The trick is to avoid shows that don’t have a clear objective unless they are comedians who are actually funny most of the time. “Three friends just sitting around talking about life, the universe, and everything!” -like descriptions are a major red flag. Extra deductions if their logo shows a glass of whiskey or a beer.

Oh shit. I hate that bro.

It's a form of parasocial relationship. It can trigger the same feelings as if you were in a room with some friends chatting. You get to "know" the people's personalities, you can anticipate their reactions to things, you get invested in their personal relationships.

Most of the stuff I listen to is either professionally funny people or specialized topics that I'm interested in.

You need to find better podcasts to listen.

I listen to My Brother, My Brother and Me because I like to listen to the three brothers be funny at each other.

Some people don't need or want intellectually challenging media all the dang time.

The same appeal as reading the pointless shit people type out while sitting on toilets.

It's like Facebook in the early days.

Here's a picture of my breakfast yogurt.

Here's a picture of me getting on the bus.

Here's a picture of my desk setup.

Here's a geotag of where I'm having lunch along with a photo of my BLT. It was so yummy! Duck face pic!

Here's the geotag and photo of the place I got coffee on the way back to work! Luv u all!

I list n to podcasts about science, space, farming, linguistics, and literature. They're actually rather interesting. I don't think I could do just random bullshit

I listen to a variety of podcasts for different moods, and I also use it like music. Sometimes I'm in a music mood, sometimes I decide I need to hear how terrible Kissinger really was, sometimes I want to hear Dan research and refute all the lies Alex Jones spouts (the last two come often with the benefit of learning the origin of bullshit being spouted by some internet personalities), and sometimes I want to hear 3-5 guys who I find funny discuss movies and/or Wikipedia articles. I also like listening to factual and historical podcasts that have more detailed researching.

Why listen when I could look up and read it? Well I do look up and read specific topics, but that takes my full attention. I have ADHD and my mind can wander without additional input if I'm doing something tedious. So I listen while driving, cooking, cleaning, working, and even gaming. Gaming isn't tedious per say, but sometimes you have bursts of that (farming items, repeatable dailies, etc). I pause when I really need to, but some games I also play for relaxation, and I can relax and listen to a funny podcast at the same time. If it's work or gaming where I need focus, music works better.

I actually really enjoy "stuff you should know" it's a podcast with 2 guys from the "how stuff works" network that explain everything from "how cranes work" to the "Tulsa race riots." They're good people that like to joke with each other so it's not just straight boring facts.

That said, they aren't experts and will sometimes read emails that correct things they got wrong lol

Man, I know. Especially when they go off the actual topic and start talking about some random shit while cackling like a bunch of dumbasses.