Endless Audio: Recent Episodes
Trevor Saunders
Podcast Genre vs. Podcast Type
If you are an avid podcast listener you probably have a favourite genre that you enjoy. It might be sports, politics, comedy, or my favourites technology and history. Apple podcasts does a really good job of categorizing podcasts by the various genre, but they do not give much for sorting by podcast style. What is a podcast style? Why is podcast style important? Well I am glad you asked, because I think it is as important as podcast genre.
Podcast style is how the information is presented, think of it as the delivery method. This is not an exhaustive list of podcast styles but probably covers 90%:
- Conversation
- Roundtable
- Monologued
- Interview
- Story-based fiction (audiobook like)
- Story-based non-fiction (documentary)
- Live Theatre
- Radio repurposed
You can find any of these 8 podcast styles in most genres. They all have their benefits and serve the different genres in their own special way.
For me personally I like to develop a personal connection to the podcast host(s). My favourite podcast style, runaway, is the roundtable format. This is where three or more co-hosts talk about or debate a topic. I enjoy this style and find myself rooting for one of the co-hosts more often than not.
As with all of your consumption habits of any media there is an issue to be addressed. For example, if you mostly read thriller fiction novels you should probably give non-fiction self-help books a try every now and then, if for no other reason than to give your mind a workout. In this same light, you should vary the style of podcast you listen to.
I have recently subscribed to some story-based non-fiction podcasts. Think of these as documentaries for your ears. I find this style of podcast requires much more cognitive effort to follow along, which I believe is good for your brain. The great thing about podcasts is that I was able to find this story-based podcast in one of my favourite genres, making it an easy transition. It turns out varying the podcasts I listen to has opened the door for me to expand not only the podcast style I listen to, but I has also allowed me to discover an appreciation for a new genre.
It is through mixing different genres with different delivery styles that I have quickly discovered that true crime genre podcasts do not suit roundtable style delivery, but caters to the story-based style very well. As I already listen to too many podcasts, the last thing I need is to find a new podcast rabbit hole to go down. With only so many listening hours available each day, I now find myself having to choose my new found true crime listening passion over some of my old standby favourite podcasts.
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Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
Narrated by Will Damron
Did the book deliver on its promise – The book was billed as being based on a true story and after listening to the audiobook I believe the book was loosely based on a true story. I think the true story was that Italians did help Jews escape the Nazi’s through the mountains and into Switzerland. I also believe the organization of this escape was organized through the church. There was no promise of a fast-paced, action-packed historical fiction, which this book was in so many ways. In my opinion this book under promised and over delivered and could be enjoyed by listeners who are not typically drawn to the historical fiction genre.
What was my personal takeaway – As I mentioned earlier, I always like to get a bit of a historical education while consuming historical fiction and I definitely did from this audiobook. The education was in a couple of ways — the first was learning about World War II from the Italian perspective, and the second was the day-to-day struggle for citizens of a country being occupied and controlled by a military force, and some of the difficult decisions that people had to make to survive.
Did the narrator help the story – When I find a narrator I like I find myself searching the Audible catalogue ‘by narrator’ rather than ‘by author’, and that was definitely the case with narrator Will Damron. Sometimes with a narrator I have never heard, it takes a few chapters before I connect, but with Will Damron, I was drawn in from his first words. He does a great job of conveying the emotion of the story, it really felt like I was watching a movie with my ears. Will Damron definitely helped the story along. I don’t think this book had slow-moving parts, but if it did they were covered by his great narration that captured the emotion and excitement of the characters and story.
Would I recommend this book – If you are new to the historical fiction genre or have tried it in the past and did not enjoy it, I would highly recommend this book as a place to re-start your journey into historical fiction. With the combination of great narration, a fast-moving story, and some unexpected twists at the end, I would highly recommend this audiobook.
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AirPods Pro feature list:
- Passive noise canceling
- Active nosie canceling
- Transparency mode
- Wireless charging case
- 24 hour battery life with the charging case
- Seamless switching between Apple devices
What you get in the box
- Earbuds
- Charging Case
- USB-c to lighting cable
- S, M, L ear tips
- Instructions
Cost
- Ridiculously expensive for something that if you use them as much as I plan to probably have a two year life span
- Apple care is a must but just added to the already excessive cost
- Have to get them on sale
Earbud Rating Scale:
- Comfort - this is measured in hours for those who listen to audiobooks and podcasts
- Convenience - Connectivity, device switching, battery life, discreteness
- Sound Quality - for spoken word audio the sound quality has to get pretty bad to be an issue
Overall sound quality
Ear fit issue
- if the original Airpods did not fit your ears the Pro version might
- The fit test to confirm you are using the correct ear tips
- Adequate fit vs secure fit
- Aftermarket fit accessories
Aftermarket accessories
- Personalized with a case
- Custom ear tips (silicon, memory foam)
- Holding devices - ear hooks, wing tips
- Charging accessories
Important features for our specific needs - these solve many first world problems
Unexpected Benefits/Issues
- Can’t pause YouTube
- Using controls with a poor fit
- Enhanced music experience coming from Beats
- All day comfort
- Seamless device switching
- Transparency mode
Are they worth the cost
- You need to get them on sale
- The solved some problems I didn’t realize I had
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Are Audiobooks Cheating
Side note: If you ask the right question on the internet you will get the answer slanted to your belief.
Cheating would suggest an unfair advantage, are audiobooks available to everyone?
The definition of reading from Wikipedia - Reading is the complex cognitive process of decoding symbols to derive meaning. It is a form of language processing.
Listening is sequential while reading you can jump around easier.
Listening can offer the additional input of tone, this can be very helpful with hard to read things like Shakespeare or even more current works like Jane Austin or Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes where phrases used are not widely used or understood today.
Decoding - reading requires the extra step of the brain decoding words to be processed by the brain while listening does not
Once you have developed the skill of decoding symbols and continue to practice it at some level, does it serve us the keep practicing it in an effort to become more efficient?
NPR Article - Reading and listening both result in comprehension, which the brain accomplishes by translating written or heard words into words in the mind — a process called decoding. Research has proven this, Willingham said, pointing to a study that saw participants score equally as well on comparable tests based on written and verbal materials.
"Once you’ve identified the words (whether by listening or reading), the same mental process comprehends the sentences and paragraphs they form," Willingham wrote in the Times piece.
Brains interpret written and spoken information in the same way because humans haven't had enough time to evolve a strategy to differentiate the two. Writing is younger than 6,000 years old, Willingham wrote.
Types of learners:
- Visual
- Kinetic
- Auditory
Do you read books in the traditional sense, if so how do you distinguish between the books you will listen to vs the book you read traditionally?
Is listening to and audiobook less effort for you than traditional reading?
- You can listen passively
- You can listen while doing other activities
Is listening to an audiobook an intentional activity?
- You can listen deliberately and choose an accompany activity like walking
Do you listen passively or actively?
- It depends
Can you call non-fiction audiobooks cheating but fiction audiobooks are ok?
- Is there a learning objective or an entertainment objective
If you are in a book club do you need to disclose you consumed the book through audio?
- If you can participate in a book discussion then yes
The books you were never going to read
- Available time
- Complexity
- Multi-tasking
- Narrators input
Reading comprehension
- Shorter consumption cycle
- Narrators input
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I have been a fan of Malcom Gladwell's work back to his revolutionary book Outliers. This book literally changed how I see the world. Gladwell's books are often found in the "Self-help" section of most book stores. I really think they belong on the "Thought Provoking" section, if one actually existed in book stores. Just for the record it should, and I would in charge of re-shelving a bunch of book.
Audible Description - Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the number one New York Times best-seller Outliers, reinvents the audiobook in this immersive production of Talking to Strangers, a powerful examination of our interactions with people we don’t know.
The book is made up 12 or so unrelated stories about actual historical events he uses this to make his points and takeaways throughout the book. My personal take away from the book was that we live in a visual world and deceptive people will go through great lengths to use visual tools to deceive us Trusting your other senses can save you for being mislead. But it turns out we do trust our other senses like our ears as much as we trust our eyes.
Another takeaway was, sometimes people act or do things because of their circumstances. An outside observers may pass judgement on a person or situation based only on what they can take in visually, trusting what we see over everything else. For example if you see an agitated personal you subconsciously make them villains without knowing the source of agitation.
The narrator was the author Malcolm Gladwell, and as I mentioned earlier he has a very successful podcast, it is no surprise he makes a very good narrator. I am a big fan when authors of non-fiction book narrate their audiobooks. Unfortunately this is not that common and I have yet to listen to a non-fiction audiobook narrated by the author that I didn't like.
Summary:
Did the book deliver on its promise – based on the publishers descriptions "reinvents the audiobook in this immersive production of Talking to Strangers, a powerful examination of our interactions with people we don’t know" the book did live up to its as advertised content
What was my personal takeaway – being a Gladwell book, I was expecting it to be a thought provoking listen and it defiantly was all of that. I now find myself being more critical of how I take in information, I find myself searching confirmation through vocal tones and body language. Also because you uses history to make his points , I also received some history lessons which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Did the narrator help the story – as mentioned earlier Gladwell did a great job with the narration he changed his tone at all the right places for make sure your take away from the book was everything he wanted you to get from the book. Could another voice actor delivered this book? Yes but I think Gladwell took it to another level.
Would I recommend this book – I would caution anybody who is looking for hard efficient knowledge from an audiobook, you may get frustrated with this one especially if you are not a fan of history. The audiobook weaves in clips from news stories and interviews, which can have a podcast feel at times, which I liked but might not be for everyone. This is a book that will leave with questions, in a good way, about you and the world you live in.
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Struggling with Non-fiction Audiobooks
From Reddit:
Struggle with comprehension with non fiction
Hey all,
So recently started listening to Audiobooks and I'm currently reading a lot of non fiction, I've found however that often while listening to Audiobooks I can become distracted and not fully take in what I've just heard, often I'll stop and try to think about a chapter i just listened too and can only recall the bare surface of the topics discussed.
I'm slightly annoyed as was hoping Audiobooks would increase my rate of reading per year but the fact my comprehension is down kind of defeats the point in my eyes, with non fiction i want to take away lessons and actionable steps, not have a hazy memory of what I just listened too.
Anyway, I'm now trying out listening to some fiction, which in fairness I don't read enough of so maybe that's audiobooks place for me in my life, was just wondering if anyone else has success with non fiction audio and actual comprehension or is it just me?
Do we agree it is easier to listen to fiction vs non-fiction?
Recent non-fiction books we have listen to
- Sara Knight books
- Mark Manson
- Malcom Gladwell
- Sapiens
- 12 Rules for Life
- The War of Art
Do certain genre cater to the audiobook format?
- Biographies
- Self-help
- motivational
Are there some non-fiction books that just don't work in the audio format?
- Lost of facts and figures
- History books often have maps or illustrations
Does the narrator make a difference, does the author reading the book help?
- Mark Manson
- Malcom Gladwell
Are there books you just would not read if not for audio?
Is listening to non-fiction audiobooks a learned skill?
Know your learning style: audio, visual and kinetic
Do you need to be doing a different activity when listening to non-fiction vs fiction?
Tricks and tips for listening to non-fiction audiobooks?
- Listen to a book you have already read
- Increase listening speed to 1.5 to 2.0
- Do not leave large gaps in your listening pattern
- Follow along with the ebook while listening
- Make notes while listening
Links:
- Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson
- Marrie Folio and Steven Pressfield
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And in-depth audiobook review of John Sandford's latest novel in the Prey series, Masked Prey
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How Audible works
- Membership model
- 1 credit per month = 1 audiobook per month
- Members can buy books a discounted prices
No risk trial
- Sign up and get one free credit to be used on any book
- If you cancel before the trial period of over no charge and you get to keep the book
How much it costs
- Monthly cost of $14.95/month = 1 credit per month
- Annual membership $149.50 = 12 credits per year
- If you cancel your membership you get to keep your books
- If you cancel with any unused credits you lose the credits
Membership benefits
- Members can buy books a discounted prices
- Sometimes they have free offerings
- Access to Audible only content (podcasts)
- You can return books you don't like
- You can pause your membership up to 3 months
How to Listen
- Smart phone app
- probably the best audiobook app
- Organization features - genre/collections
- Speed settings
- Jump around by sections/chapters
- Bookmarks - with notes
- Sleep timer
- Apple watch app - most of the same features
- Web player - pops up and looks like the smart phone app screen
- All of these listening platforms sync up
True Stories:
Best f-ing customer service EVER! - I haven't used my account in months, but was still paying. I contacted customer support to cancel my membership, and the dude not only refunded my money, bit gave me 3 months free, to give me time to use my remaining credits. 10/10 Audible.
Audible Customer Service is the best!
I just used the Customer Service section on the desktop site to make a suggestion under the “Great Ideas” topic, and the customer service rep who responded to me via email gifted me a $10.00 coupon. I certainly wasn’t expecting or asking for that!
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