An Update from the Podcast Maniac

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It's been almost a year since my last blog post. Here's what's been going on.

Woman on chair with laptop wearing Podcast Maniac t-shirt

TRUE STORY: My last post here on the blog was a year ago this month. I didn't even know that until a few minutes ago, when I logged into the website to create this post. After almost a year of not blogging, I had actually lost track of which podcasts I had last shared with y'all.

It started with an intentional hiatus back in November. I thought I'd give myself a couple of weeks off. That turned into a couple of months, and I actually didn't feel all that guilty about it.

Then, as the months dragged on, I couldn't decide whether or not to return to this gig. Some days I'd have a ton of new ideas and a surge of motivation about picking it back up, and then the next day (literally), I was all "eh" again.

At some point—I think it was when I realized that I had seriously missed the window for posting about my favorite podcasts of 2020—I felt like there was no turning back.

What All Happened

In case you're curious, here's a list of what all has happened with me—and in the podcast industry—to put me on Pause and leave me in limbo:

At some point in 2020:

  • I lost my taste for most true crime
  • I started to feel like I was listening to and writing about podcasts for everyone else, and not to shows that I was actually interested in listening to
  • Many of my fave podcasts and hosts went through major changes, and their shows either ended or just weren't as appealing to me anymore
  • I heard so many ads for Better Help that I was starting to hear them in my sleep (I'm serious...this can't just be me...anyone else?)

THEN:

  • The US election took place (need I say more?)
  • A week later, I woke up to an alert that a large tropical storm had turned last-minute, and was about to make a direct hit on the region we live in (it ended up being fine, but still extremely stressful)
  • I decided to take two weeks off to chill out
  • The December holidays marked 1 years since I was able to see my family in Maine, and that hit me hard
  • I started to escape into books, instead of podcasts, and my blogging hiatus sort of just continued

IN THE MEANTIME, the following things were happening in the podcast industry:

  • More and more celebrities and politicians were launching podcasts
  • More podcasts studios and networks were being announced, thanks to more corporate money and buyouts
  • More corporate commercials were showing up in podcasts (ads for Bush’s Baked Beans are everywhere these days...and it's strange)
  • I received more press releases about new podcasts every week, and I couldn't keep up with the onslaught
  • More podcasts were hosting the same guests (like on a morning show circuit), so all those podcasts were just the same thing on repeat
  • Way more podcasts than I expected moved to paid subscription models or networks

Do you see a pattern in that last list? There was just MORE of everything in the podcast industry. And it's taken me a long time to figure out how to save myself from getting swallowed up by it all.

AND FINALLY, in my personal life:

  • My dermatologist identified some skin cancer on my leg, and I had it removed
  • I got to go to Maine for the entire summer, to see my family on the regular for months on end
  • I started working on a new project with my husband: editing a sci-fi book that he is translating from German to English. For more info/updates on this project, or for a chance at your own FREE copy of the book, click here to provide your contact info.
Podcast Maniac Blog on Laptop & Podcasts on iPhone

What I'm Going to Do Moving Forward

So what does all that mean for you, in terms of what I'll be writing and sharing from now on?

  • I'm going to focus on the thing that made me start the blog in the first place: sharing my thoughts and recommendations about podcasts I've been listening to
  • I'm NOT going to try to keep up with the podcast industry (it's a full-time job—one which some people are paid to do these days, but I'm not one of them)
  • I'm also going to share recommendations for book and audiobooks
  • I'm going to revive the Podcast Maniac Newsletter with updates about new things on the blog (frequency of the newsletter is still TBD)

I hope you'll stick around to see what I'll be sharing and to make your own recommendations!

What's been going on with YOU and your podcast listening? Leave a comment to catch us up!


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