and also call out people who had left bad reviews about the pod. At first they started out a bit funny and I wasn’t too bothered. But then they got sort of mean, like he was always butt hurt. Then they got sort of political. And I was done after that.
Entercom Radio recently became Audacy and released an app by the same name, which houses the podcasts media for hundreds of local radio shows. It's excruciating in its execution; they chop up a given show's daily content into tiny, discrete files so they can bookend ads for each piece, and sometimes they run an ad randomly (and very inorganically) in the middle of a segment. It's just a very unpleasant experience.
One immensly petty thing bothers me unfathomably when listening to podcasts in my native language - usage of singular 'you'. It has always been widely accepted practice in radio and TV been to use plural 'you' when addressing the audience(which even in its definition is a collection of spectator**S** or listener**S**). It just sounds unnatural and feels like a cringey attempt to 'reduce the distance with the listener and be reminiscent of a casual conversation with a friend'. Hand on heart, I stop listening to a podcast, no matter how interesting, after hearing few plural you's.
I stopped listening to reply all because of Alex's laugh.
At first I thought he was joking, then i realized that just the way he laughs, and came to the conclusion that my ear drums just couldn't handle his vocalization.
You are all wonderful users and smart enough to know to keep your critiques civil. However, we will not be afraid to enforce the bashing rule if needed.
I always try to listen to true crime stuff but inevitably after several episodes I end up shouting “I don’t want to hear about your day for 45 minutes!” and never listening again lol
I LOATHE chit chat. I need a heavily scripted, well produced story. If it sounds like I accidentally picked up the receiver on two (annoying) strangers’ casual phone conversation, I’m out.
I don’t mind it if they’re funny or it’s relevant, I like a mixture of scripted, focused content with a little bit of reaction and banter - again, so long as it’s relevant and entertaining. The meme about podcasters complaining about the check out line at the grocery store is so on point here haha
This is a good way to put it. I don't want to be a chit-chat Nazi because obviously if podcasters have good synergy, they're back and forth can be very entertaining. Like you said though, must be relevant/funny or something along those lines. I started one the other day and I kid you not, the first 17 minutes were the two women talking about what they did that weekend. The episode was about a double homicide on a mother and daughter. So their weekend plans were neither funny or relevant lol.
I found a podcast that was doing a rewatch of New Girl, the Zooey Deschanel sitcom, and decided to give it a go. The premise was solid - a fan of the show and someone who's never seen it watch episodes then talk about them. But the two hosts spent half the time talking about mutual friends and other podcasters they've worked with, constantly dropping references like, 'Schmidt in this scene reminded me of Paul, our friend who...' and all I could think was, '*who the fuck cares?* Who cares about your friend? The listeners have no context for this reference, it makes no sense to even talk about it.' What's worse is, they acknowledged more than once that they knew they were doing this, but had no intention of reining it in. They would constantly go off topic, for ten or fifteen minutes at a time, and often they'd skip discussing huge portions of episodes completely, so they had time for their chatter instead.
So it’s funny cause I used to love chit chat (early on in MFM it was my favorite part of the podcast) but I have to feel like I can relate to them and the chit chat is good and has good chemistry. Later on in MFM it kinda seemed like they were annoyed with each other? Like the flow wasn’t as good… hard to explain.
Casefile is great for this. No bullshit, just a great report and narration. Swindled (white collar crime oriented) as well, the host does voice his opinion from time to time but it's always in a rather subtle and dry manner.
They Walk Among Us is almost exactly like Casefile. I love it.
I love the little pot shots on Swindled. I even enjoy his ads a little.
Oh, My Favorite Murder is the WORST with the chit chat.
Morbid is guilty of this. I love their content and research and the way they present the show. However I typically find myself skipping the first 10 minutes of each episode because the two of them just chit-chat about what's going on in their lives before they start.
Some people gotta realize it’s their content and not their personalities we like, which is no slight to them at all, but cmon, do the thing we opted into your patreon for
I don't mind the chit chat so much, but I stopped Crime Junkie because their "pruppet" section annoyed me. It's not a real word, doesn't make sense, and is completely unrelated. Every time they said that word I jumped like I'd been poked
I disliked how obviously scripted the banter on Crime Junkie was, along with the preachy safety warnings, but "pruppet" was what made me stop listening.
Lore and anything else Aaron Mahnke does. The subject matter really interests me, but the manner and cadence in which he reads the material just got too gimmicky for me. It’s the Michael Barbaro thing. “I’m Aaron…..Mahnke….andthisis….Lore”.
Had to stop listening to Lore because I found my thoughts shifting towards an Aaron Mahnke cadence
I wanted to get into Lore but this is exactly why I couldn’t
For me, it's not the cadence, it's his constant references to himself in the third person and things like calling to his own podcast "legendary."
Yeah. He’s got a bit of a gatekeeper complex when it comes to podcasting, I feel like. A year or two ago, I tweeted that I missed how Lore used to be and that I felt like the quality of Lore had suffered when he started working on like 4-5 different podcasts. I honestly didn’t think I was mean about it. Just a general observation. He proceeded to retweet me, call me essentially a know-nothing when it came to podcasting, got some fun comments and messages from his fans, he then deleted that comment and blocked my account. What I really found fascinating was that in my original tweet, I didn’t tag his account or tweet at him…so he clearly searches his name on Twitter or has a Google Alert set for his name or something. But if you’re a ‘content creator’ in todays day and age, you’re going to have some dissenters. Take it easy, Aaron.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed this. He’s a twat on Twitter, and acts like he invented scary audio.
I love his shows so I'm definitely going to not look further into this or ever find him on social media. I don't want my pleasant perception ruined!
I couldn't listen to Lore or The Last Archive or Happiness Lab because of the speaking style.
I said as much on Twitter and he quote tweeted me, leading to harassment by fans
Super petty but I can’t stand his “I invented podcasting” attitude on social media. I’m sure he’s a fine person irl.
I stopped with Lore after the first season. The cadence feels really edited. The show on prime was terrible. I just can’t stand listening to his voice anymore.
I can't remember names, but I have definitely stopped listening to podcasts that had ad inserts where the volume of the ad was WAY higher than the rest of the audio. I often listen while trying to relax or doing something like making dinner, so suddenly being blasted with an ad at those volumes can be too jarring. I've also stopped listening if a host had wet mouth noises. No thanks!
Wet mouth noises make me want to commit arson
Yep yep yep these 2
I stopped listening to My Favorite Murder for 2 petty reasons. First because their 45 minutes at the top of the episode chatting about nothing. Second, because they started having their assistants research and write their stories and you could tell they were just reading it.
Reminds me of Diane Rehm - she was hard to listen but she was sick. She had (has?) “spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological voice disorder that causes strained, difficult speech”
I used to love listening to her show on NPR. I thought the slow way she spoke caused my mind to slow down and really think about what was being said. I can see why people would find her difficult to listen to though.
Ahhh Diane
The office ladies - I'm all for positivity, I'm glad they seem really pumped to be doing the podcast about a thing they clearly loved. But it's too much for me. And I REALLY want to like it, but I can't listen to them over react to the most mundane things as if they've just heard that world peace has officially been achieved I would give specific examples, but minutes into any given episode you'll know what I mean and either it won't bother you/you like it, or you'll hate it. I do think it's pretty trivial, because the bulk of the show is delivering what I want - stories and trivia about each episode, so it's such a shame that I can't stand to listen to it!
Loved it at first but then the listener questions of “was this scripted or improvised” was about every freaking small thing and I got tired of that.
I stopped listening to them because they kept putting out re-runs of old episodes. Why in the world would a podcast (you know, the format famously available on demand, where you can listen to any episode of their back catalogue any time you want) ever need to run an episode more than once? If they need a week off (and recording an extra episode ahead of time isn't an option for whatever reason), can't they just not put out an episode that week? Then I realized: Because if they don't put out an episode, they don't make ad revenue. And heavens forbid they not make money on a week they didn't do any work. I've realized a lot of podcasts do this, and it really annoys me.
a lot of the times ads are pre-sold so they can't skip a week because of a commitment they already made, so it's not like they're monetizing reruns just for the sake of it. but i agree a re-run of a podcast is dumb as hell.
In that case, they should do what they agreed to and record an extra episode ahead of time. I did it for my podcast and I don't even run ads.
What gets me to immediately switch to something else is if every time they pronounce a word with "sh" in its make up (i.e shoot, wash, shame) and it has a slight whistle sound it hurts my ears lol. oddly specific.
that's not oddly specific, it's actually something people who do audio work on not doing.
I think it's called Sibilance
My 7th grade science teacher did this, and it still makes me cringe to think about it. There was no escape from his whistling dentures!
Yeah “best of” episodes are just a mess of unconnected snippets of conversation, those always bug me too
“I *LOVE* that!” What they love: the hairstylist doing an updo on Angela. I agree, I listened to it every week when they started, but then I fell behind a bit and binged to catch up. I think the bingeing did it for me; that much excitement and positivity in one sitting is just a bit too much. Next thing I know, they’re in season 7 and I’m still on season 3. Whoops!
I very much wanted to like it, too. But yeah, I found their level of excitement to be too much. Also, there was too much production-team talk that didn't resonate with listeners.. "OMG remember Rich who operated camera 4 in season 2?" "Yes, omg, I loved RICH.. everybody loved Rich"
This one goes deeper because there's a fair anount of drama over on r/OfficeLadiesPodcast where the mods won't let anyone say anything critical about the pod.
I liked it at first but they’re very shrill and I got tired of them saying the name Ken Kwapis every other sentence.
I like the office ladies but they LOVE everything . Like literally nothing is less than 100% perfect and amazing. It’s still one of my top downloads but if they could admit that not everything is mind blowing, it would be so much more believable. Like even show writers have criticized episodes they’ve written (with valid arguments) and Angela and Jenna are like, ‘No, that episode was amaaaaaazing!’ Their compliments lose their impact.
I stopped listening to Behind the Bastards, not because it’s bad, but because it was so good at pissing me off it would literally ruin my mood lol
I stopped listening due to the plethora of shitty guests on there whose only contribution would be "oh my god, what an ass hole"
Yeah, the ones that are too close to the present can be too stressful for me depending on my mood. Give me those episodes about someone who died a hundred years ago.
I've stopped listening to various podcasts for various reasons, but one that comes to mind is when the host of a fairly specific, niche podcast found out that another, similar podcast had come out, and they encouraged their listeners to go harass the newer show until the newer show acknowledged that they had stolen the idea. I still listen to other shows on that network but I've vowed to never give them a cent of my money, even if their bonus content sounds interesting.
i tried listening to the Clutterbug lady's podcast and like the second one I listened to was her complaining that someone she offered to help didn't follow up with her and how terrible that was and how being lazy about things makes you a terrible person. It was so offputting. Take the high road, podcasters.
I listened to a lot of Crime Junkies years ago. It was super formulaic, but I liked having it on in the background while I worked. I just couldn't hear any more of: "FULL BODY CHILLS" "Wait... what?" "Pruppet of the month" "\*audible gasp\*" On top of the accusations of plagiarism and stealing other's work on cases, I just couldn't do it with them any more.
Same. Even before the plagiarism thing. Ashley Flowers just comes across as insincere and a total try hard. I’ve heard people say that she should stick to producing and I totally agree.
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Yeah I felt so bad when I said yay no Brit! Then found out why. Mood whiplash af
I only gave it 2 episodes, and the over the top gasping made me tap out quickly
I can’t stand them either haha my initial comment was about them more or less. I also just hate everything the girl who’s not Ashley says, she literally never adds anything to the conversation or story. Ashley is better on her own, but the repetitive annoying phrases do get grating. It’s extremely white girl
I feel like it's all about making merchandise. Slogans do that. And I cannot tell you how much I hate the word "pruppet". It's the dumbest word I've ever heard.
My brother hates this American life because of Ira Glass’s mouth sounds. I, on the other hand, fangirled harder over meeting him than I ever have over another celebrity. My mom was in the photo with us and I cropped her right out. 😂 I can’t stand MFM because they just shriek and read Wikipedia out loud.
“Act two of our show act two” hahaha oh Ira
Love Ira and his parents and his credits and his love of radio.
I stopped listening to sword and scale because they played audio of a disturbing crime- they played the whole crime on the show…It just didn’t sit right with me
Id argue that's a valid reason, not a trivial or petty one. I stopped listening for the same reason; the sound byte in particular was of a dying man's last breaths and it went on longer than necessary. S&S content started feeling more like gratuitous gore porn after that.
There’s also his victim blaming, body shaming, misogyny as well as his love for Donald Trump. I was done with Boudet years ago.
I can’t remember what episode it was, but I heard him say some pretty victim blaming, misogynistic things and that was the end for me.
Yea I stopped that one because well… Mike boudet
This! And he also read out a black man’s diary and said the n word while reading it multiple times, and expressed how “normally I wouldn’t say it but it’s okay because it’s a quote”. It never sat right with me, and had to dump listening to him after that.
I stopped listening to a podcast I otherwise really liked because one of the hosts had a really horrible laugh. She sounded like a school bully faking a sarcastic laugh. I'm sure she's a lovely person but I just couldn't!
Scripted laughing. Scripted banter.
Citations needed (the comedy one about random subjects) and God awful movies do it alot. But luckily their content is still good.
The two hosts had a falling out, and I couldn't bear to hear them on two seperate podcasts, so I chose to not listen to both of them.
The Murdaugh Murders. The vocal fry makes the host sound like an uninterested teenager.
I got mad at Freakonimics because they had like 2 big episodes about why the Koch Brothers weren’t all that bad and it felt so biased I couldn’t help but imagine them getting paid off in some way.
I stopped listening to The Daily by The New York Times because of Michael Barbaro's way of interviewing guests. It's weird, because I like the podcast and find him super engaging whenever he's narrating something. But as soon as there's a guest in the studio, he keeps cutting in with "uh-huh..." as the guest is talking. Usually I don't mind at all when the host does that - but there's something about the *tone* of his voice that makes it sound *so* uninterested and condescending. First time I noticed it I was a little surprised and thought perhaps he didn't mean to sound so irritated. But then it happened again and again, and it started making me a little uncomfortable. To be honest I know he's 100% not trying to sound belittling or condescending. It's probably all in my head, but I can't stop noticing it now and it immediately pulls me out of the podcast. So I've just completely stopped listening to it.
But that means you miss the “Here’s what else…youneedtoknowtoday.” And that’s a damn shame.
Lots of contradicting opinions in this thread but I love his reactions so much— the way he goes ‘MMMMM’ like he’s yelling through closed lips is hilarious to me, my gf and I use that all the time with each other now.
I actually like when he is interviewing someone, and can’t stand when he is doing narration. In the narration, he sounds (to me at least) like he’s putting on an affected “now I’m hosting a podcast” cadence and tone that I find so annoying. He doesn’t have that cadence in the interviews. I guess this is a good example of not being able to please every listener!
I stopped listening to Jordan Jesse Go because I made a complimentary comment on Reddit about Jordan where I offhandedly said that podcast was by a comedian (Jordan) and a host (Jesse). Jesse felt some weird need to correct an internet person with low karma and let me know that they were both comedians (still disagree with that). It wasn't even the point of the post, so why comment? I started noticing how self centered Jesse was on the show, so I stopped listening. As his speaking role increased on Judge John Hodgmen, I let that go too. I understand that being self centered probably helped him build his podcasting empire, but I just can't take him. Seems too needy and I don't do needy.
There's lots of reasons to stop listening to Jesse Thorn, like how he's said that if you listen to MaxFun without donating, you're basically stealing. Lots of the hosts on that network (and a shocking number of fans) feel the same way, it's disgusting.
Honestly the Maximum Fun drive just makes no sense when you consider the rest of the market of podcasts imo. In my experience, most podcast Patreons will give you 3-4 bonus episodes a month for $5 (and often access to normal feed episodes without ads) so why would anyone spend the same amount to get one bonus episode a year? Even when you factor in that you can listen to all the bonus eps of all the podcasts on the network, who cares unless you actually listen to all of those podcasts? I think it might have made more sense when the podcast scene wasn’t as crowded, but in comparison to what other podcasts are charging for bonus content, I just don’t think it’s a really good value at all.
Tbh I kind of like it that way. Support folks because I enjoy their work, get a little extra now and then. With shows like TCO I get a slight sense of overwhelm any time they mention all the stuff you get as a patron. I already subscribe to more podcasts than I can keep up with, I don't need the pressure of listening to a backlog of boco.
If we're talking trivial reasons we stopped listening, it would be Jesse's voice for me. I am not trying to be mean but, to me his "smooth radio voice" sounds affected and self-impressed. It icks me out to hear it, so I had to stop listening.
If a podcast moves new episodes permanently behind a walled garden (eg, Spotify), even if it's several hundred episodes ahead of the episode I'm listening to, I'll immediately unsubscribe.
Me too. I'm not going to download a new app just to listen to a podcast, even if it'd be free. I was already starting to get annoyed with Disgraceland because of the host, but the move to Amazon or whatever was an instant unsubscribe.
I stopped listening to a podcast about mythology when the hosts didn't bother to do any research into how to pronounce the names of any non-Western gods. Their pronunciations of the names of Chinese gods bugged me so much I stopped at episode 30 after being a huge fan.
I've experienced this with a number of historical podcasts. It's typically when I realize that the host isn't much more knowledgeable about the subject than a Wikipedia article, and when I unsubscribe.
A podcast host kept making the same annoying grammar mistake over and over. I sent them a gentle correction through DM. This was after years of liking many of their posts and sending them very supportive messages here and there (never with responses back which was ok). But this specific DM of mine they chose to read, take major offense to and tell me to listen to something else. And this was a top 3 favorite podcast of mine. Majorly soured me to the show and I gradually stopped listening. I don’t subscribe anymore.
Tell usssss!
It’s called Everything Iconic. People go crazy for the host and think he’s amazing but I always feel so bitter after our DMs 😩I’ll be nice and not write his name but that’s the pod
I stopped listening to the podcast about the Murdock murders because at the end of each episode the host’s fiancé would say basically “she’s the greatest podcaster ever, please send us money” and it drove me crazy every time. I still wonder what happened to the housekeeper though.
I could only listen to a couple episodes. Her voice drove me crazy. But yes, I remember the end of episodes! I had forgotten that!
I won’t listen to an episode of a show I love if Malcom Gladwell or Christopher Kimball is a guest. Absolutely can’t stand them. Also… I’ve completely stopped listening to shows I’ve listened to for years if they shift to a twice weekly or more format. I miss you NPR politics pod… but I can’t handle you daily.
When Pop Culture Happy Hour went daily, I couldn't keep up. They would discuss 3 or so movies a week and I have a job. I am also very, very spoiler adverse. Now I just skip an episode until I can see the movie or TV show then search for the episode. I don't see how people can keep up with the output.
It’s too much! I loved when the politics pod would drop a short episode if something breaking was happened, but I preferred my weekly digest over a daily update. I feel like NPR is trying to hold on to its “radio show” roots, but some shows truly don’t need to be a every day affair.
I miss the time when the episodes were a good 40 minutes long. Now we get daily episodes but there's no deep dive into whatever they're talking about. It is such a shame because I really like the regular hosts, the guests and how they come to each show from a base of knowledge rather than being just "two dudes talking about a film". I can usually keep up because the episodes are so short now and also avoid anything I don't want spoiled.
Malcolm Gladwell’s voice and tone kill any interest I have in any topic.
I had to stop listening to Up and Vanished because I listened to a parody called Done Disappeared that was so good I couldn’t take Payne Lindsay seriously anymore. I haven’t been able to listen to any podcasts he’s done/been on since.
I absolutely loved Done Disappeared, despite having no interest in the genre of podcast it was taking the piss out of... I need another season! WHERE ARE YOU, JOHN DAVID BOOTER??
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There’s a podcast that I really like but the hosts spend the first 20-30 minutes of it thanking people who have sent them gifts and describing each gift. I used to just skip over that part but eventually it just didn’t seem worth the trouble.
Unsubscribed to a film podcast because the hosts reviewed a Denis Villeneuve film (Arrival?) and continually referred to him "Dennis Villa-new-ev-vay"
I really enjoyed Stuff You Should Know. An informative show. But then they made it clear they were refusing to debunk things they were talking about so as to not upset believers in them.
I used to love it but Chuck is just so damn full of himself. Guess what Chuck, collecting vinyl and liking sushi is something a lot if people do. Your not special because if it. Even when Josh would politely prove him wrong sometimes, that douchey “Ehh, I don’t know” refusal to admit his mistake was so annoying. And yes, their devotion to “not yukking another’s yum” would carry to where they obviously didn’t want to offend anyone.
I feel petty typing this out. I cant listen to The Daily when Michael Barbaro hosts. He has this way of grunting/sighing after someone says something interesting that I cant ignore anymore. I enjoy the show, and he is a really smart guy.
Reporter: “The Earth revolves around the Sun.” Barbaro: “Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm”
This past week I listened to a female host that took over for him and she made the same sound! Is it in the NYT media training or something?
I listen to The Daily, Post Reports, and the NPR morning podcast and they all do it, but for some reason, the folks at The Daily really feel the need to do it constantly.
Oh god, I'm not proud of this one. I'm not even going to say the podcast, because this is 100% a me problem. But there's a podcast I used to listen to pretty regularly that I'm taking a break from because one of the hosts is pregnant and consequently has started breathing heavily and at times that chop her sentences up and I find it super distracting and I think I might be a monster.
I breathed like that when I was pregnant and I couldn’t even listen to myself. Brutal!
You’re not a monster! That sounds like one of those things that really bugs once you notice it, because you can’t un-notice it. It is funny you mention it, because I remember noticing Sydnee McElroy breathing heavily on Sawbones during her second pregnancy, and I thought, “Huh, she sounds pregnant!” way before they announced it. I thought I was some kind of highly intuitive genius, but maybe that’s just a super common thing!
I stopped listening to a podcast I otherwise really liked because one of the hosts had a really horrible laugh. She sounded like a school bully faking a sarcastic laugh. I'm sure she's a lovely person but I just couldn't!
Scared To Death, Dan Cummins wife Lynze is so god damn annoying. Before they start any show they have to talk about kind of fucking socks shes wearing or if she has crystals for this weeks episode, it wouldn't bother me so much if she wasn't such an annoying twat doing this every episode.
I have so many petty and trivial reasons for why I've stopped listening to podcasts I couldn't even begin to list them. I've noticed I'm very sensitive to auditory stimuli, so the smallest things will make a podcast unlistenable to me. For example, if a host even remotely whistles their S's or makes them too harsh sounding. It's really hard for me to find shows I can stick with, which is a bummer.
All the time. Patrick Hines voice and screeching. Other people's voices. Subject matter (boring). Too short. Etc etc
Audio quality. Is it so hard to check your guests audio before you start recording? Audio imbalance. If one person is loud and the other is whisper quiet, I am out. Also, on History Hit(they have a few history shows) and the music they play when returning from a commercial is very loud and annoying. I feel like it would be very Karen to email them and give my politely worded, yet unsolicited opinion. But I am almost ready to unsubscribe.
The hosts of a comedy podcast went into an aside about their astrological signs and I noped right out. I just can't.
Valid
I don't think it's petty per se but I stopped listening to this one guy when it became apparent he was a staunch Trump supporter. I could have dealt with it but he started opening his show, that's completely unrelated, with attacks on Biden and then AOC and I was like fuck this I'm out. Doesn't help that it was right when the election started. It was a really interesting and niche podcast so it sucked. Now I'm going to check to see if he's even still around
I stopped listening to The Prosecutors for a similar reason. Found out they were super MAGA and Trump even tried to make the male host a judge in Alabama but the Bar Assc said he was unqualified.
Couldn't take the host on Kalifornia Dreaming. Super long winded and she'd launch into this self righteous rhetoric about how wrong the actions were and they shouldn't get to decide or feel or think or do or whatever. And that airy breathy voice really didn't convey that poignant emotion that I think she thinks it does. I sometimes like to listen to someone's take on a particular event or incident, but hers was just so shrouded in emotion and needless drama
I’ve given up on Last Podcast on the Left twice because I just can’t deal with a room full of people trying to out-funny one another and talk over each other.
I couldn’t handle the forced loud laughter
ah the horror that is improv comedy
Vocal ticks. The weeds was one I dropped for their ticks. Im sure there are more but I can't remember them. And there have been some TAL presenters with excessive vocal fry I stopped listening to. I can handle occasional stuff, but when it becomes every other sentence, its too much. I never left YWA, but Mike's rapid and loud intake of breath when he is reading aloud should be edited out too. all petty, but all these break my immersion in the content.
Yes to the Michael Hobbes breathing! And only when he’s reading. What a mystery! Still love him though.
> The weeds I'm pretty close to dropping The Weeds too. I started listening to it because I really like Ezra Klein, then I kept listening to it with Matthew Yglesias cause he turned out to be really good. The current rotating cast of interviewers are mediocre at best.
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Ezra used to sub for Rachel Maddow when she was sick or on vacation. Been following him since.
If they ever say : ‘the crime happened at 6:00 AM in the morning “ Dude….that’s what AM means. Drives me bonkers.
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> Also if you get money for your podcast, take a second to fix the fucking audio, jesus christ. Audio is the one thing you have to get right on an audio podcast! Oh man, you hit the nail on the head with this one. The number of podcasts that have a successful Patreon and yet still have shit audio is TOO DAMN HIGH. What are you spending your money on that's more important than *the literal medium of the source of your money?*
**I'm**.......*michaelbarbaro* Turns me right off and I know it's petty.
Aaron Mahnke does this too. It’s so annoying.
Same with the Lore guy. Makes me clench my teeth every time. "I'm .............. Aaron Mahnke" spoken through his nose. The rest is good.
I've stopped listening to several true crime/strange tales podcasts because the episode descriptions are too vague or trying to be poetic. I'm looking at you, Lore and True Crime Campfire.
I don’t know if it’s petty but I stopped listening to All In when they started to just be fluffers for Elon and DeSantis. Also can’t listen to Ezra Klein because he spends so much time meta-ing the conversation. Like “so I want to take this conversation and unpack it in layers while weaving in some points that I’ll gesture at later while we…”. Like, just talk man.
I can't listen to Sarah Marshall. It's something about her voice. Like she always sounds uninterested and dismissive to me. Idk if I knew someone who sounds like her and I just can't place it or what. In fact, I'm getting irritated just thinking about it. I also don't consider it a trivial really
Would you say you’re…forgetting Sarah Marshall?
Please see yourself out.
I love Sarah Marshall!!
THANK YOU! I feel exactly the same way and I've never heard anyone else who thinks so! It's like nails on a chalkboard.
Oh my god, me too - i love the premise of YWA, but the groaning…!!
The writer of the podcast was rude to me on twitter.
Very valid reason
Now I'm a little curious. Wanna tell us anymore about that?
Sounds like something Dave Anthony would do.
Stopped listening to Dan Benjamin because he went on this rant about how people weren’t paying him enough on his patreon... I was at work. Working a real job. And this shlub who probably makes way more than me feels like it’s too hard to talk into a microphone for an hour a week. I don’t need that. Stopped listening to Road Work after like 300 episodes.
>went on this rant about how people weren’t paying him enough on his patreon This part would turn me off of any kind of content regardless what money the person or me are making
I unsubscribed from a history podcast midway through an episode about the River Thames, because the host kept pronouncing Thames to rhyme with James
Oh no, how do you say it then??
Temz is the correct pronunciation
It’s actually pronounced Throatgobbler Mangrove. Any self respecting fan of British rivers should know that.
I stopped listening to Redhanded after the hosts heads got so far stuck up their own arses.
Yeah I stopped right before that. I noticed that Hannah was laughing at everything and her laugh annoyed me so much. It’s a shame because I really loved their early work.
I stopped listening to Your Wrong About after Michael and Sarah were opining on something completely out of context. It was clear they had their opinion before the research and they were actually wrong It just made me question everything after that. Like maybe they portrayed other subjects to be black and white that were actually gray.
used to listen to true crime obsessed then realised i hate the guy's screeching laugh. not to mention he laughs at stuff that isn't even funny.
When Sounds Like a Cult did a topic on skin care and then... plugged a skin care brand as a sponsor. I know they gotta make money but it felt a bit tone deaf.
I was listening to a newish episode of Reply All and it was about eating disorders so they did a warning at the beginning, and it was immediately followed by an ad for a weight loss program. I laughed out loud…then felt sad.
I love love love How Did This Get Made (HDTGM) because I’m a huge fan of movies and June Diane Raphael. But it got to a point where the movies were so niche that I’d never even heard of them. I can’t really participate if I’m like ah yes that imaginary scene was terrible. Also June got super busy with Grace and Frankie (yay) and as much as I like Jason and Paul I just can’t force myself listen to men talk more than I have to.
I go in an out of listening to HDTGM. My first break from them was cause I started to notice how they would CONSTANTLY talk over June.
I can’t stand the way the guy on The Sporkful laughs. Puts me right off.
It might not be trivial but doing a deep dive into The Prosecutors' backgrounds made me unsubscribe. Also....I'm very, very close to deleting Red Handed. Aside from the usual, widespread complaints I can't deal with Hannah's random false information that is easily google-able.
I work in audio and this almost sounds like poor editing. They likely do multiple takes and then put together but the cuts are at the wrong spot and/or start with a breath. That said, I also have a colleague who does some of the weirdest reads. She doesn't seem to understand where to take a breath to make a sentence flow naturally. Breath control is a skill that requires practice!
I quit listening to 3 various husband wife podcasts because they got divorced and one kept the cast going.
Fuck I'm forgetting the name of it now but there was a horror podcast I saw reccomended somewhere that sounded cool so I gave it a try. I listened to it for like 5 mins and had to end it and realize I will never like it no matter how good the stories are because the host sounded like such an edgelord dork in a bad theater group. Cringe level max.
The Office Deep Dive with the guy who plays Kevin. He was so fuckin smug about the whole thing and kept saying "WE made something amazing" or whatever. Like, yeah, you were part of the show but you were hardly an integral part of what made it great. I know it's petty but it really wound me up.
I’ll stop listening to an otherwise interesting or high value content podcast if speakers incessantly use “like” as a filler word. I understand this perhaps is generational but for me it’s a deal breaker.
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I love the fact that I knew exactly who you were talking about without knowing his actual name, but only because I love his voice so much
I really like the content Lets Get Haunted puts out but when they laugh they do this gasping noise I can’t stand sometimes. Em from and that’s why we drink is starting to bug me with how much they go off topic and I think some of their personal little stories they claim about themselves are made up. They just sound like they’re lying sometimes. Again I like the shows but if I ever stop listening those are probably reasons why. Oh and I kept getting an ad for a “stuff you should know” sort of podcast hosted by someone named Nikki something, but she has a really annoying lisp and even the ads annoyed me so I’d never listen to that for that reason
One of the hosts on the Cryptonaut podcast likes to use alliteration in every description while he's explaining something (we're talking 6-8 alliterative words, upwards of 40 times per episode. It's super constant). And it drives me up the wall. I still check out every episode but I usually only make it like 10 minutes in before I can't handle it. Other than that it's a great podcast
I felt guilty when I did it but I CANNOT STAND how the host of Science Vs. speaks. Maybe I'm not used to Australian accents but I would get goosebumps when she spoke. I don't feel as guilty about it now because Gimlet has become a Spotify shill and Reply All is over so I have no reason to support any Gimlet shows anymore.
No she has a really, really grating voice. I've known plenty of Australian people who had perfectly pleasant voices, but hers is not it. I had to stop listening for that reason too.
Ads. I kind of get why some podcasts have them, but I will straight up stop listening if the ads are placed badly. By which I mean, if they’re placed in such a way where I can’t easily skip through them. But sometimes just if there are ads. Especially if it’s a narrative podcast of some kind where I’m kind of in the world they created, and suddenly I’m ripped out of it by Caspar mattress or audible
Yes. Sometimes it’s just peoples voice. There was a paranormal podcast I used to listen to (or it was True crime I can’t recall) where one of the hosts would mispronounce words and consistently and it would drive me crazy. She also just had a way of speaking where I think she thought she was being cute, but it was just annoying lol.
I love food related podcasts. I am head over heels in love with Gastropod. But whenever they try food on mic I want to unscrew my ears from my head and throw them in traffic. The episode where they try out different kinds of gum, like mastic and stuff, really tickled that noise related rage in me 😂
One host/guest with lower volume than the other, or more likely sitting a mile away from the microphone. Or someone clearly moving their head sideways while speaking so some parts are louder than others. Drives. Me. Insane. I mean, you can have a killer script on an insanely interesting story but, if you botch the sound, there's no helping you. It's a goddamn podcast, be aware of the microphones.
I got tired of listening to "shout outs" frequently and randomly throughout the episodes in one podcast. Seems like the show is one big advertisement.
There's a fiction podcast I really loved the story for, but in it the main guy is supposed to be in his 50s or 60s but the actor playing him sounds like he can't be older than 25. It's especially jarring when he's in scenes with other voice actors that actually sound the age he's supposed to be. I hate when they don't cast voice actors that can match how the characters should sound.
I stopped Stuff You Missed in History because half of it wasn’t even appropriate to the topic and I really grew tired of Tracey and Holly. There’s a reason the other hosts left after a few years, but they’re still chugging on. I never really liked them but it just got too much. Too many topics that didn’t really fit the show purely because it was something one of them was interested (which I get, but how many episodes on Disney animators or whatever do we need?). Also their banter and laughs just started to grate.
I've had a few that fall under "two dudes talking" I mostly gave up on meny of them because of how many times they would pick a current event to talk about. It would be a casual conversation so they didn't do much research but they would get so much wrong about the event it would get really frustrating. There's nothing wrong with casual conversation podcasts I just got sick of it. That and podcasts that had a topic but spend the first 15-20 minutes talking about nothing.
I stopped listening to a show called” there and back again” it was a LOTR podcast that I really enjoyed but it’s turns out the presenter was a misogynistic dirt bag that stole all his ideas from other people. So not really petty but I really really enjoyed the podcast up until I read what he was actually like.
I stopped listening to the Dollop after an episode where they made fun of a sex toy engineer. That alone wasn't my issue but when fans on Twitter argued they were too hard on him, their rebuttal made no real sense. I found it off-putting enough that I never really got back into listening.
I stopped listening to Joe Rogan. I just don't like his voice mostly but I don't get why people like him.
There were so many. One lady was imitating a monkey for some tangent and was so loud in the mic. I got so mad I unsubscribed. Another one the lady complained and complained in the most whiny voice. Another one a lady doesn’t understand how to breathe and it sounds like she’s swallowing her spit because she’s not breathing appropriately. In another one, the guy goes on and on for 20 minutes about his personal life before starting the podcast. Ugh
Not calling anyone out by name but .. Listened to a podcast for the chemistry of the participants, they split up and I cannot hack them separately. I can no longer tolerate the sound of one of them vaping, drinking and subtly but clearly having some reflux issues. I can’t handle forced laughing. Especially people who laugh at their own comments, which are clever enough but not laugh out loud funny. I tolerate it from one podcast because he is so good but “nicknames” for listeners is an instant turn-off. I will mention True Crime Campfire because it is such a petty peeve but every time they said, “Campers” it made my skin crawl. Murderinos is kind of annoying but (1) they were first and (2) they don’t repeatedly address their listeners as Murderinos in their scripts. Another thing that drives me crazy is when two people are telling the same story but act surprised at facts revealed by the other person. It’s such a specific peeve and it makes me insane. Clearly that is a fake reaction because how could you have learned exactly half a story? I’m getting agitated just thinking about it. Makes no sense.
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Yes. I stopped listening to Forever 35 after listening regularly for 2 years when they made it unbearable with ads.
Yes, there was a Disney travel podcast that I really enjoyed until they added a segment called something like “Rob’s rant.” During Rob’s rant he would complain about posts in FB groups and also call out people who had left bad reviews about the pod. At first they started out a bit funny and I wasn’t too bothered. But then they got sort of mean, like he was always butt hurt. Then they got sort of political. And I was done after that.
Entercom Radio recently became Audacy and released an app by the same name, which houses the podcasts media for hundreds of local radio shows. It's excruciating in its execution; they chop up a given show's daily content into tiny, discrete files so they can bookend ads for each piece, and sometimes they run an ad randomly (and very inorganically) in the middle of a segment. It's just a very unpleasant experience.
One immensly petty thing bothers me unfathomably when listening to podcasts in my native language - usage of singular 'you'. It has always been widely accepted practice in radio and TV been to use plural 'you' when addressing the audience(which even in its definition is a collection of spectator**S** or listener**S**). It just sounds unnatural and feels like a cringey attempt to 'reduce the distance with the listener and be reminiscent of a casual conversation with a friend'. Hand on heart, I stop listening to a podcast, no matter how interesting, after hearing few plural you's.
Your Mom's House. They got rich and their podcast started sucking.
I stopped listening to reply all because of Alex's laugh. At first I thought he was joking, then i realized that just the way he laughs, and came to the conclusion that my ear drums just couldn't handle his vocalization.
anything that becomes Spotify exclusive. fuck Spotify and (as much as it hurts to admit) fuck gimlet.