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I started listening to podcasts in 2013. That's the year I quit my job and started working from home. My husband and I had a plan to start an online business (he already has one, the new one was to be more my project, less his.)
The transition from working in an open cubicle in a busy office setting to an at-home office was fun and exciting. Still, like most new work-from-homers, I quickly realized that playing background music was a poor substitute for daily human interaction.
For a while I started playing videos in a small window on my desktop, but that was too distracting. Then one day, I opened the iTunes store on my computer to look for something new. I didn't know what I was looking for, just...something (isn't that always how it is?)
I don't even remember the first podcast that I hit Play on, but I was immediately intrigued. Podcasts were the perfect mix of audio and people. I appreciated how they were more than just "background noise". I started scrolling through all the other podcasts on iTunes and I was hooked. [pullquote] Podcasts were the perfect mix of audio and people.[/pullquote]
That week, my husband got his first taste of my growing podcast addiction; his return to the house every night was met with "So I was listening to this podcast today..." I went from listening on my desktop while working to listening on my phone while I did the laundry, washed the dishes, prepped dinner, and more. The neighbors would give me strange looks when I went to the mailbox with a podcast blaring from my pocket.
I still work from home, and over the last four years I have listened to countless podcasts (usually a good 10 or more episodes per day). My husband has also formed an appreciation for them. We listen via Bluetooth in the car, especially to our favorite Spanish podcasts and a LOT of other educational shows. I try to spare him from my pop-culture binge-listening marathons.
I still have a podcast playing every day while I work at my computer. The number of quality podcasts for business continues to grow and I often find myself taking notes about things that I can apply to my work. I've also discovered a lot of awesome websites and apps through podcast mentions or sponsors.
My podcast interests are extremely diverse. I often listen to shows for which I am clearly not the target audience (Another Round and DTR are a couple that come to mind.) I listen to them because I find them interesting, and because I can learn something new. And now, they make for something to blog about.
My husband recently became pretty obsessed with Reddit. At first I rolled my eyes and poked fun at him, and then I realized that his Reddit addiction is just like my podcast addiction. Except there really wasn't a community or blog about podcasts for me to follow...and that's how Podcast Maniac got started.
Now that you know how addicted I am, I invite you to check out some of my most popular posts: